SERIOUS QUESTION. ... Does a water filter remove radiation from water?

Activated charcoal does.

Your welcome :) When I get home if I can find the link to the web page I have saved on my computer I will post it for you. It shows you step by step directions like I posted above but doesn't use grass like the video in the link above, or charcoal.

The earth filter is the best you will have access too. Companies will probably start claiming that their filters will clean out radiation but i'd be cautious. Good luck :)

Not all particles. Don't rely on just charcoal, it's a myth.

By the way.. I'm not sure that distilling the water will work either.. I have heard that the steam (that's what distilled water is) from the plant was radioactive.. meaning that the isotopes were lighter than water and distilled into the steam as well.. I could be wrong on that as I'm not a physicist.. maybe someone could find that out before someone distills their water and gets sick because there was still (pardon the pun) radioactivity in it

Good ideas.

I think instead of adding bleach, etc., a person could just boil the final product to get rid of any remaining bacteria.

It would depend on the nature of the contaminants. If an element is radioactive does not materially alter its other chemical and physical properties. If it can be removed and the water purified of the material it will be irrelevant whether it is radioactive or not.

The question then rests upon what within the water is contaminated and realize that distillation or filtration will only serve to concentrate the problem within the containment or filer itself.

The water will remain a function of any particles that remain.

Thanks. I (and many others I'm sure) would appreciate that.

You also have to remember though that the majority of the radiation came from Iodide and Cesium. Iodide has a shorter half life than Cesium. It's been almost 30 years since the accident (1986) and Cesium has a half life of 30 years. I am not surprised that wildlife has been flourishing through reduction of radioisotopes and adaptation. I don't think it will ever be inhabitable though for humans.

You could as long as you have access to fire. Adding bleach (in moderation and on a specific ratio bleach/water volume) is safe. It doesn't cause any health effects and the smell disipates after about 20-30 minutes or so. In the end you have to do what you are most comfortable with and what you have access too. :)

theres heaps of contaminated water in puddles round the plants. they dont know what to do with it.

all those who think iit can be filtered, nows your chance.

OP, I couldn't find the link but I found this that I had cut and pasted into an email I sent my family...(Sorry, I thought I saved it to my favorites but didn't)

REMOVING FALLOUT PARTICLES AND DISSOLVED RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL FROM WATER

The dangers from drinking fallout contaminated water could be greatly lessened by using expedient settling and filtration methods to remove fallout particles and most of the dissolved radioactive material. Fortunately, in areas of heavy fallout, less than 2% of the radioactivity of the fallout particles contained in the water would become dissolved in water.25 If nearly all the radioactive fallout particles could be removed by filtering or settling methods, few casualties would be likely to result from drinking and cooking with most fallout- contaminated watr.

° Filtering

Filtering through earth removes essentially all of the fallout particles and more of the dissolved radioactive material than does boiling-water distillation, a generally impractical purification method that does not eliminate dangerous radioactive iodines. Earth filters are also more effective in removing radioactive iodines than are ordinary ion-exchange water softeners or charcoal filters. In areas of heavy fallout, about 99% of the radioactivity in water could be removed by filtering it through ordinary earth. 73

Fig. 8.11. Expedient filter to remove radioactivity from water. ORNL DWG 77-18431 (Illustration)


To make the simple, effective filter shown in Fig. 8.11, the only materials needed are those found in and around the home. This expedient filter can be built easily by proceeding as follows:

1. Perforate the bottom of a 5-gallon can, a large bucket, a watertight wastebasket, or a similar container with about a dozen nail holes. Punch the holes from the bottom upward, staying within about 2 inches of the center.

2. Place a layer about 1 inches thick of washed pebbles or small stones on the bottom of the can. If pebbles are not available, twisted coat-hanger wires or small sticks can be used.

3. Cover the pebbles with one thickness of terrycloth towel, burlap sackcloth, or other quite porous cloth. Cut the cloth in a roughly circular shape about 3 inches larger than the diameter of the can.

4. Take soil containing some clay almost any soil will do from at least 4 inches below the surface of the ground. (Nearly all fallout particles remain near the surface except after deposition on sand or gravel.)

5. Pulverize the soil, then gently press it in layers over the cloth that covers the pebbles, so that the cloth is held snugly against the sides of the can. Do not use pure clay (not porous enough) or sand (too porous). The soil in the can should be 6 to 7 inches thick.

6. Completely cover the surface of the soil layer with one thickness of fabric as porous as a bath towel. This is to keep the soil from being eroded as water is poured into the filtering can. The cloth also will remove some of the particles from the water. A dozen small stones placed on the cloth near its edges will secure it adequately.

7. Support the filter can on rods or sticks placed across the top of a container that is larger in diameter than the filter can. (A dishpan will do.)

The contaminated water should be poured into the filter can, preferably after allowing it to settle as described below. The filtered water should be disinfected by one of the previously described methods.

If the 6 or 7 inches of filtering soil is a sandy clay loam, the filter initially will deliver about 6 quarts of clear water per hour. (If the filtration rate is faster than about 1 quart in 10 minutes, remove the upper fabric and recompress the soil.) After several hours, the rate will be reduced to about 2 quarts per hour.

When the filtering rate becomes too slow, it can be increased by removing and rinsing the surface fabric, removing about 1 inch of soil, and then replacing the fabric. The life of a filter is extended and its efficiency increased if muddy water is first allowed to settle for several hours in a separate container, as described below. After about 50 quarts have been filtered, rebuild the filter by replacing the used soil with fresh soil.

° Settling

Settling is one of the easiest methods to remove most fallout particles from water. Furthermore, if the water to be used is muddy or murky, settling it before filtering will extend the life of the filter. The procedure is as follows:

1. Fill a bucket or other deep container three quarters full of the contaminated water.

2. Dig pulverized clay or clayey soil from a depth of four or more inches below ground surface, and stir it into the water. Use about a 1-inch depth of dry clay or dry clayey soil for every 4-inch depth of water. Stir until practically all the clay particles are suspended in the water.

Book Page: 74

3. Let the clay settle for at least 6 hours. The settling clay particles will carry most of the suspended fallout particles to the bottom and cover them.

4. Carefully dip out or siphon the clear water, and disinfect it.

° Settling and Filtering

Although dissolved radioactive material usually is only a minor danger in fallout-contaminated water, it is safest to filter even the clear water produced by settling, if an earth filter is available. Finally as always the water should be disinfected.

POST-FALLOUT REPLENISHMENT OF STORED WATER

When fallout decays enough to permit shelter occupants to go out of their shelters for short periods, they should try to replenish their stored water. An enemy may make scattered nuclear strikes for weeks after an initial massive attack. Some survivors may be forced back into their shelters by the resultant fallout. Therefore, all available water containers should be used to store the least contaminated water within reach. Even without filtering, water collected and stored shortly after the occurrence of fallout will become increasingly safer with time, due particularly to the rapid decay of radioactive iodines. These would be the most dangerous contaminants of water during the first few weeks after an attack.

The steam coming off those reactors is filled with contamination. Comprende yet? The pressure and heat energy propels the radiation. Comprende yet?

YOU CANT JUST USE ANY BLEACH.

You keep distilling water down and that distiller is going to get very radioactive itself.
Do you want to touch and use it then?

Better to go with DISPOSABLE filter setups....production models or home made.

Check out Steve's videos. His channel is 'SafeArmsReview' on YT. He shows how to use plastic buckets, soil, rocks and coffee filters to pre-filter water in a field application scenario where fallout has contaminated the area.

I already explained about all this in another post:
Thread: Radiated Water Filtration Advise by GLP


You cannot distill radiation out of water. The reactors are distilling water and radiation into the air. Stop giving bad advice. Someone may use it.

You cant just use store bought charcoal and you cant just use any bleach. It is explained in the thread I posted. Note my user id to avoid bad info in the thread.

What about a Berkey?

...because they put additional chemicals in charcoal and in bleach and I don't think you want to drink them as they are toxic. Charcoal has Nitrate, Borax, and Lime added. That's not only toxic if you drink it, it will mess with your skin if you bathe with it. Boil instead of bleach but bleach should say 5.25% sodium hypochlorite ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET. So I would avoid bleach unless I had to drink water from a swamp or sewer and could not boil.

...because they put additional chemicals in charcoal and in bleach and I don't think you want to drink them as they are toxic. Charcoal has Nitrate, Borax, and Lime added. That's not only toxic if you drink it, it will mess with your skin if you bathe with it. Boil instead of bleach but bleach should say 5.25% sodium hypochlorite ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET. So I would avoid bleach unless I had to drink water from a swamp or sewer and could not boil.

Great topic OP...







5 Star thread !!!!!!!!!




.

Its far more comples than anything simple. distillation has to be designed to gas off organics and iodine seperate form water. otherwise all it leans out is solid particulate/mineral.
You need a water column, a carbon column and a chelating column to get the most effective and cost effective filtration, and you need a lot of media on the order of pounds, not some straw or britta insert.
Trying to use an improper closed distillation rig will send over not just water, but organics and dissolved gases which needs other steps to get rid of. Home distillation kit wount work well to get rid of I or other gas phaseelements

It's radiation, not germs or particles. So no, it won't remove it.

Wrong. Radiation is in the particles we are talking about. These are fundemental atomic elements.

Thanks much, TrixieMama.

I and many others appreciate your help.

Hi Cyn,

Thanks for the good words, and for the bump.

purchase a istiller kit for 400. it includes a pressure cooker that you can use for cooking and canning too. that coupled with berky or earth filter should help

Your welcome! Also, I watched a video last night with uranium expert Leuren Moret and she said to buy a Reverse Osmosis Water Filter! She said it would remove most of the particles. My take on that would be to use the Reverse osmosis Filter first then run it through a earth filter. IMHO that would take care of all the particles. Good Luck <3

Unless you have a system that will provide fresh water from salt water you can not remove 100%. Many of these isotopes are miscible. Reverse osmosis will work as will distilation proved you have accurate controls on the boling temp and condesation tube.

"From a particle size perspective, the atomic diameter of uranium and radium is .000350 microns and .000430 microns respectively; most radioactive particles are larger than .0002 microns. Most reverse osmosis water filters remove particles larger than .0001 microns."
[link to www.purepro.net]

Have been getting my RO water from a machine outside my local grocery store for 25 cents per gallon.

Ever heard of Heavy Water?

Learn