Water Purification Using Iodine
Method:
Iodine Method of Sterilisation
The Iodine method has the great advantage that is very cheap, is not
affected by high temperatures, and the method can be used up to 1000 times
to produce about 1000 litres of drinkable water.
METHOD
Obtain a glass bottle of about 25-ml capacity with a plastic lid. UK cost
10p wholesale.
Put about 4 gms (half a teaspoon full) of technical grade Iodine crystals
in this jar. It is not very soluble in water, so it won’t dissolve away. I
use Analar quality, but that’s all I could get at the time.
Shake up the bottle.
Let the crystals settle to the bottom.
Pour out about half of the bottle into a litre bottle of contaminated
water. Shake it up and allow to stand for 20 minutes.
Whilst waiting refill the 25 ml bottle.
After 20 mins, drink the litre of cleaned water.
The process can be repeated about 1000 times.
I use a McCartney bottle 25 ml, and any old plastic bottle for the 1 litre
bottle.
To make it a little less primitive, I have covered the litre plastic bottle
in a leg from a pair of cut down jeans, and attached a belt loop and
carrying strap. I have had a little pocket sewn to the side to take the
25-ml Iodine crystal bottle.
The treated water tastes better than some chlorine products.
Iodine is often thought of as a Poison (see Sax: Properties of Dangerous
Materials), but there are no reported deaths with less than 8 gms of Pure
Iodine, more than the total amount in the Iodine bottle.
The original method comes from “Military Medicine” and is well written up
in “Medicine for Mountaineers”.
I have used it in the Middle East and also in the Welsh Mountains in
winter.
In winter, you have to keep the 25-ml Iodine crystal bottle inside your
duvet to keep it warm. At reasonable temperatures, the amount of Iodine in
the 1 litre bottle is less than in a normal Iodised Throat tablet, and less
than the Potassium Iodate Tablets used in Nuclear Emergency Situations.
NOTE it won’t remove poisonous substances from the water, only bacteria and
virii.
