Water Purification Tablets

Cleanse water with purification tablets

During a disaster, you shouldn’t count on having safe and accessible drinking water. When a large-scale emergency strikes, drinking water can become contaminated with debris, toxins, chemicals and dangerous spores, parasites and bacteria that can make you sick. In other cases, physical damage to your municipality’s water delivery system may make access impossible.

For these reasons, making sure your family has a secure source of fresh, pure water is an extremely important part of disaster planning. Fortunately, there are many water purification systems on the market that can provide you with peace of mind. The last thing you want to be worried about during an emergency is waterborne illness or dehydration.

The simplest means of creating safe water is by using water purification tablets. These small, portable tablets contain chemicals that will destroy most sources of waterborne illness. Because they are so small and inexpensive, it’s always a great idea to include them in a disaster kit as a backup water purification system. They do tend to make water taste a bit flat and they do not protect against all contaminants, but they work very well when combined with a simple filter.

A more robust solution is an off-the-shelf home water purification system, which utilizes scientifically advanced water purification filters to eliminate contaminants from ordinary drinking water. For well water purification, these systems are a must. If your water source relies on an electric pump, be sure to have a backup generator or your filters will not work.

Another option is ultraviolet water purification, which does away with the need for filters and is 100 percent safe and effective for use in a wide variety of conditions and situations. Ultraviolet drinking water purification uses a high-frequency form of light to safely kill bacteria, parasites and molds.

Why Is a Water Purification System Important in a Disaster Kit?

  • During a disaster, drinking water can become unsafe or inaccessible.
  • Contaminated water can make people sick.
  • A water purification system takes up less storage room than gallons of commercially bottled water.

Things to Consider When Buying a Water Purification System

  • Always keep water purification tablets on hand as a backup purification method.
  • How much drinking water will you need to produce per day during an emergency?
  • Keep plenty of supplies on hand for your system, such as extra filters and tubing.

Recommended Sources and Brands of Water Purification Systems

  • Home Depot
  • SpectraPure
  • AquaSana