Brackish Water

[Mikeg175]

I live off the Chesapeake Bay for now , well off a creek , which is off a river , which is off the Bay . The water is a little brackish , which means it is semi salty , not a lot , but some . Do I need to filter this any different ? It is very minor , but I would rather err to the side of caution . Would simple boiling it work ? My well is decent enough , that I don't even filter or soften it .

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Salt water has to be treated differently or it can kill you if you are dehydrated, at best it can make you sick. The simplest set up is a still like device where steam is cooled in a copper line and drips out. The salt will boil down at the bottom of the container and can be collected and used later.
There are a ton of desalination units out there but since i have no experience in them i will refrain from recommending any.
I'm honestly not sure how to tell if your water is ok or not. I don't have any experience in that either.

[Mikeg175]

Its not salty like the ocean , just has a little higher salt content . My dogs drink it all time , with no ill effects , just wondering if humans need a little more refining :) .

[californiapatriot]

Distillation, like someone described above, is very effective at removing all contaminants from water, however it is very costly in energy to do so.Even if your energy is free, it still consumes resources to do so. It can also be harmful if salt and calcium are not added back in, since pure H2O is an excellent solvent and will strip nutrients from your body. If you are really concerned, I think the most domestic friendly method of removing salt would be reverse osmosis. They sell undersink kits at homedepot that are a few hundred bucks and will remove most contaminants including salt. A "justwater" drip filter may filter a bit of salt as well, which may be just enough to bring down the amount to an acceptable level. Those are about $25 and require two 5 gallon buckets to make. I think they have a kit for sale with a video on cheaper than dirt.
Remember that your body needs salts. But most of us get enough from our food. I even have "rehydration salts" in my BOB that you mix with water and give to someone who is dehydrated so as to restore their electrolytes. Ordinary sea salt can accompolish this too. However too much salt can lead to an electrolyte imbalance. A friend of a friend once ate a who shaker of salt on a dare and ended up in the hospital. He has developed a permanent limp due to the incident. Don't ask me how that works!