Retention pond water?

[indiver]

I have a retention pond in back of the house, I only have a short term supply of drinking water. The pond has runoff from the streets oil, gas, whatever is poured down the storm drain, fertilizer, pesticides and what not from the yards. Is there any way to make this water drinkable? I could boil it run it thru my filter then then add bleach, but I still don't think that would do the trick. If not I need to find a way to pound my own well in the back yard. Any ideas?

 

[longbarrel]

Move out of sub-division? They are designed to keep you in.

 

[indiver]

Move out of sub-division? They are designed to keep you in.

This is my first choice, but until then?

 

[K_W]

Last resort.

Look into rain barrels. Keep them treated to prevent mosquitoes.

Edit: Also, your water heater is a great source of sterile water in an emergency, as long as the water coming in was good up until it stopped. Close the supply valve and use the drain valve and a short hose to get the water out as you need it. It will have sediment but that is easily filtered.

 

[eatsnopaste]

I also have a couple retention ponds around my sub-division. I would also be interested if someone could come up with something better than...move.

 

[flatlander]

Um yeah...the "move" post should have been in purple I'm sure.
If you are doing everything you said to it, filter, boil, filter and bleach I would drink it in an emergency. I also have one behind me and that's the same thing I'm going to do. Living in an apartment at this time limits my options on rain retention systems as well as driving a well so I'm prepared to make do. If you have enough notice, fill the bathtub, get a 250 gal bladder that you can fill from the faucet, the water heater as well as your already stored water should see you thru for a little while.

Bob

 

[rockhopper46038]

A distillation system might do the trick, but if things are bad enough that you're considering drinking from the retention pond you'll probably need some alternative way to generate the heat for it.

 

[SaintsNSinners]

Gas, oil and antifreeze float on water so if worst comes to worst pump from the bottom of the pond. I dont know what other fun substances may be in the pond as well..


definitely filter, bleach, filter, distill, bleach, filter?

 

[mrjarrell]

I'll second the rain barrels. There are just too many toxins in a retention pond. Boiling and filtering won't cut it. Even distilling wouldn't get rid of all of them, since they'd go along for the distillation ride. Drinking from a retention pond would be my absolute last resort. I'd rather travel to my nearest river and bring water home in a bucket.

 

[indiver]

Rain barrels and water heater good short term ideas, I need to research distilling. I think the pond may be spring fed, there's a place just a few feet off my back yard that bubbles and never freezes in the winter. Would there be some sort of tube or pipe I could hook into and get spring water? When it gets a little warmer I'm going to put on the wetsuit and see if I can feel anything.

 

[revance]

Make sure to filter well with carbon. Not just any old carbon, but use a carbon block slowly. Then of course sterilize.

 

[indyjack]

there are two problems with the rain barrel idea... 1. the government owns the rain. there have been several cases in which people are fined for having rain barrels. 2. the chemical spraying that has been going on for over a a decade has made the rain polluted. take a look at some independent tests of rain water. people all over the country have done them. levels of aluminum, barium, and sulfur are through the roof, not to mention other more toxic substances. all i'm saying is just because it's rain water doesn't mean its safe to drink. i will try to look up some links to info later tonite if anyone is interested.

 

[bdybdall]

In the short term emergency, if you eliminate turbidity and all biological contaminants you should be good to go. Do you have farm ground nearby where rainwater goes into your pond? Do the neighbors do a lot of chemical treatment on their lawns? You might want to invest in a filtration system that uses activated carbon. Water that is clear and warm can be treated for biological contaminants with UV light. Google Katadyn or some of the other filter makers.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

A friend tells me you can put toxic sludged in a Berkeley Water filter and it will come out clean. I can't testify to that personally but it's worth a bit of research.

 

[indiver]

A friend tells me you can put toxic sludged in a Berkeley Water filter and it will come out clean. I can't testify to that personally but it's worth a bit of research.

Berkeley looks like a good way to go.

 

[Enkrypter]

Solar Still

I've yet to see anyone here mention them.

Depending on how much water you need, you can chain a bunch of small ones together, or build a big one. They require zero power and run on sunlight. You can re-use your shower water, urine, pretty much anything wet would be turned into 100% pure drinking water. This would be especially true of your pond water.

I think they would be highly practical. It could be 50 degrees outside, but a well insulated still box would still evaporate liquid and produce water. The moonshiners have been doing this for a long long time. It's jsut as effective on water.

Build a large version of this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrPRnaS449w

Or

If you have a heat source, you can easily make your own and do it much faster... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIBBKgoXHd4[/ame]

 

[BulletSponge]

That water is fine, just pull the water from about one foot down then bleach it for at least 20 min. then filter it and your good to go.

 

[indyjohn]

Berkeley looks like a good way to go.

Until you try to travel with it.

Try the Sawyer solution instead. No replacement cartridges required.

 

[cordex]

Until you try to travel with it.

Try the Sawyer solution instead. No replacement cartridges required.

I like Sawyer and have one of their filters, but they have their own limitations. A charcoal filter can remove some contaminants that a Sawyer simply cannot. If you have clean water with potential biological contamination then a Sawyer is perfect. If the water contains dissolved contaminants then the Sawyer doesn't have a way to remove them.

Different tools for different jobs.

 

[indyjohn]

I like Sawyer and have one of their filters, but they have their own limitations. A charcoal filter can remove some contaminants that a Sawyer simply cannot. If you have clean water with potential biological contamination then a Sawyer is perfect. If the water contains dissolved contaminants then the Sawyer doesn't have a way to remove them.

Different tools for different jobs.

Except in some circumstances that you might run across in an urban setting, I am not convinced the average person seeking water would encounter contamination (I am guessing you are referring to heavy metals) at levels that would have immediate effect on that person's health - i.e. toxic. I believe that a sensible person would seek out the water source that has the best chance of containing the least contamination.

No doubt almost any water found today will have "trace" levels of elements that if consumed over time will lead to health problems but over the short term not cause you to become sick. And not getting immediately sick is the whole point of filtering the water, right?