Making Your Water Safe To Drink

If your water is still on after a natural disaster, you may need to disinfect it to make it safe to drink. Here's how:

• If your power is still working, simply strain the water through a clean cloth (this removes sediment, glass and floating matter). Then boil it for 5-10 minutes.
• If your power is not on, after straining the water, disinfect it with a 5.25% solution of sodium hypochlorine (household chlorine bleach). Do not use bleaches with other active ingredients.

Use the table below to help you disinfect your water with bleach:

If you have and your water is clear: If your water is cloudy:
1 quart of water add 2 drops bleach add 4 drops bleach
1 gallon of water add 8 drops bleach add 16 drops bleach
5 gallons of water add 1/2 tsp. bleach add 1 tsp. bleach

Mix the water and bleach well (stir or shake). Let it sit for 30 minutes. If there's a slight chlorine odor in the water, you did it right. If not, repeat the dosage and let it sit 15 more minutes.

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