water purification system

[Robert Morein]

Since I live in an eastern U.S. suburb, my interest in home power is related
to disaster planning; nuclear terrorism, infrastructure disruption, and so
forth. With the kind assistance of many members of this group, I was able to
work out and implement a triple-redundant generator/battery system. I also
have a lot of dried food.

The remaining problem is water. I do not have a well, but the house is
situated over a spring. The water table is not far below, and I have a sump
pump. My hope is that if there were fallout, the

The sump hole has water in it most of the year. I would like to use this in
conjunction with a sophisticated, self contained, powered water purification
system. My hope is that the 10 feet of earth and gravel would filter
radioactive particles. However, pesticides are a serious concern. Since this
is only for catastrophic use, this concern is secondary. Since the power
source is an SW4024+, power consumption has to be modest.

Any recommendations?

 

[Prostate Cancer Man]

Since I live in an eastern U.S. suburb, my interest in home power is related
to disaster planning; nuclear terrorism, infrastructure disruption, and so
forth. With the kind assistance of many members of this group, I was able to
work out and implement a triple-redundant generator/battery system. I also
have a lot of dried food.

The remaining problem is water. I do not have a well, but the house is
situated over a spring. The water table is not far below, and I have a sump
pump. My hope is that if there were fallout, the

The sump hole has water in it most of the year. I would like to use this in
conjunction with a sophisticated, self contained, powered water purification
system. My hope is that the 10 feet of earth and gravel would filter
radioactive particles. However, pesticides are a serious concern. Since this
is only for catastrophic use, this concern is secondary. Since the power
source is an SW4024+, power consumption has to be modest.

Any recommendations?

Make your system quadruple-redundant by using a fuel-cell...the exhaust
should be perfectly drinkable.

But why worry about radioactivity in the soil when it's the air that
will kill you...unless you've put tin-foil all over your walls and
ceiling and have a whole house air-purification system.

 

[George Ghio]

For the scenario you propose the time honored response is to:

1) Hide under a table

2) Put your head between your knees

3) Kiss your ass goodbye

On the other hand your ground water should not be contaminated
immediately. But if it was, then ten feet of soil would not filter out
radiation. But by then it would be a moot point as you would already
glow in the dark anyway. This will of course save fuel and wear and tear
on your batteries as you will be able to read by your own light.

To survive under the conditions you propose will come down to you being
more ruthless than your neighbors and be willing and able to defend
yourself against all comers. Living in a suburb means you are surrounded
by potential enemys who might just see you as a roast dinner given
enough time to get good and hungry

 

[Robert Morein]

For the scenario you propose the time honored response is to:

1) Hide under a table

2) Put your head between your knees

3) Kiss your ass goodbye

On the other hand your ground water should not be contaminated
immediately. But if it was, then ten feet of soil would not filter out
radiation. But by then it would be a moot point as you would already
glow in the dark anyway. This will of course save fuel and wear and tear
on your batteries as you will be able to read by your own light.

To survive under the conditions you propose will come down to you being
more ruthless than your neighbors and be willing and able to defend
yourself against all comers. Living in a suburb means you are surrounded
by potential enemys who might just see you as a roast dinner given
enough time to get good and hungry

Believe me, that's all taken care of

 

[William P. N. Smith]

The remaining problem is water. I do not have a well, but the house is
situated over a spring. The water table is not far below, and I have a sump
pump. My hope is that if there were fallout, the

You got cut off here, if there were fallout, what?

My hope is that the 10 feet of earth and gravel would filter
radioactive particles. However, pesticides are a serious concern.

A good filter should filter out any radioactive particles, and an
activated carbon filter will take out any pesticides, and you can get
them all-in-one, so that's not rocket science. The McMaster-Carr
9839K14 looks about perfect, IMNSHO http://www.mcmaster.com/ search
for that part number...

A couple of other random thoughts:

IIRC you need about a gallon per person per day of water.

Nuclear war fallout was generally expected to last about 2 weeks.

I'd get a radiation meter before you think you need one, one dirty
bomb and they'll be backordered for decades. I like my
http://www.saic.com/products/security/pd10i/pd10i.html as it can see
my vaseline glass radioactive marbles over a long integration, and
measures airline X-Ray machines and airplane flights.

You might even get away with an appropriate amount of water storage.

You'll want to test your sump water for bacteriological contamination,
and demo the cleanup process for it before you need it.

 

[Kiwi John]

dont forget you are going to need a few year worth of ammo and weapons as
people that can no longer feed dogs and other animals that were once either
domestic or caged start to get hungry you are part of the food chain again

when the soviet union fell how many suitcase nukes did bin larden get was it
4 or 5 out of the 200 or so they had at the time

 

[Dave Hinz]

dont forget you are going to need a few year worth of ammo and weapons as
people that can no longer feed dogs and other animals that were once either
domestic or caged start to get hungry you are part of the food chain again

That's great advice if you live in a part of the world where that's
allowed. It's not entirely a joke to say "I have guns; I don't _need_ a
stockpile of food and water".

when the soviet union fell how many suitcase nukes did bin larden get was it
4 or 5 out of the 200 or so they had at the time

Got a cite for that?