Mens & Womens Health

During 2008, floods did serious damage in many sections of the United States. People in the devastated areas were challenged with the loss of property and livelihood, and went without electricity and gas for weeks on end. Flooding can be really hard on the supply of fresh water, and it may become difficult to get water to drink or cook with. There are four things that could be in unpurified water that anyone dealing with a situation such as this needs to be aware of: viruses, poisonous chemicals, bacteria, and parasites. During times like these you need to employ emergency water filters in order to clean up the water you use.

You probably already understand that drinking water loaded with these pollutants could be hazardous to your health. We’ve all seen pictures of people in third world countries drinking from contaminated water sources and heard the sordid stories about the widespread illnesses that result. The people just don’t realize what they’re causing to happen to themselves. Here in the U.S., though, we should all be in the know about what we may be doing to our bodies if we ingest contaminated water and know that if water doesn’t look clean, it needs to be filtered before we drink it.

The human body contains a large amount of water, and that water needs to be replaced constantly. Thirst is nature’s way of reminding us we need to have a drink of water. However, if a disaster pollutes the drinking water, there must be some type of emergency water purification plan on hand to help get everyone through. Purification may consist of boiling the water, filtering it, adding chemicals, or a combination of the three.

Many people think that adding common household bleach to contaminated water will purify it and make it safe to drink and cook with. To some extent, this is partially true, because the chlorine in the bleach eliminates the microorganisms that can make us sick. Unfortunately, though, it can also kill the good bacteria that our bodies must have in order to work correctly. Due to this, it is recommended that iodine be used to chemically treat water. Iodine is a suitable portable water purification system to utilize for emergency water purification processes. Adding 3 drops to a quart of clear water or 6 drops to a quart of contaminated water will destroy the bacteria and other contaminants making the water safe for humans to drink.