In India, waterborne diseases are a common issue. More than 10,000 people die every year as a result of these diseases. We don’t have to tell you how important it is to drink purified water. Higher officials always try to provide clean and safe drinking water to every household, but it is not enough. It is your responsibility as well because it concerns your health.
Water can contain several contaminants even if you can’t see them. It has become easier nowadays to purify water. There are several ways to purify water. The method of purification should be chosen based on the quality of the water. You may be treating bacterial and chemical contamination, taste, odor, color, and many more.
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Ways to Purify Water
We know that you understand the importance of purifying water. But when you are living in a country like India, where water purifiers are not available everywhere, you should understand the different ways you can purify water. Some of the common ways to purify water are listed below.
Boiling
Boiling water to purify it is the most simple as well as the common way for it. Boiling water at high temperature kills the bacteria as well as dissipates the viruses, and removes all the impurities present in them. But in this procedure, the particles, dirt, and sediments are not removed. Also, heavy metals, chemicals, and salts are not removed.
To boil water properly you need to put it in an open flame or stovetop burner. You need to allow the water to a rolling and full boil and let it continue for 5-10 minutes for it to be completely safe. You may add a bit of salt to improve the taste of the water. After boiling, you should filter the water to remove the solid and impurities that do not remove from the water.
Filtration
Another effective way to purify water is filtration. If you use the correct multimedia filters then you can effectively get rid of the water compounds. Chemical as well as physical processes are involved to purify water and make it safe to consume. In this process, both small as well as large compounds are eliminated. In this process, water is made to pass through a layer of gravel followed by sand. You can also use some household filters to purify water.
One of the advantages of filtration is that the water is not depleted of mineral salts and the filtration process is healthier as compared to other processes. Filtration is also cheaper compared to other purification processes as only a minimum amount of energy is required in the process. Also, only a little amount of water is lost during the whole process.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis is known as one of the most effective ways to purify water as they provide water in the most purest form. In reverse osmosis water is made to pass through a semipermeable membrane made of holes with pressure. This membrane separates the contaminants allowing only freshwater to pass through it. Apart from the membrane, the water is also made to pass through two carbon filters. Carbon atoms can absorb odors from the water. As a result, you get clean and fresh water.
Distillation
In this process, water is purified by using heat. Pure water is collected in vapor form. This method has been scientifically proven to be effective. You should understand that water contains elements that cause diseases and has a lower boiling point than other substances.
Water is brought in contact with heat till the time the boiling point is reached. Until the water is vaporized, water is kept at its boiling point. The vapor goes into a condenser, where it is made to cool. After cooling, water returns back to its liquid form that is 100% safe to drink.
This method effectively removes salt, bacteria, and germs along with heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury. People who get raw and untreated water, it is the best process for them. Every process has advantages as well as disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage of this process is it is very slow and requires a source to heat the water.
Liquid Iodine as well as Iodine Tablets
To kill the toxins in the water, you can also add a bit of liquid iodine or some iodine tablets. You can add 2% of iodine with the help of a medicine dropper for every quarter of water, in the case of clear water. In the case of cloudy water, this dosage should be doubled which means you need to add 4% of iodine liquid for every quarter of water.
For iodine tablets, two tablets are enough for a quarter of water. You need to allow the solution of water and the tablets to sit for at least half an hour at room temperature. For better results, you should allow this water to stay like that for an hour at room temperature. Before drinking the water, don’t forget to shake it thoroughly.
Iodine makes the taste of water bitter. To remove the bitterness, you can add lemon powder, lemon juice, or even some tablets of Vitamin C.
Chlorination
One of the chemicals that has been in use to purify water for household purposes is chlorine. Chlorine effectively kills organisms that cause diseases, germs, and parasites from water. You can use either chlorine tablets or liquid tablets for purification. Chlorine is cheap and is very effective but you need to be careful while using it.
If you are using chlorine tablets to purify water, make sure that you use them only after heating the water. This is because chlorine tablets are able to dissolve in water only if the temperature of water is above 21 degrees. After using chlorine in your water, you can be rest assured that there will be no traces of bacteria in the water.
Solar Disinfection
You may feel like this will be a very expensive method to purify water. But you are wrong. It is an inexpensive as well as a convenient process for purifying water. Solar disinfection uses the heat produced by the sun for the process of purification.
The things that are required for this process are bottle as well as direct sunlight. The bottles should be made of plastic. For this process, you need to fill the bottles with three-fourth water. You need to keep this bottle in direct sunlight for a minimum of 6-8 hours before being able to consume the water.
Desalination
This process is only effective when you wish to purify water that contains a certain level of salinity. It effectively reduces the salt content present in the water. But the disadvantage of the process is along with removing salt from the water, it also reduces some important minerals from the water. This process is considered less effective among other modern technologies.
Final Word
Purification of water is very important for living a healthy life. It is very important to be sure that your house as well as your workplace has access to purified water. If you don’t have access to purified water, then you should know how to purify water. We hope that this article will give you ideas on how to easily purify water.
