Emergency Water Filters: Guiding You through the Maze

having a quality water filter on hand for emergencies is vitally important but which one do you choose [Music] I'm Jonathan and Kylene Jones and we are the Provident Preppers there are literally hundreds of different water filters out on the market how do you know which one to choose to produce clean safe drinking water for you and your family when disaster strikes in this video we will talk about the different types of filters that are available and the strengths and weaknesses of each one we will also talk about what might be the best solution for you and your family and help you make that decision and finally we will make some recommendations as to the filters we use in our emergency water filtration arsenal stay tuned our friend Jamie texted me and asked me if we would give her some recommendations on emergency water filters she knows that she needs one but she just was kind of lost as to exactly what she needed to buy for her family so that when disaster strikes she'll be able to produce clean drinking water for them Jamie we dedicate this video to you and hope that it answers all the questions that you have about emergency water filtration first let's start with the basics exactly what are the dangers in the water that we are worried about there are two main categories biological which are the living creatures and chemical the main categories of biological contaminants that we are concerned about are protozoa bacteria and viruses and the important thing for you to remember is that each one of these are a different sized protozoa is the biggest between 1 and 15 microns and can be easily filtered out by the majority of filters however it cannot be deactivated by either chlorine or iodine so it's really important to have a filter to get rid of these guys bacteria are medium-sized and most good filters will filter out the bacteria however virus are just tiny and they will slide right on through many of the filters the most important thing to understand about the bugs in the water is that they can make you very very ill and a waterborne illness is not something you want to mess with ever and especially when disaster strikes and the next are chemical contaminants everything from chlorine to pesticides to to all kinds of different pollutants in the water and some filters will remove those and others will not so if you are concerned that your water source has these you need to make sure that you pick the right filter we always recommend that you have water in storage that is going to be your best water that you will have available we recommend at least 1 to 2 gallons per day per person for at least 2 weeks we know that sometimes that's a lot of water but do the very best that you can the more water that you have the better off you're gonna be even if your stored water isn't perfect it will be much better than anything else that you'll be able to find elsewhere and you can just run it through your filter and it may require that you get a little bit creative one of the ways that we store additional water is by filling all of our canning jars once they're used and we store them full my friend Betty takes advantage of used soda bottles she washes them out really well fills them with water and then stores them underneath her bed in addition to your stored water you need to be aware of where you will get additional water hopefully it will not look like this but regardless of what that source is you need to be able to clean it up so that you have clean safe drinking water of course you will want to use the cleanest water available typically that's going to be from some kind of a running source like you can see in the picture here as opposed to some stagnant water in a pond sometimes we have people say well I've got a swimming pool so I've got all the water I need really not true this is not a good place to get drinking water you may be able to use that water for hygiene purposes but a lot of those chemicals will not come out and that water is not safe for drinking if you are planning on using the water from your swimming pool you need to make sure that you have a filter we'll filter out those chemicals and make sure that you practice with it so that you can see what it tastes like and what that filter really produces making water safe to drink typically involves three processes this includes clarifying the water disinfecting the water and filtering the water and we'll go through these in a little more detail the first process is clarification and this is so important because you're going to be able to use your filter for much longer if you're putting clean water through that you can use things like coffee filters or layers of paper towels a regular towel or a bandana as you can see here in this pitcher you can also allow that water to settle for some period of time and scoop the stuff off the top and allow the stuff on the bottom to not be used regardless of how you do that you want to make sure you have clear clean water to put through your filter one of the reasons why it's important to clarify the water first is because during the disinfection process some of the critters can avoid deactivation by hiding in that particulate matter there are some good pre filters out there you can see in the picture here a filter bag this is a one micron filter bag and you can filter thousands and thousands of gallons through this it is not rated for viruses or for some bacterias but it will do a great job of getting a lot of the junk out of your water but the big problem with this bag is noticed that you don't contaminated water in the center and then the water is filtered on the outside into a bucket or something it's really difficult to not to contaminate the outside of that bag while you're filling the inside with contaminated water you have to be really careful with that the second step is disinfection and this is where we kill the living critters in the water if you click the card in the corner it will take you to a post that Jonathan and I have written on emergency water disinfection if you ever wanted to know how to disinfect water this is the post that you need to read and I would actually print it out and put it with your emergency preparedness reference materials the third process is filtration or contaminant removal most filters will remove protozoa and bacteria and some of them will remove viruses some will also remove chemical contaminants and improve taste but not all of them that's why we're gonna discuss emergency water filters so that you can understand the limitations to the filters that you choose each good filter will have an independent lab certification showing how that filter performed in actual testing what is the manufacturer recommended filter life is that filter going to last for 50 gallons of water or a million gallons of water there's no right and wrong to this you might purchase a straw that's only going to last for that 50 gallons but that's appropriate for its intended purpose the filter life is another factor that you need to look at and consider when you're purchasing a filter I thought it was humorous and a little bit deceptive as we found a filter at a store once that said it would do 20 pounds of water well 20 pounds of water is only less than 2 and a half gallons that was very deceptive and it made me realize that sometimes the marketing takes over on some of these things and they try and deceive you you really have to be aware of what you're getting and make sure that you're getting what you want yeah I look a little deeper right how long will it take your filter to produce that clean drinking water again it's not a determining factor but it's something that it's important to evaluate and recognize especially if you're trying to filter enough water for maybe a large family or a group if you don't have something that will produce enough flow rate it's going to take an awful lot of work and it still may not be able to keep up now with the basics behind us let's talk about the different types of filters the first one that we're going to talk about are gravity filters you pour the water in the top of the container and gravity pulls the water through the filter into a lower container where you're able to access the water before we get into all of the commercial filters that are good options it's always good to know how to make something on your own this photo and drawing are courtesy of Kenneth Moravec he has created this earthen filter to produce clean drinking water when you don't have a commercial filter however a commercial filter is usually going to do a significantly better job than a homemade filter but if you don't have that option it's really good to know how to make one the Sawyer filter is one of my favorite filters and this filter can be a adapted to use as a bucket filter but it could be in a different category also soil produces two different filters the first is a point one which is a biological filter which will filter out the protozoa and the bacteria however it is not rated for viruses but the point zero two purifier is rated for viruses also it does have a slower flow rate so that needs to be taken into consideration but here we're looking at a couple of the test results on the bottom and it shows that of this biological contaminant it removed ninety-nine point whatever percent and in the chlorine testing results it removed greater than 90 percent of the chlorine now the Sawyer filter is not rated for any type of chemical contaminants however you can see that it did remove part of the chemicals the hydro blue versa flow filter is very similar to the Sawyer filter they both use the hollow fiber filtration medium which was originally developed for kidney dialysis it's a great technology the hydro blue versa flow filter can be used with two different bottles you notice that dirty water in the top you squeeze that and then it goes down into the second bottle as clean water it can be used in line with a hydration pack or it can be used as the filter for a bucket filter or it can be used directly at the water source similar to a filter straw it will block bacteria and protozoa but it is not rated from either chemicals or viruses and this has a 100 thousand gallon filter life but it's only 20 bucks one of our favorites is the murky water filter and it removes the biological as well as the chemical contaminants these have a 3,000 gallon filter life this filter does a really really thorough job and so it's going to cost more it's $250 for this travel size and the replacement filters are $60 each similar to the Berkey is the aqua rain carbon filter this one is rated to remove protozoa and bacterias but is not rated for viruses so if I were using this one I would pretreat that water with chlorine and then run it through this filter it does a good job of removing the chemicals and it will improve taste and odor these filters go about 10,000 gallons and this unit retails for about $325 and replacement filters are about $60 each and now let's talk a little bit about pump filters these are the filters that have to manually have the water pumped through the filter to clean the water we like the hydro blue pressurized jerrycan filter the virus free version contains three separate filters one is the activated carbon filter which cleans up the water and gets out some of the chemicals in the taste it also has a hollow fiber bacterial filter which is just ready to get the pro zoa's and the bacteria out or you have the option of using a hollow fiber virus filter which will get out the viruses as well as everything else you'll want to use the activated carbon with one of the other two filters and you choose which filter you want to use depending on what your water source is this filter has a 10,000 gallon filter life and it runs about 180 dollars this is a really good choice for us when we go camping or for emergency evacuation this would be a great option water filter bottles are really good for portable personal water filtration needs something that you can take with you when you travel or in your survival kits because they will improve the taste and safety of the water now the bottle is one thing but the filter inside of the bottle is going to vary tremendously which ever brand a filter that you decide to use whether it's Hydra blue or Sawyer or any of the others each one of them make a water bottle with their specific filter inside so choose the one that you like the best and then there's section filters where the water is sucked through the filter to clean it the really good thing about these is they're very light and portable you can take them with you pretty much anywhere you need to go I see two main problems with this type of filtration system one is that it's very difficult to suck that water through the straw you can see my eyeballs popping out there it takes a lot of work and the other one is that your face is very close to that contaminated water and for me that's a bit scary this is a se shal radiological filter and the point of having this in here is just to let you see that there are a whole variety of filters out there this particular one will not filter out by law two contaminants it is made to take out radiological contaminants so you need to make sure that you understand what you are getting and make sure that you get the right product to get the job done and understand that Seychelle is a great water filter brand this particular one that they design is specific for radiological needs they make other filters that do a great job of removing the biological contaminants know your filter and what it was designed to remove from the water now we'll talk about some of our recommendations based on our experience if you're looking for the best water filter that you can get for under 30 bucks these are our picks the soy your squeeze and the Hydra blue versa flow both of these filters have a really long filter life the Hydra blue is only a hundred thousand gallons which is a huge amount and the Sawyer is a million gallons but neither one of them will remove viruses and they are not rated to remove chemicals without a carbon filter that means that if you are going to use this filter you should pretreat your water with chlorine or iodine or something like that before you run it through the filter if you are concerned that there are viruses in your original water source do you see how you can make it work you have to think about this understand the limitations of your filter and think it through so that it will produce clean drinking water for you this is my pick for the most versatile affordable system the Sawyer products squeeze water filter system it runs about $56 this water filter has gone all over the world with us literally you can see the box is pretty smashed up so it the little tiny sawyer water filter is the thing that does the job but this has an attachment that you can attach to a sink in a hotel room or in your kitchen sink and run it through the filter and get clean water directly from that it comes with all the parts that you need to make a bucket gravity filter or you can use the squeeze bags it's just a really versatile filter for fifty six dollars now that one will not remove the viruses but you can get the same kit in a point zero two option and that's a hundred and forty dollars again it just depends on what you think might be in your water this would be my recommendation for someone who is on a limited budget who just wants to buy a water filter and tuck it away just in case something bad happens it doesn't take up much room and it is highly versatile our family's portable water filter is the hydro blue jerrican water filter the virus free package allows you to decide which filter you need and to also have the carbon filter so that you can clean that water up very nicely it has a 10,000 gallon filter life and it's $180 so for less than $200 it's really not a bad option and when it comes to the personal water filters the water bottles the hydro blue clear flow makes a really good water filter bottle for twenty two dollars the Seychelle extreme water bottle is $35 and it's one that we have been using for a long time it removes bacteria viruses and chemicals and it only has a hundred gallon filter life but a hundred gallons is quite a bit of water my number one pick the best family countertop water filter is the Berkey hands-down I love my Burkean I have the travel size that you see on the left there that when we go traveling places I will take it with me and put it on the counter top when we go visit our kids so that I can fill with water and have clean tasting drinking water no matter where I am and that goes all the way up to the six gallon size which is what you might need if you had a large group that you are taking care of it does remove the protozoa the bacterias and most of the viruses it takes out a lot of the chemicals and it really improves the taste of the water these are a really great unit when it comes to a water filter that can remove almost anything nasty in your water with the exception of salt the black murky water filter is just ideal it's a very comforting thing to know that I can make clean drinking water for my family using that let's sum this up it's important for you to understand what the potential contaminants would be in your water source based on that information you're going to choose a water filter to meet your needs you're going to put the cleanest water you can through that you're going to understand the limitations that filter for example if it is not rated to handle viruses you're going to make sure you have the ability to pretreat that water with chlorine or something else to make sure that you take care of that and then you're going to practice and practice and practice so that you understand what you have what it will do and you'll know how to use it when the time arises we invite you to Google the Provident prepper emergency water filters guiding you through the maze and it truly is a maze of products out there it is important that you can find the right one for you this video is based on this post and this post has all kinds of great information we've done a lot of research and it will provide you with a lot more information that we could provide here also check out our youtube channel including making water safe to drink and using calcium hypochlorite check them out emergency water filters aren't such a mystery after all it's all about understanding what your potential water filtration needs might be and then purchasing the right filter to meet those needs and once you have that filter practicing with it and getting to know the filter so that when disaster strikes you have the ability to produce clean safe drinking water for your family and now for the questions of the day what experience do you have using water filters and what advice and comments do you have for our viewers comment below and thanks for being part of the solution [Music] you

Channel: The Provident Prepper

Views: 11,912

Rating: 4.9452887 out of 5

Keywords: Water Purification, SHTF, Emergency Preparedness, Emergency Water Filters, Water Disinfection, Water Filtration, TEOTWAWKI, The Provident Prepper, Jonathan and Kylene Jones, Gravity Water Filters, Pump Water Filters, Suction Water Filters, Bottle Water Filters

Id: C1Jg8QQWf4k

Length: 19min 21sec (1161 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 24 2020