I have found a great deal about water purification dealing with biological contaminants; not much on acquiring water from industrial or farm areas. This is highlighted more because of the disaster in Japan. Major disasters like Katrina and the earthquake in Japan pollute the water with much more than bacteria and viruses. In many parts of the world (and even our country) all ground water must be considered polluted.

How do you remove chemicals and heavy metals? Is it even worth trying? Are there any products which can do it efficiently? Will they fit in your BOB? Do they require power?

Carbon filter and cross your fingers.

Berkey filters are about the best you're gonna get. The travel size is pretty compact, but its stainless steel so weight might be a factor. Course you could always make your own using a black filter element and drilling a hole in a plastic bucket. Crude but effective.

How about Distilling? I know the process of Distilling,Rids the water of containing Minerals,for the purpose of Purification/Clarity/Taste,When making Whiskey,Shine,etc.Does Heavy Metal Contamination Mock the same Category as Mineral Contamination?

I would be pretty concerned about industrial contamination. I'm not sure any technique is guaranteed to remove the huge variety of junk that gets dumped down storm drains in industrial areas. I would consider that water source to be suspect.

A better approach might be to find clean water within the industrial district. There could be some in certain storage tanks, flushing reservoirs, water pipes, gutters on roofs etc. You might be better to scrounge around ... but look for pure water.

other Pete

Check out this thread: PURIFICATION OF WATER

In particular:

In a Disaster situation,such as What we are seeing Presently,I See No Shortage of Fuel!An Art Form pertains to Flavor of Finished Product,All I'm Seeking is Potable Water!

What about Pur packets?

Apparently its use flocculants can remove a lot of pollutants, how much exactly I'm not sure.

If I were in a situation where the only available water was highly contaminated with industrial or farm waste, an HTI filter would be my top choice. According to this FAQ it has shown 95% plus rejection of herbicides and pesticides and 85-90% plus rejection of heavy metals.

No affiliation with either of these and no firsthand experience.

I think you misunderstand the post. Different contaminants have different boiling points, many of which are lower than that of water (100*C/212*F).

In a closed system, many industrial pollutants will vaporize at lower temperatures than water, to be collected and condensed by the condensing coils and wind up deposited with your supposedly "purified" water in the collection container. So while you've eliminated those contaminants that have a HIGER boiling point than water, you still have those with a LOWER boiling point in your distilled water. And the majority of industrial solvents have a lower boiling point than water.

This could be accommodated by starting the distillation process with an open container to avoid collecting the more volatile contaminants until they have boiled-off, then sealing the system to complete your water purification cycle. The question that nobody seems to be able to answer is how long does this uncollected boil need to last for a given quantity of water to be effective. My guess is there's no fixed answer, it depends on what's present and in what quantities. If your collected water contains a large amount of a chemical with just slightly below 100*C boiling point, perhaps it would be impossible to effectively distill potable water.

Could boiling in an open container first, then condensing as described work? Maybe heating to below the boiling point for an extended period to remove the more volatile elements without losing too much water? A combination of filtering, heating, boiling and chemical treatment?

Understanding the process will enable you even if you do not have all of the right gadgets. Know more, carry less.