So I’m bandying about the idea of hiking sometime in the future. However, I do not want to use iodine-based or pump-based purification systems.
I hear that alternatively, you could put up to several drops of bleach (sodium hypochlorite solution) in a quart or more of water (not sure exact proportions) and also have it purified. Alcohol, at a certain concentration, will also purify water.
However, I don’t want funny-tasting water or bleach poisoning, and I wouldn’t add alcohol to hiking water if the resulting concentration won’t even quench my thirst.
So can I split the difference and only add a smaller amount of Everclear and a smaller amount of bleach and have it have the same effect? Or is the threshold for purification such that microorganisms won’t be affected by less than the full amount needed of that given chemical?
Also, if I were to follow through with this, I’d want to carry one container, not two, so would mix Everclear with the requisite amount of bleach, (which would also have the advantage that I could plausibly claim it to be denatured alcohol even though it would be drinkable in small amounts)
If they are contained together in a liquid medium, will they react with each other?
If you oxidise alcohol you get vinegar. Probably a backward step tastewise
I don’t know precisely how much alcohol you need to purify water, but it would have to be at least beer strength.
I’d go with the iodophor myself.
Here are the EPA directions of disinfecting water with bleach:
Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water
I do biodecontamination research for work and I would not consider your half-and-half plan. As an only somewhat related example, vaporized hydrogen peroxide is registered as an anthrax sterilant. At 250 ppm, 90 minutes of exposure is required, while at 400 ppm only 30 minutes is required. So as you can see efficacy is not linearly related to concentration.
alcohol is less effective a disinfectant than bleach. follow the 8 drops per gallon procedure and you will have OK water.
Bleach is a damn good disinfectant, but it won’t poison you at the sorts of levels that are recommended for purifying water. There probably won’t be much bleach left either – as it oxidizes various contaminants, the flipside of the reaction is that bleach breaks down to simple table salt (NaCl). The residual “bleach” that you smell is actually from compounds that the bleach oxidized.
This does not answer your specific question, but let me suggest another alternative for water purification on the trail. Do a search for SteriPEN. It is not an inexpensive option, but they do work rather well.
Chlorine Dioxide tablets will be a lot easier to use than bleach. It takes 4 hours to purify the water, however.
Alternately, you could boil all your water. That might take a bit more alcohol, but it’ll be effective just about anywhere you’re camping.
Though I’m not sure why you object to Iodine. Ascorbic acid tablets (which can be bought in the same package) will neutralize the iodine once the water’s purified, if you’re concerned about taste. And Iodine only requires 30 min. of treatment.
I don’t mind the taste. But after more than a couple days of using iodine your whole body gets this chemically, vaguely headachey feeling (at least I do and so do a couple of my friends who occasionally use iodine. YMMV of course.)
Alcohol makes many episodes of Bleach more entertaining, but I don’t think that was what you were getting at in the OP.