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What Is Dirty Water? Here Are 9 Best Dirty Water Purification Methods

bottle of drinking water

Water contamination is not an Australia problem but a global issue. It is rare to find clean and safe water for drinking today. That’s why it is not recommended that you drink untreated water not even id it is rainwater.

Interestingly, most people don’t actually it means with dirty water. If you ask around, most will say it’s the colored or smelling water, which is not actually the case. In this guide, we are looking at the dirty water and the best dirty water purification process:

What is Dirty Water?

Dirty water is any water that is contaminated with disease-causing substances. There are many ways that water can get contaminated with open defecation being one of the major causes. Open defecation exposes a population to waterborne diseases like Hepatitis A, typhoid, and cholera amongst others. Other major causes of dirty water or water pollution are industrial wastes, herbicides, and antibacterial compounds, and so on.

Some people think that rainwater is the safest to drink, but that is not true. What most people don’t know is that there are many harmful and acidic gases in the air, mostly produced by industries. Once the rainwater comes into contact with these gases, it becomes dirty, acidic, and thus not safe for human consumption. So even water from your faucet is not safe for drinking. Fortunately, there are ways that you can make any dirty water safe for drinking.

9 Tips On Making Dirty Water Safe For Drinking

There are many ways that dirty water can be purified to make it safe for human contamination. There are numerous simple purification methods, as well as sophisticated technologies. Here are 10 tips on making Dirty water safe for drinking.

1.Boiling Water

Boiling water is the simplest purification process that is widely used and recommended by medical specialists. It is also one of the most reliable water purification methods for almost all people around the world. What you need is contain and a heating apparatus to boil the water. Studies have shown that no parasite, bacterial, and other pathogens causing diseases can survive the temperature of boiling water. That’s why it is one of the reliable purification methods.

boiling water

2. Use Iodine

Iodine has been used for decades as one of the water treatment agents, especially for people who love outdoor adventure. It is very effective and also very convenient on the go solution for dirty water. What you need is just to add iodine solution, crystals or tablet into the water in a container, shake it well and wait for 30minutes for the iodine work. It will kill all viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens in the water.

3. Use Water Filters

Most homes in Australia are using water filters to purify water before drinking. There is all sort of water filters in the market with the main difference being the technology used to purify the water. However, the principle is the same- to remove harmful chemical compounds and pathogens that cause diseases. So water filters get rid of bacteria, parasite, and chemical elements in the dirty water.

4. Use Ultraviolet Light

This is one of the most effective technologies that most people are now adopting to purify water. It is one of the popular water purification methods with people who love outdoor adventures. The technology uses the ultraviolet light to kill bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens in the water. What you need to is expose the dirty water to the UV light for a few minutes, and you are good to go.

However, the purification process does not remove solid particles like water filters. So you might need another process to remove solid particles. The technology works very well for upstream water where pollution and exposure to harmful chemicals are almost zero.

5. Distillation

faucet water

Distillation is one of the best dirty water purification methods. This process works best in conditions where the only available water is too dangerous for human consumption. The distillation process involves boiling and cooling the collected steam, cool it to get quality drinking water. It is a more sophisticated process but produces the best quality drinking water. It requires quite an expensive setup including the copper fitted steam vent.

6. Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Ro is one of the techniques used by water filters to purify dirty water. The process is known for producing one of the cleanest and safest water for drinking. These water filters usually work by removing inorganic solids in the water by applying more than the osmotic pressure. So when going to the market, you can buy this type of water filter instead of carbon filters.

7. Chlorination

This is one of the most widely used methods of making dirty water safe for drinking. In fact, it is one of the best emergency dirty water purification methods. What you need is just to chlorine into the water, and it will kill all pathogens in the water. It is very effective in killing microorganisms and will not remove solid particles from the water. If you don’t have chlorine, you can use a little bit of household bleach because it has between 5% and 6% chlorine.

8. Solar Purification

Solar purification or disinfection is another effective dirty water purification method. As the name suggests, the process uses solar energy to purify or disinfect the water to make it safe for drinking. The process works best for that is not dangerous for drinking but could be having pathogens in it. By exposing it to the sun, the UV rays of the sun will kill all pathogens in the water. In addition, solar energy can be used to power a water purifier.

9. Sedimentation

water distillation

Sedimentation is usually used to purify water that is heavily laden with solid particles. It is one of the primary purification processes of sewage water. The technique uses gravity to remove solid particles from the water. After removing solid particles, you can then use UV, iodine, or chlorine other water purification to kill pathogens in the water, making it safe for drinking.

Unless the water has been treated, it is not safe for drinking. Whether it is a natural stream in the bush or tap water, it has solid particles, chemicals, and pathogens that can cause diseases. Try some of these water purification methods if you think you have a dirty water supply.