I recently discovered that my go to solution for purifying water in the event of a FUBAR event is no longer readily available (iodine water treatment). Yes, I know that I could make my own iodine, but am interested in evaluating the various water treatments on the market.
So, obviously, a source of tainted water is needed. Not a problem when the Trinity is in close proximity…
BUT, I am not sure how to go about testing/quantifying the results of the purification. Anyone have any suggestions?
Do some tests, record your result, split one sample and send out to lab to verify your results
Well if you need some metallic iodine I have several pounds. 
Too bad the War On Terror™ regulated Polar Pure out of business. Glad I happened to snag two bottles shortly beforehand.
I believe it was the War On Drugs™ 
It is the tests that I have the problem with. 
Apparently I mis-remembered.
Iodine was classified as a controlled substance in 2007 because of methamphetamine production; Polar Pure Equipment seems to have shut circa 2011. Looks like it went back on the market in 2015, but that was NOS (New Old Stock). Some of the usual suspects such as REI and the 'Zon have listings but show it out of stock; Curiously Wal-Mart stocks it as does a site with a URL bearing a resemblance to the original manufacturer (Polar Equipment) but not quite (Polar Pure Water).
So very weird. I know iodine will hang around practically forever if kept wet, but the market is sending some mixed signals here.
This is the problem. In the past I have sampled water and looked at it with microscopes, including water that I had personally confirmed had giardia (
) yet I only very rarely could find ‘something wiggly’ in it. I believe the problem is that even fairly polluted water has a relatively low density of such creatures.
Well I can still buy Muriatic acid, potassium iodide, and hydrogen peroxide locally, so extracting pure iodine is pretty straight forward. It is also a federal felony, so…
Well I can think of a few radioactive isotopes I’m glad are regulated - or no doubt as kid my friends and I would have been doing cooler things than we were doing with Mercury, MEK, asbestos, etc.
Yes, believe it or not iodine is not classified by the DEA as a class I substance
https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/chem_prog/advisories/iodine.htm
Couldn’t you use traditional filters then use ozone to deem it safe?
povidone iodine is explicitly exempt from the regs, couldn’t you use that?
Yet, I can easily purchase significantly radioactive materials. Off the top of my head, the 10 curies of Cesium-137 is easily obtainable. Drive around NM and you will encounter rock collector stores that will sell you tens of pounds of uranium… And here is some instruction for how to extract that uranium from the rock
And it isn’t all that difficult to manufacture a breeder reactor to make REALLY HIGH LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL, hell a high school student has done so and ended up turning his neighborhood into a superfund site
You know we were talking about Mr. Wizard on another thread, yet because of stupid regulations and irrational concerns about safety, virtually none of the demonstrations can be done any more. Do schools even have chemistry labs any more?
That was going to be one of the substances I wanted to test. There are many potential alternatives, but I want some concrete evidence of performance before I risk my intenstines… I have had giardises, and don’t want to risk getting it again.
Well if you want federal time for manufacturing drugs here is how to do it
ps. in Texas you get extra time for using drug paraphenalia (lab glassware) for the manufacturing process…
Sounds good,
This might help, http://www.bestglide.com/water_filtering_purification.html
They suggest 4 drops of 10% Providone-Iodine per liter of clear water, left in solution for 15 minutes at 60°F or hotter or for 30 minutes at 40°F before consuming. They also suggest to double that time for use in cloudy water.
Good luck with the tests.
Sounds like a centrifuge could help you concentrate whatever might be in your water samples.
By “purity” are you looking for anything undesirable (e.g. any amount of lead) or are you looking for anything that would make you immediately sick (e.g. “wiggly” things)?
I assume the latter if iodine was the previous treatment.
Yes, the latter. I used to purify with iodine, then filter through activated charcoal to clear water and improve taste.
From, @ESmith article above it appears that iodine went off the market at a good time since it doesn’t appear effective against cryptosporodium…
Which I am thinking is only going to leave boiling as the remaining option.