How to Purify Water in an Emergency

Purifying water during a long-term disaster will be very different than purifying water during a short-term emergency. Here is how my family and I will use a three-stage water purification process to ensure that we are drinking clean water, no matter what kind of disaster or emergency we are facing.
CDC Bleach Water Purification Instructions:
www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/...
Using Granular Calcium Hypochlorite:
theprovidentprepper.org/disin...
Recommended Prepper and Survival Gear:
Sawyer TAP Filter: amzn.to/3AmdT16 (affiliate link)
Sawyer Mini Gravity Filter: amzn.to/2VzzNz2 (affiliate link)
Spigot Kit: amzn.to/3fL9WLp (affiliate link)
Blue Water Barrel: amzn.to/3lKLOMM (affiliate link)
Water Barrel Pump: amzn.to/3AmGUK2 (affiliate link)
Barrel Wrench: amzn.to/2VCLV2f (affiliate link)
Water Preserver Drops: amzn.to/3An5SJ7 (affiliate link)
Ecoflow Solar Power Stations: ecoflow.com?aff=136 (affiliate link)
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[@MI_Prepper]

That pillowcase pre-filter was genius!

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you MI Prepper!

[@spankymagee]

Also Don't put the spigot on the very bottom. Let it have about 2" above the bottom. That way any sediments that are heavy will sink to the bottom and not go through your filter. You also don't really want to empty it all the way either because the scum floating on the top will clog the filters faster too.

[@davidgraemesmith1980]

Back when I was between homes (homeless) I used 4x 10ltr buckets, first bucket water went into I used a heavy canvas bag to filter out the bigger contaminants, second bucket I'd drop the appropriate amount of oasis aqua tabs in and leave it for half an hour for the chlorine to kill off whatever pathogens were in the clean looking water (I'd often refill the first bucket in the 30 minutes, more water is good) then pour the second bucket into the homemade travel/camp berkey clone (used the expensive but brilliant imo black berkey filter candle) buckets 3&4 to remove the chlorine taste and odor, I was living rough in the industrial and agricultural North East of England, never got sick once in over a year.

[@lyndasmith8747]

Very inspiring story Dave. Pretty smart thinking to insure a way to have clean, safe drinking water back when you were homeless.

[@davidgraemesmith1980]

@@lyndasmith8747 I worked and lived with some brilliant people, being homeless doesn't have to mean suffering from social hardships, back then I was so angry at the world (grieving process was hard) but I'd been raised as a prepper without even knowing it, I lost my home because of my own stupidity but was grateful I'd kept six months ahead in fees on my storage unit, lost my home but had almost everything I need in a 6*8' storage unit.

[@thecrazylifeandtimesofacra2629]

i have lots of ways to purify water i am trying to have as many as possible because water is more important than food even so i am trying to have as many as i can afford

[@pamelabratton2501]

I LOVE the temperature gauge up on your wall.

[@gordonreeder3451]

Great video. I like it. I always knew that filtering rain water would be part of my emergency water plan. But, I hadn't figured out the details. One thing though; stored, ready to drink, water should be part of the overall plan.

[@sherrywoodrum7577]

Thanks, JR. I learned some stuff from this video. I just bought a rain barrel, and the bucket idea is way more portable.

[@patches1483]

Thank you for doing this video. I learned about purifying water and because of all the chemicals, sediments,and biologics in the water I plan to use a triple method of sanitization if it is necessary. 1. Filter river water thru tee shirt and panty hose and collect in a jug. 2. Filter thru stone, sand, activated charcoal filter. Then thru a coffee filter. 3. Boil, boil, boil. 4. Add clorox drops. I do have a life straw and a chemical filter if it is needed.

[@geektarded]

Why are you adding clorox after boiling?

[@davidblanchard5252]

Thank you JR great water purification information.

[@Doggyv]

Well, this just convinced me! I just subscribed. This was very informative. Actually, just what I was looking for. Thanx.

[@teresabeaver1875]

Thank you for all your great advice!

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching Teresa!

[@GF-lr2mh]

This is the best and most practical water video I have seen.

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you!

[@SJ-db1lh]

I like your bucket method! Great video!

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching!

[@wickedmuffin76]

I found a never opened Royal Berkey with some accessories for a great price, picking it up in a couple days. I live near a decent sized lake, and have considered building a cloth/gravel/sand/charcoal prefilter for lake water (if necessary).

[@wickedmuffin76]

I like your idea too, had thought of using a Brita as a prefilter, but the life is so short.

[@dianetaylor1085]

Check out the Brita long-term blue filter. It lasts six months with regular family use.

[@shannonkosko2243]

This was the exact video I was looking for! I knew the Berkey wouldn't be enough!! Thank you!

[@diypreppertv]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@debraadamsadams6955]

Thank you for the great information.

[@devonb8449]

This is great… def grabbing a Sawyer to pre-filter before my Berkey! Great suggestion!

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you!

[@whatnext715]

Another good video. No filter can “do it all” so a multi-stage system makes a lot of sense, to cover a wider range of contaminants and to put less wear on the filters. I have a Sawyer that I use for hiking and it is reasonably priced and pretty straightforward to clean. I love the idea of using it to take some of the wear and tear off other filters, hadn’t thought of that. Have you looked into filters for radiological contaminants? Seychelles used to make them but I haven’t looked into it for quite a while

[@diypreppertv]

I have seen the Seychelle filters, but I didn’t buy one because of their limited filtering capacity compared to something like a Sawyer. I think they are worth taking a look at though if you are worried about radiological issues.

[@whatnext715]

@@diypreppertv I live in the northeast. There are 3 aging nuclear power plants within less than 100 miles in all directions. I haven’t updated my water plan or filters in well over 5 years so I’ll have to look at my old research and see what might have come out since then.

[@Gruene2010]

Very informative. Thank you

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you Staying Sane!

[@thenubalicious]

Good info, thanks !

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching!

[@samc1997]

Excellent video!!!!!!

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you Sam!

[@billycarter1911]

Great info.

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks Billy!

[@THECRANKYONE]

Great video young man! Thank you.

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks Brian!

[@FORTRAN4ever]

Excellent presentation! Many KZbin presentations gloss over important information as the it were common knowledge. I am obtaining Sawyer prefiltering system. I bought the Alexapure system although the the filters are interchangeable. The first filter lasted about three years using tap water. The thing is that to use roof runoff still requires prefiltering and the pillowcase idea solves most of this the problem. Unless you live in Colorado where there is this insane law that makes it illegal to collect rain water and Utah that requires a permit to collect rain water, this method is far better than using water from a containment pond in the subdivision. Finally it is good to have a good supply of Berkey or Alexapure filters for the long run.

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@lyndasmith8747]

FORTRAN4ever, Your comments refocused me back to thinking about water storage again.Thank you. I purchased a couple of 55 gal water storage barrels for emergency water. However, I didn’t consider what to do after the 55 gal barrels were emptied. Duh! So now my next project is to buy a rain barrel to attach to a downspout from the gutters. In a disaster rainwater may be the only long term source of water available to me as I don’t have a well, and don’t live near a stream or pond. Guess I can refill those water storage barrels by hauling water in a bucket from the rain barrel to the water storage barrels.

[@TUNITMOM]

Great information. Have you ever seen or used the water WAPI? It’s a little clear tube with wax that floats. You can heat the water in the sun and when the WAPI wax melts and moves to the other side of the tube the water has been heated enough to be purified. You can use this with a Sun-oven…

[@camillemedina9920]

So very sweet the twins are so loved I also love how nice and easy your marriage is you both love and respect each other wishing long good life marriage and healthy happy safe lives for Minji and Jun

[@judipepper6066]

Great info! Thanks!🙋🏻

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching!

[@lakeshiamurphy]

Thank you so much for this video, very clear presentation!

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you Keshia!

[@lakeshiamurphy]

@@diypreppertv just purchased the spigot! Thanks for helping me and my family make an action plan.

[@hott9053]

Love the desalination video idea. Lots of salt water out there. thanks!

[@milliemrrobinson1074]

This was a great video! Thanks, Jr! I'm glad you showed the alternatives for water purification. I'd love to see one for salt water, as I'm in a coastal area, and salt water is easily available. 👍

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching RM! I have an idea for one, but I need to think it through a little more and pick up some equipment for it.

[@wickedmuffin76]

You can distill salt water, either by boiling or with a solar still, but you lose any minerals that it has.

[@susanschneider-baker49]

@@diypreppertv Look for supplier of hollow-fiber membrane filtration technology used in biopharmaceuticals manufacturing. Possibly a two stage filtration, I think Millipore, Bio-Rad or PerkinElmer carry the filters you would need to desalinate salt water. Figure out the molecular size of salt to know the size of the filters to use.

[@Stephanie-iz3bl]

Another great video!

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you!

[@itsmekaren1884]

Great info 👍🏼

[@ImASurvivorNThriver]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you!

[@shecrazyhorse3122]

Thanks for Sharing ❤ 🥀 ... Very Helpful & Appreciated

[@diypreppertv]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@randolphtrager5858]

Used bleach containers are perfect water storage units,

[@GeckoHiker]

I like that--a Water Plan. When backpacking we usually have some water and a water kit with 6-8 ways to get or treat water. Like a collapsible bucket, Katadyn filter, Grayl, tablets, bleach, boiling vessel, straining cloth, and a Sawyer straw filter. We decided to make a DIY filter system at home with sand, gravel, and charcoal, with boiling and bleach as a backup. And of course we have a simple water distillation system to ensure we get rid of chemical contaminants when necessary. Mostly we should be fine with the well, creek, and rain water.

[@toycarpgmr]

My experience with rain barrels is that they fill up very fast when raining. They continue to fill up when not raining if weather is humid. Overflow needs to be drained into non flood areas. My 3 fifty gallon barrels connected to roof downspout fill up in about 5 minutes with a strong rain. Water gets nasty algae fast too.

[@shadeedmuhammad8107]

Peace to you! Why does alge develop. Is you your rain barrels black or another dark colore

[@toycarpgmr]

@@shadeedmuhammad8107 They are dark red or tan. Problem is screen top.

[@renaissanceman5847]

our problem with rain barrels is that they gradually have silt build up at the bottom. my father had 3, sourced from a tin roof gutter. after 3 years they each had about 30lbs of mud at the bottom.

[@shadeedmuhammad8107]

Thank you for the reply! I have learned something new from you so that I may prepare for that particular problem. I think I may know how to get around it. Thank you so much!

[@toycarpgmr]

@@renaissanceman5847 I have 3 rain barrels connected together. The first barrel gets silted up from the rain gutter downspout. The second has less silt and the third has very little. I live in Los Angeles so there are drought conditions. As I use the water from the last barrel it drains barrels 1 and 2 by gravity. They are on 3 levels by using cinder blocks. When each barrel empties, I clean it out.

[@walleyvideo8297]

Excellent video! I have many items that I plan to use in these scenarios, but your video helped me realize I needed to think things more clearly. (Edit) I'm ordering the Sawyer filter & spigot kit to make up more filtration systems. Using water from this process, might be good enough for washing, bathing, doing dishes and laundry. Chris Cox makes a great comment about not placing the spigot on the bottom of the bucket so it won't be clogged prematurely by sediment.

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching!

[@chazgurrero3090]

Thanks. : )

[@diypreppertv]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@Vex916T]

A sawyer filter is way better for survival/SHTF/camping than a Berkey because sawyer filter is easier to carry, can be adapted to various water containers, able to filtrate 100,000 gallons of water, and way cheaper too.

[@cmb3915]

Great video! Didn’t know bleach had an expiration date.

[@poodledaddles1091]

good video

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you!

[@mesterjess]

EmEmEss (sound it out) is also a solid way to remove any bacterial/viral/etc from the water and it is substantially less harmful than sodium hypochlorite. Amazon sells it pre-mized as Chlorine Dioxide for big $$$ but you can make it yourself super inexpensive and it only is 3 ingredients.

[@winebox]

Has anyone tried the Propure gravity filter system? They don't need an extra fluoride filter and I'm on the fences about buying it. Thanks for the great video.

[@butgod2480]

We have a few systems mentioned in this video for the very reason one is good, two better, more the merrier. We're facing a government overreach with the county forcing us to close our wells and septic systems (Aeration) to be replaced with a hook up to the city/county system. We are being required to "crush" our septics and close (fill) our wells. We're working to protect our wells, but, hey, it's the government. We have a rainwater system with it being expanded for greater use now that this is happening. We have several filtration points, so, we're better off than others around us.

[@camillemedina9920]

Happy Birthday Babies

[@adriannamunoz4699]

I have my berkey, love it but I also have a simpure so I filter my water thru the berkey n then it goes thru the simpure.

[@marshamilne]

Thank you for video.. I was about to order a Berky thinking it would do pond water without all the other steps prior. 😒 They tell you that you can on their website but now I am questioning that

[@diypreppertv]

You’re welcome. You *should* be able to, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

[@countrypete]

Helping the algorithm

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks Pete!

[@terriealexander2344]

hi did you hear anything about truck drivers being rationed for fuel for driving? on west coast of usa

[@titanpreparedness]

So i wonder how much better the alexa purs filters/purifier hold up vs berkley. My systems include a 5 gallon bucket with sand and charcoal with a bucket adapter and the hydroblu versa flow. No spigot required.

[@diypreppertv]

From what I’ve read, they are very similar in design and capabilities. The main advantage that the Berkey seems to have is they have a slightly larger filtering capacity.

[@patches1483]

I plan to use that method if it becomes necessary. Suggestion...filter the water thru a tee shirt to catch sediments and after using the charcoal filter poor it thru a coffee filer to catch any sand or charcoal that may be in the water. I plan on boiling it after that and adding a few drops of clorox.

[@lindasmith6202]

I have an AlexaPur but haven't used it yet as we have good water where we live. Want to save the filters for when needed. I am thinking about Sawyer filters for grown kids & grandkids for Christmas gifts.

[@renaissanceman5847]

why not just pre filter and use a still for long term? distillation gets rid of pretty much everything....

[@AnthonyRodriguez-bl2nl]

What do you use to filter out chemicals?

[@bryanabare]

Nice update

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching!

[@JosephDeAngelis318]

👍

[@texassews535]

Well, I thought I was prepared! Not so much, I found out. Thank you for this video. You have plugged one of the holes in my preps. One thing though-I couldn’t get the information about using the granular Calcium Hypochlorite. When I click on the link you have posted, the link does not have anything about Granular Calcium Hypochlorite. Do you have a location for that information? I just learned about Hydrogen Peroxide lasting only 3 to 6 months. Now bleach. There is always something to replace or buy, right? Thanks for that information too.

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for letting me know about the link! Here is another one that I found: theprovidentprepper.org/disinfecting-water-using-calcium-hypochlorite/ I have also changed the old link in the video description to this one as well. Thanks for watching!

[@texassews535]

Thank you for that link. That helped tremendously. I am printing it out as we speak. I also purchased the spigot (Home Depot in San Antonio did not have any) for the bucket, and I thought I was done. In looking carefully, the Sawyer filter that I previously ordered is different from the one that screws on a tap water spigot. So I got that too. Funny, I’ve been prepping for years and thought I was covered. I also bought a water distiller for our saltwater pool, to use over an rocket stove. There is a special way to use that for saltwater. The directions seemed pretty straightforward. Thank you again for that link. You have made our life easier.

[@Utah_Mike]

What is your opinion on ceramic filters? I do need to up grade my water filter plan

[@diypreppertv]

My understanding is that Black Berkey filtering elements use more types of media within the filters themselves. It helps them remove more quantities of things like lead and heavy metals. To be fair though, I don’t have any personal experience with ceramic filters. They were more expensive than a Sawyer but didn’t claim to remove as much as a Berkey, so I never picked up any.

[@Utah_Mike]

@@diypreppertv I added a Berkley yesterday.

[@screepster]

years ago I bought a Dura-stll distillation unit, it took a chunk out of my wallet but now I only store distilled water for long term. Shoot I'll be in the ground before that water is unsafe and no chemicals needed.

[@trouble97018]

What about distillation?

[@wheepingwillow24u17]

WHY CAN'T YOU USE POOL SHOCK? IT'S POWDER FORM AND WOULD BE GOOD FOREVER.

[@lemon1679]

Does any of these methods remove the minerals in the water we need such as magnesium, potassium?

[@diypreppertv]

They do not

[@teresawoods7476]

Charosl tabs at pharmancy

[@jaredkyle5987]

Boil water is best!!

[@christines2787]

What do you think about atmospheric water generatora?

[@diypreppertv]

I don’t know much about them except they seem like they would require power to work. I like the options mentioned in the video because they last a while, are easy to maintain, and don’t require energy or any special equipment.

[@christines2787]

@@diypreppertv -They definitely use electricity. We are looking at using solar. But between the unit and solar generator and panels, it's very pricey. That's why we haven't done it yet. Looking into the methods that you are using. Thank you for great information

[@diypreppertv]

Thank you Christine!

[@ronamo111]

I have one question if there is no running water, just how the heck are you supposed to back flush all these filters.. Don't be fooled a lot of these filters do not do what they claim. I have a berkey filter and it does not impress me. They cost and arm and a leg, and then your really only using the bottom half plus you have to back flush them and if there is no running water how do you do it.

[@francismcclaughry3794]

I don't know where you guys come from. I live in the country as a kid we had a force pump that was our main source of water. now lets say you are in the city and have no clean source of water the hankering is a god send three pole in a tp shape. the handkerchiefs hung in the try pod. grass and small rock in the first one charcoal from a fire. in the last sand. let the water drip threw then and then the final step is to boil it. just an old country boy.

[@mikes130]

Youse food grade buckets

[@markw.3743]

👍

[@diypreppertv]

Thanks for watching Mark!