Water- S and P only film

[610Alpha]

Just wanted to give an update, I found some Blitz like water containers an K-Mart for $8.29 6 gallon 2 handles like Blitz has. The manufacturer is Midwest Can Company.

[SamT]

I grew up with a cistern, 1953 to 1968, so I am hoping to give some relevant information. Keep in mind that there was a LOT less polution then. Our "Settling Pond" was fed by the Colorado River through about 60 miles of open canals. We would order "Stock" water from the district when it needed refilling. This was our only water source.

We were a mother and two children and I SWAG it would take about 6 weeks to completely empty the thing. I gotta SWAG, 'cuz we never let it get empty. It was about 30'x20' with 3' water with 45* sloped sides, a deep end about 3" deeper than the other, all corners were well rounded.

My father hand dug it in the late 40's, piling the waste around the edges to give a lip keeping runoff out. He used a helper running a one sack mixer to keep him fed with concrete which he hand spread about 2" thick over the chicken wire lining the soil sides.

An important part of the system was the feed trough, a concrete trench 6"x16" about 15' long that was filled with gravel as a pre-filter and covered to keep trash out. There was a gate to close the infill when we wanted the water to bypass the cistern and water the garden.

In use, my mother would add a gallon of household bleach to the water inlet at the start of filling, then we would wait for the water to settle, (clear) before using. That could take up to two days if the in feed was really silty, but was usually ok the next day. I don't think a gallon was enough, but we all stayed healthy.

I had to take all the gravel out of the input filter trench and wash it with a garden hose, then get in the cistern with a scoop shovel about every three years to clean out about 3" of black goop and a bit of seaweed. We would plan this and use the pump to empty out all the water possible. The pump foot usually set on a cinder block, but I would put it on the floor for this. My Mom would make me carry the goop to her garden which really liked it.

In the early 70's, a home remodel caused a BI inspection and he required her to build a roof over the cistern to keep trash and the animals we didn't have out. By that time the house was on bottled water for consumption. I would recommend you add the roof to your plans from the start.

I visited the old place in the 90's and the cistern would no longer hold water for any length of time :(

A good coat of asphaltic sealer would probably fix that.

SamT

[Christian for Israel]

good video.

a couple of points you may want to consider though. water purification tabs are good for BOBs but, for the long term, they'll eventually run out. bleach is ok, but it loses it's effectiveness within a year...not so good for the long term. pool shock can be used to make bleach and it will last forever until it's mixed, but you're right to be wary of inerty ingredients. still, it's better than nothing.

i strongly suggest everyone look into ultraviolet sanitization of water. a good home system will last for ever if you stock replacement bulbs. one bulb will last for years and will disinfect your water in just a few minutes. there are also portable units you can carry in your BOB. another source of UV is direct sunlight. if you fill a clear plastic container and let it sit in sunlight for a few hours the sun's UV radiation will kill pathogens. of course, whatever disinfectant you choose, always combine it with good filtration. a sanitizer will kill pathogens but won't remove heavy metals (arsenic, among others). a good filter will remove or reduce tha level of heavy metals but won't remove some viruses. using both in combination is the only safe means of cleaning questionable water.