From strained air to putting glass in that hole the temp swing brought snow
.
As anyone that's known me long enough should know, as long as I'm still kickin' there's a system that can be revamped and streamlined. This time it just so happens to be my system that victim to the trickery of organic compounds and the multiplicity of multicellular organisms.
.
It looks like I've got a good multi-faceted, multi-tiered, scalable, system that has defined steps and safeguards entrenched in the mechanisms within the processes the system is comprised so as long as my headache isn't due to a brain eating amoeba, slight chance (link), but everything will turn out well, maybe (link).
.
Not to be deterred by death as I am still here, thirsty, and need fresh water to swallow a pain killer for my
The bucket she hangs. The snow she melts...
.
I put the bucket of snow on a screw sticking out from the rafters above my wood stove and awaited the melt.
.
With time to kill I began the process of checking each individual container for the presence of either the smell from or presence of this "white water mold" (link).
.
After reading all I could find regarding my dilemma it appeared the problem was typically a pool oriented issue that resulted from a low level of chlorine in slow moving water.
.
Makes perfect sense I wouldn't find anything about it being in rain water collection tanks as most of them are set up with multiple filters including reverse osmosis and activated charcoal filtering on demand.
.
The filtration system I use has a mesh that separates all the way down to 0.1 microns. That's small enough to block bacteria because bacteria is roughly twice that size but it can't filter out virus, scent, flavor, chemicals, or toxins.
.
I even added chlorine, 8 drops per gallon of regular and 5 for concentrated, as a chemical treatment to prevent things like this from growing in it while shelved.
.
I looked up the MSDS sheet for Signature Home Concentrated Bleach manufactured by Kik, (link), to ensure the product was as assumed and it shows the expected 8.25% of Sodium Hypochlorite and less than 1% of Sodium Hydroxide.
.
After the first test I saw the water had a yellowish tinge to it as compared to spring water and after research found it was likely to be due to sulfur from the
Settle down the brown, pre-filter the pour, a trickle clear you hear
.
I found that waiting until it had been raining for a few minutes not only cleaned my roof and cleared my gutters of debris but it also collected water that fell through cleaner air as the initial rain took with it most of the air pollution.
.
From there I needed to allow the water to settle for at least ten minutes. Doing so allowed the particulates the water condensed onto in the cloud to fall out of solution creating a layer of black dust in the bottom of the bucket with only a few pieces of either wind blown junk or material from the trees above my house floating in the top stratum.
.
After settling the water made it's from the
Sawyer Mini filters down to 0.1 microns. Requires an occasional back-flush.
.
With the bucket depleted and one gallon jugs prepared I began filling the gravity fed system built using a one gallon jug connected to a vertical run of 1/4" ID tubing that plumbed into my Sawyer Mini 0.1 micron filter.
.
This system allowed a water column of roughly five feet producing a median output of a gallon of clear filtered water every five or so minutes ranging from a brisk 45 seconds following a freshly back-flushed filter to a creeping crawl of drips prompting me to get up out of my chair to back-flush again.
.
Onto the chemicals, I prepared all the containers for treatment with lids off and in a row as I filled my syringe
That boy's pretty sharp even if he did drill a hole at 2.75 cc
.
I created a dropper from an unused syringe that came in an ink cartridge refill kit. I pulled the plunger all the way to the back and drilled a 1/16" hole just in front of the rubber stop so I can use the entire length to draw bleach into the tube then once I pass the hole I can uses my finger tip to regulate the drip rate from the needle into each gallon of water.
.
Lids on, lightly shaken then rolled to ensure circulation, then pushed into place on a shelf each gallon went, one at a time.
.
Oddly, I found that the water appeared to bubble as it sat so for the first few days I opened the lids and could feel and hear an out-rush of gas from the containers as I went down the line.
.
Recycling doesn't always mean giving stuff away to be sold back to you...
.
Boom! It hit me. The failures of handling and procedures hit me like a palm to the forehead...
.
I was allowing the gasses out of the bottle to purify the water but doing so also allowed the water to release the chlorine that kept it sterile. Further I was allowing air contact then closing the lid with any airborne pathogens trapped inside. Then as the bottles awaited their turn on the shelf they were being exposed to light and warmth prompting those trapped critters to procreate rapidly.
Like brothers of a different color their differences are only the shade of a bag
.
NEW Procedures...After treating the water I will create a vacuum inside the bottle by applying force to the exterior then securing the lid when the water inside approaches the top of the container making the bottle create its own vacuum at the lid under duress of its own weight of the slightly imploded container.
.
After all bubbles, and Chlorine are off-gassed each bottle will be retreated by either four drops if no chlorine smell remains, three drops if one lingers, or two if stronger providing a possible variance of chlorination from +2 to -2 drops on the second application.
.
After the second round of chlorine is completed I will create a final seal with a strong vacuum using theabove technique and finally realize a good use for all these damn plastic bags in my junk drawer.
.
Each one gallon jug will be wrapped in two layers of dark gray plastic bags from Dollar Tree to prevent light from infiltration. From there I found a use for the yellow Dollar General and white Wal-Mart bags was to reflect the suns UV away to prevent it from warming the bottles but I can identify batches through one batch being yellow and the next white, etc.
.
Of course I'll have a translucent blue one covering the, hopefully pure, bottle of water that has been pulled for current cooking, cleaning, and consumption.
.
Since each bag is easily untied from the neck of the jug I can easily check random containers then re-tie the bags to place the jugs back into circulation
Looks good from my house - and that's saying a lot. There it is!
.
Upon opening the seal of a bottle for use, should I find an issue with the quality of water, I can easily pull and check all remaining containers of that batch for inspection or removal.
.
On my next trek into town I plan on picking up some activated carbon to place into the container currently in use to remove any lingering sulfur, heavy metals, and chlorine while hopefully also helping to equalize the pH a bit.
.
Never a dull moment, ay?
.
Mmmm, what I wouldn't give for some fresh, clear, tasteless, scentless, pure water...
.
Will it work this time?
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your thoughts!