I have a UV light set up for my saltwater aquarium I wonder how well it would work.

That is a GREAT question. I don't know the answer.

I recently worked on a project for a large / well known national youth oriented gym type organization that involved a swimming pool. The facility originally was designed for chlorination, but due to the deterioration the chlorine was causing (structure, doors, etc) they switched to a UV system. The cost was staggering, but again we're talking about filtering an Olympic sized pool's water (that has kids swimming and peeing in it).

Chlorination will remain the only cost effective, low tech purification option. A gallon of UNSCENTED bleach is about two dollars. It only takes 8 drops of bleach per gallon of water so the cost per gallon is literally nothing. However, bleach won't kill all the nasty stuff in water, and it has a shelf life. Bleach starts losing its efficacy quickly so rotate your storage and learn about its diminishing potency so you can increase the bleach-to-water ratio in a protracted emergency.

http://water.epa.gov/drink/emerprep/emergencydisinfection.cfm

For water storage, I always recommend two gallons a day per person.

This allows for 64 ounces of drinking and 64 ounces of cooking along with 1 gallon for hygiene.

Wow I didnt know bleach went bad, good to know. Living in the land of 10,000 lakes I have never been big on water storage but I do like to have ways of purifying.

Greaser, you can buy "Powder" Pool shock and make your own to use for water purification. I don't exactly remember where but it was talked about sometime last year I think it was. Probably in one of Architect's threads.

Hmmmm I will have to wait for him to chime in that sounds like a great solution(lol) for that issue.

"Pool Shock" is calcium hypoclorite. IIRC the 50% strength ratio is 1 pound to 5,000 gallons.

Be careful with it - its flammable / explosive (the dust under compression can KB) and a corrosive. It also degrades under heat, and can be unstable.

greaser,
Household bleach loses 50% of its strength after six months at 75F storage.

Pool Shock will last longer because its a concentrated solid (not a diluted liquid like bleach).

EDIT: Bleach is Sodium Hypochlorite. There is one molecular difference between the two products. The main difference is the concentration of the purifying properties and shelf life.

I just checked my Clorox. Its Sodium Hypoclorite. The same info applies.

I thought it was a lot faster than that. So I am guessing that after 6 months you would just use twice as much bleach?

Then again, that might be getting into the danger zone. I'm no chemist and have no idea what I am talking about.

Randy,

Theoretically, yes. However, storage temp will determine the rate of degradation and therefore "strength". The concern being over-consumption of bleach or under-purifcation of water.

I'd error on the side of drinking too much bleach.

A proper solution would be to over-chlorinate your potable water and then run the "purified" water through a Berkey filter (to remove the bleach).

NOTE:

I'm not a chemist or doctor. I do not play a chemist or doctor on TV and therefore am not rendering chemical or medical advice.

My comments are not educational. They are opinions. As such: Reader and viewer discretion is advised.