I was listening to a BBC world report on 3rd world technologies, and heard about a simple method to" clean dirty water of bacteria, viruses and Micro organisms". Given the recent post on Puritabs, it seems like a good emergency alternative:

1/ Half fill a clean plastic bottle of the water you wish to drink.
2/Shake vigourouly for 20 seconds (with cap on <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />) to oxygenate the water.
3/ Top up the bottle with more water.
4/ Leave in sunlight for 5-6 hours
5/ Drink

Ok, it might not be the long cool drink you were craving, nor be suitable for all conditions, but useful knowledge nevertheless.
Any comments?

IIRC, this has already been mentioned in a thread on this forum..... a search may find that thread, which contained a few intersting links...

Yes your right...sorry folks <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

no need to be sorry <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I know there were several threads but up to now have found only this one

It takes several threads to weave a tapestry <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I would improve on this method by tossing in a teabag. It's called called suntea and iced. Said result, recalling the indignant remarks of an expatriate Mrs Doubtfire lookalike should be ignored by our G.B. contingent <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I know we discussed this before but I still have trouble trusting this method. I wish I could find some scientific studies from a reputable source to prove this. I mean heck, if all you have to do is put water in a clear container, shake it and leave it in the sun for 5-6 hours then why isn't this a more widely accepted method??? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

There is scientific evidence - but there's more to it than what was posted here. Somewhere in the old posts... I posted a link or two to this in the past. Google it and you should find some more detailed info.

The reason it's not widely accepted is that the conditions when it works aren't always there. It has to reach 160 degrees for a certain amount of time. Think that's going to work in Minnesota this time of year? Not a chance. You need some way of confirming that it reached 160.

Ah now that is a lot more believable and makes a lot more sense to me. Thanks... 160 degrees for 5-6 hours would be difficult to achieve even on a summer afternoon here in Texas. Now I understand more why the corregated steel roof was used as an example in the other post which also used South America as a setting.

I don't think it's as long as 5-6 hours, maybe only an hour or two. But I don't remember for sure, and I'm not absolutely certain the temperature is 160, but it's something like that. I also heard something about a little weighted glass cylinder that has wax in it. You put the weight on the opposite side of the wax, and drop it in. If the wax is on the bottom, you know it reached 160 at some point and the water is safe to drink.