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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Healthy Tips : Water – Vital for Hot Weather Survival

Water is vital for hot weather survival. One of the most important aspects of survival is staying hydrated, and that’s even more important when the temperatures are soaring. This means you need to know about storing and purifying water. If you know how to store water before a power outage occurs and how to purify water after an event, you will be in good shape for any wide-spread power outage.

To prepare to survive a disaster you will need to store water. The first step is to thoroughly wash plastic, glass or enamel lined containers. Two-liter soda bottles also make ideal water-storage containers. Seal the water containers tightly, label and store in a cool, dark place.

Stored water lacks oxygen, making it taste "dull". Adding oxygen by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers will improve the taste of the water. Remember to rotate the water out every six months, using what you’ve stored and refilling the bottle with fresh.

During a survival situation, you will want to purify all water before drinking it or using it for cooking or medical purposes; contaminated water can cause dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis. Boiling is the safest method of purifying water, which means, during a wide-spread power outage, that you will either need to boil your water on your barbecue or build a fire somewhere safe.

All you have to do is bring the water to a rolling boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Then let the water cool down before using. Again, you can improve the taste by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers to add oxygen to it.

Ordinary household bleach will also kill germs. Use the kind that contains 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite. Don't use scented bleaches or bleaches with added cleaners. Add 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water, stir and let sit for at least a half an hour. If the water does not have a slight bleach odor, repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes or so.

Another way to purify water is to distill it. Again this involves boiling the water, so you need to have a safe way to build a fire. Use a large kettle and fill it halfway full with water. Tie a cup to the handle of the pot's lid so that the cup will hang right side up when the lid is on the pot. Make sure that the cup is not dangling into the water.

Boil the water for 20 minutes. The water that drips into the cup from the lid is distilled and safe to drink. Needless to say, this is not an easy way to get safe drinking water for a lot of people.

Depending on how long the power outage lasts, you will probably need to employ all three methods. Because keeping hydrated in hot weather is your best way to keep yourself and your family safe, you should have a plan before disaster strikes and make sure you have the necessary items available beforehand.
Source : C.L Hendricks / www.ArticleBiz.com

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