In an emergency, we need to take immediate actions. We all drink water on a daily basis and we can’t live without it. Therefore, having a regular supply of clean drinking water is paramount. If you drink disinfected water, you will expose your body to a lot of pathogens. In this article, we are going to find out how you can disinfect water in an emergency situation.

You need water for washing dishes and cooking meals in your kitchen. Therefore, you should follow the methods given below to make sure you have clean water to use.

Look for a Source of water

First of all, it’s important that you look for a good source of water. For instance, you can head to wetlands, reservoirs, lakes, and tributaries, just to name a few. If you can afford, you can have a private well dug on your property. This well will provide you with plenty of fresh water on a regular basis.

Given below are a few rules that can help you determine the safe sources of water to meet your daily needs:

• Flowing water is much better than stagnant water
• It’s better to avoid dark color water
• It’s better to avoid water that emits strange odor
• It’s better to avoid water that has something floating on its surface

Boil Water to Disinfect it

According to the WHO, if you want to kill protozoa, viruses, bacteria and pathogens, all you need to do is boil the water you want to use. Given below are the steps you can follow:

1. If the water you have is cloudy, you should let it sit for a while and then filter it via a coffee filter, paper towel and a clean piece of cloth.

2. Boil the water for a few minutes with a lid on the container. The purpose of keeping the container covered is to prevent water loss. If your residence at an altitude of 5,000 feet, you need to boil the water for at least 3 minutes.

3. Lastly, store the water in a container and keep it covered.

The Bleach Method

If you don’t want to use the previous method, you can use a chlorine bleach product for the sanitization and disinfection. Make sure that the ingredients contain at least 6% of sodium hypochlorite. It’s not a good idea to try color-safe or scented bleach that contain cleaners. Given below are the things you need and the steps you need to follow.

• A dropper
• Chlorine bleach that contains 6% of sodium hypochlorite

Steps to Follow:

1. If the water looks cloudy, you should let it sit for a while and then filter using a piece of cloth or paper towel.

2. Next, add a few drops of bleach to the water. As a general rule, you can add 6 drops of bleach to a gallon of water. However, you need to add more of it if the water is very cold, colored and cloudy.

3. After adding the bleach, you should stir the container and let it sit for at least half an hour.

4. If the taste of chlorine is too strong, you can pour the water to another container and let it sit for a couple of hours.

So, these are two simple method of disinfecting water in a few minutes or hours. Hope this helps.