All preppers know that water and food are some of the most important supplies in an emergency. This is because with water and food we won't be able to survive very long. However, if the water is dirty and filled with bacteria, it can make us really sick. Pool shock can help you purify it and you may be surprised by how well it works!

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The Reasons Why Pool Shock Is Best For Purifying Water Are:

You may be asking “why not use liquid bleach?”. There are a few problems with liquid bleach. It takes a lot of room to store bleach plus the usable shelf life is only six month to a year depending on storage conditions.

The folks at Clorox say this:

The active ingredient in liquid bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is very sensitive to high heat and freezing, but under normal home storage conditions, it should still perform well for nine to twelve months.

In addition to a limited shelf life, there is another problem. I have had reports from Backdoor Survival readers telling me that in their area, they can only purchase “Clorox Ultra” which is concentrated.

Pool Shock 

All of the sites I visited included this boilerplate from the EPA:

You can use granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water.

The Step By Step Directions To Follow:

I settled on 1 teaspoon of pool shock per gallon of water when making up my stock chlorine solution. Then, to disinfect water, I used 3/4 ounce of my pool shock solution to treat a gallon of water. This makes it easy to calculate how much to use, regardless of the size of your container.

 

I used eye protection goggles and rubber gloves. Other supplies included an empty bleach bottle, funnel, shot glass, and measuring spoons.

 

I verified the size of my stock chlorine solution container, namely a repurposed bleach bottle. My bottle held 1.42 gallons and I wrote this on the outside with a Sharpie pen. My intent, however, was to only prepare 1 gallon of stock solution.

I added water to my stock solution bottle, carefully measuring the quantity. I used exactly one gallon of water.

Then measured out some pool shock; one level teaspoon to be exact. I put the cap back on the bottle and swished it around a bit. I gave it a sniff test and it definitely smelled bleach-like.

The next step was to purify water. I wanted to make drinking water and for me, the smaller the jug the better. I chose a 64 ounce repurposed apple juice jug.  The EPA says 1 part chlorine solution to 100 parts water so the math is 64/100 = .64 ounces.

Keeping things easy, that translates into approximately 2/3rd ounce. Remember, the EPA guideline uses the word “approximately” all over the place. That was good enough for me. To easily measure the proper dilution, I used a mini shot glass that had measurement markings along the side.

 

Be sure to pour your pool shock into your water and not the other way around. The last thing you want is to splash the solution on yourself on the surrounding surfaces.

After preparing my newly purified water, I drank up. Three things. I did not throw up, I did not get diarrhea and I did not get sick or die.

I am comfortable with the results even though the solution I made may have been slightly stronger than the EPA guidelines.

 

Note: I did not find that my water had an objectionable smell or taste. If your own purified water has an unpleasant odor, simply aerate it by pouring it back and forth between clean containers.

 

Label your pool shock solution. Store it in the same manner you store liquid bleach, up high and away from pets and children and in a location that is cool, dark and dry.

Also store your unused pool shock safely. Because it is corrosive, I chose a mason jar with a plastic lid. Plus, rather than empty the pool shock into the jar, I sealed the plastic bag it came in with a clip and stuffed the bag inside of the jar.

Finished!

Pool shock is incredible and it is so much better to use than bleach because it can be stored longer and is safer to use. This process of using pool shock to purify water for survival isn't that hard and works so well, you'll want to make sure you have plenty on hand when SHTF! Have you used pool shock to purify water before?

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For more information on using pool shock to purify water, you can go to:

Backdoor Survival