Easy Ways to Purify Water by Shahrzad Sadeghi
Water, the most crucial and absolutely paramount resource that nature depends on to survive, is running out. Over the past years it has become increasingly difficult to find pure water due to the repulsive amounts of contamination to Earth’s fresh water bodies in the form of human sewage, petroleum, waste products, and rainwater runoff. Furthermore, in developing countries, 70% of industrial wastes are dumped into different bodies of water, which ends up deeply polluting the ocean and our overall water supply.
This tremendous contamination has lead to many deadly diseases, which are slowly lowering the population. The only way to fix this major issue is to put in a greater effort to making sure our sources of water are clean and safe enough to drink through simple water purification methods.
One method of quickly purifying water is by using household bleach. Household bleach can purify water in under 30 minutes. If the water has low turbidity and is somewhat clear, about 8 drops (⅛ teaspoon) of the bleach will successfully be able to cleanse the water. However, if the water has a greater amount of murkiness and turbidity, then 16 drops of bleach will make the water safe enough to consume. The bleach will not be able to remove chemical contaminants or metals, and the bleach should not be expired. If it is expired, then the purifying process will fail to work. After six months, household bleach usually loses its potency, making it ineffective when it comes to doing the job that we require to survive.
A much simpler method to make sure the water you drink is free of unwanted bacteria, is by boiling it for about 10 minutes. “Doing this will kill most, if not all the microscopic protozoan cysts that would not be able to be killed otherwise”, states Don Green, Water Specialist and Environmentalist. An even more effective way of performing this method is by covering the pot with a pan which will speed up the process due to the condensation kept inside the pot. The only negative aspect of this is that boiling the water will decrease the amount of it you contain, but it will ensure your water remains clean enough to drink.
In this era, we all know locating clean water can be painfully difficult, taking into account the massively polluted lakes, rivers, and oceans. In order to successfully find pure water to drink during times of desperation, the solar still method will provide enough clean water to survive. The items you will need is a sheer plastic bag and a solar still in order to make a distiller to purify liquids. The plastic will catch the condensed water in the still while the sun’s radiation will help to distill the water. The most efficient area to place the solar still will be in a pit with moisture, similar to soil. Once you place the still in the center of the pit, seal the plastic bag over the solar still and the pit, and you can place sand or rocks over the still to act as an anchor. As soon as the water condenses in the plastic sheet, it will drip into the cup. Adding vegetation or fluid to the pit will increase the amount of water evaporated, leading to more condensed water.
Water that might look clean and pure really might be the opposite of that. You never know what types of harmful bacteria can be lurking around in the water, which makes the iodine significant in killing the bacteria. “Sphagnum, which is a genus of peat moss, would release iodine into the water when added to it”, states Karch Levy, Head of the Biology Department at Caltech. After pouring the water into a bowl, you place an iodine test strip into the bowl and wait for 30 seconds. If there are no iodine levels present, you add peat moss into the bowl and wait for an additional 30 seconds. Looking at the iodine strip, you will notice a tint of color, which means the water is at a low iodine level and should help rid the water of some of the contaminants. Next, you must build a water filter using a two-liter bottle, with the base layer closest to the mouth of the bottle containing green moss. The second layer should contain sphagnum, charcoal and a peat moss mixture. Lastly, it should contain some stones. You then pour the water into the bottle and let it sit to increase iodine levels. This will help remove possible sediment, bacteria, and parasites, making the water safe to drink.
All of these quick and easy methods can help us battle through these challenging times where water is a sacred source we all so desperately need. Out of all these methods, I truly believe boiling water is the easiest way to ensure your water is clean. It does not require many materials or experience in science. Making sure the water is not contaminated and pure will be extremely beneficial in keeping our bodies healthy without introducing any unwanted diseases to our immune systems.
This tremendous contamination has lead to many deadly diseases, which are slowly lowering the population. The only way to fix this major issue is to put in a greater effort to making sure our sources of water are clean and safe enough to drink through simple water purification methods.
One method of quickly purifying water is by using household bleach. Household bleach can purify water in under 30 minutes. If the water has low turbidity and is somewhat clear, about 8 drops (⅛ teaspoon) of the bleach will successfully be able to cleanse the water. However, if the water has a greater amount of murkiness and turbidity, then 16 drops of bleach will make the water safe enough to consume. The bleach will not be able to remove chemical contaminants or metals, and the bleach should not be expired. If it is expired, then the purifying process will fail to work. After six months, household bleach usually loses its potency, making it ineffective when it comes to doing the job that we require to survive.
A much simpler method to make sure the water you drink is free of unwanted bacteria, is by boiling it for about 10 minutes. “Doing this will kill most, if not all the microscopic protozoan cysts that would not be able to be killed otherwise”, states Don Green, Water Specialist and Environmentalist. An even more effective way of performing this method is by covering the pot with a pan which will speed up the process due to the condensation kept inside the pot. The only negative aspect of this is that boiling the water will decrease the amount of it you contain, but it will ensure your water remains clean enough to drink.
In this era, we all know locating clean water can be painfully difficult, taking into account the massively polluted lakes, rivers, and oceans. In order to successfully find pure water to drink during times of desperation, the solar still method will provide enough clean water to survive. The items you will need is a sheer plastic bag and a solar still in order to make a distiller to purify liquids. The plastic will catch the condensed water in the still while the sun’s radiation will help to distill the water. The most efficient area to place the solar still will be in a pit with moisture, similar to soil. Once you place the still in the center of the pit, seal the plastic bag over the solar still and the pit, and you can place sand or rocks over the still to act as an anchor. As soon as the water condenses in the plastic sheet, it will drip into the cup. Adding vegetation or fluid to the pit will increase the amount of water evaporated, leading to more condensed water.
Water that might look clean and pure really might be the opposite of that. You never know what types of harmful bacteria can be lurking around in the water, which makes the iodine significant in killing the bacteria. “Sphagnum, which is a genus of peat moss, would release iodine into the water when added to it”, states Karch Levy, Head of the Biology Department at Caltech. After pouring the water into a bowl, you place an iodine test strip into the bowl and wait for 30 seconds. If there are no iodine levels present, you add peat moss into the bowl and wait for an additional 30 seconds. Looking at the iodine strip, you will notice a tint of color, which means the water is at a low iodine level and should help rid the water of some of the contaminants. Next, you must build a water filter using a two-liter bottle, with the base layer closest to the mouth of the bottle containing green moss. The second layer should contain sphagnum, charcoal and a peat moss mixture. Lastly, it should contain some stones. You then pour the water into the bottle and let it sit to increase iodine levels. This will help remove possible sediment, bacteria, and parasites, making the water safe to drink.
All of these quick and easy methods can help us battle through these challenging times where water is a sacred source we all so desperately need. Out of all these methods, I truly believe boiling water is the easiest way to ensure your water is clean. It does not require many materials or experience in science. Making sure the water is not contaminated and pure will be extremely beneficial in keeping our bodies healthy without introducing any unwanted diseases to our immune systems.
Arrowhead Will Not Increase Supply in Response to Recent Demand by Will BondRecently, executives from Nestle hinted that they have noticed trends in data that there is an increasing demand for their water product, Arrowhead. Peter Brabeck is the head of Nestle’s water division. In a recent interview he says, “currently we have been selling much more purified water than usual. There has been a steady increase shown in the graphs on how much water we are selling.”
The water supply in much of the country has been significantly decreased due to the recent drought in California. Many people do not use their tap water anymore and are relying on companies like Arrowhead to supply them with water. Brabeck also mentions that, “this demand for purified water is only going to get greater as the drought looks like it is going to continue to get worse.” If this drought does continue to get worse, Arrowhead is left in a sticky situation. Of Arrowhead’s thirteen water sources, eleven of them are located in the state of California who is currently experiencing the worst of the drought. Arrowhead, in a recent statement, also mentioned that they are not going to increase their supply of water. “We at Arrowhead are going to continue to distribute water at the same rate that we did before. We will not increase our distribution due to this recent demand because of the lack of water caused by the drought. We are sorry for any inconveniences.” |
The company will lose money if they do increase their supply because many of their sources of water are in California, where water is scarce. If they were to increase the amount of water they shipped out they would run out very quickly which could lead them to bankruptcy. Water is an essential part of life, but Arrowhead recommends limiting the amount of water you consume daily.
In Brabeck’s interview, he tried to avoid talking about the water division of the company which clearly indicates the company is not very optimistic and is preparing for the worst outcome. However, Arrowhead is not the only company that has seen an increase in demand for fresh purified water recently. Coca-Cola’s daughter company, Dasani, has also seen an increase in demand for their product. However, Dasani is in a much better position than Arrowhead is at the moment. Since Coca-Cola is such a large company around the world, Dasani has sources of water from all around as well. However, this does come with a negative aspect in return. Most of Dasani’s sources in the United States are also in California, which is leading to them having to import water from their other sources around the world. The price of Dasani has steadily increased over the past six months because they need to spend more money to provide the American population with water. Arrowhead’s prices have also gone up because of the increasing demand for fresh water. Another reason for Arrowhead not increasing their supply is because of their competitor Dasani. If they were to increase their supply and ran out of water, Dasani would take advantage and put Arrowhead out of business. |
Brabeck also spoke about possibly using alternate sources to produce fresh water. The only problem is that some of them come with a high cost. Brabeck informed us that, “at this stage, we are currently looking into finding other sources or ways that we can produce fresh water. Money is something that we will need to keep in mind when looking into these alternative sources.” Although, Brabeck did not specifically mention what they were looking into, using saltwater from the ocean to produce fresh water is something that would not be surprising. Desalination is the process that takes ocean water and purifies it into fresh water. However, the cost of this is high and Arrowhead being a large company would need multiple large scale plants. A large scale plant would cost around $100 million to build, and if Arrowhead needed multiple plants, that would use up a lot of their budget. Not only is the plant expensive, but the cost of the actual process of desalination is also pricy. As of 2012, the cost to produce freshwater from seawater has been $2,329 per acre-foot.
Brabeck has some serious decisions to make on concerning the future of Arrowhead. California is still in a serious drought and as it continues, he recommends that you should try to, “limit the amount of showers taken, turn off the water while brushing your teeth, and install drought resistance plants. All of these adjustments, even though they seem small, can definitely help in making the future of this planet more successful." |