Introducing the British Berkefeld filter - something you can count on when the chips are down

The latest earthquake in New Zealand (Christchurch and surrounding area, 4 Sep 2010, 4:35a.m. Saturday, 7.1 magnitude) got me thinking about the supply of water again but this time round it prompted me to pen it down. (Long post as follows)

If you have been following this year's (2010) natural disasters - earthquakes in Haiti, Chile; flood in Pakistan, public water supply has always been a fragile creature. Infrastructure can be destroyed, piping and storage tanks can be broken.

In Pakistan, the deluge caused natural sources of water (e.g. wells, springs, streams) to be contaminated with whatever the flood water carried - human and animal waste, pathogens from corpses and carcasses, pesticides from farms, heavy metals from industry. In the short term though, it was the water borne diseases that caused the most problems - diarrhea, dysentry, cholera, typhoid etc. The breakdown of sanitation and water supply led to a nightmare for public health (probably nowhere near top notch even before the flood).

Bottled water naturally became a valuable commoditity as seen in Chile when it became one of the top looted items (together with bread and candles). I imagine the same would have occurred in Haiti if there was enough bottled water to go around to be looted.

Being a developed country, New Zealand was spared from serious looting (some still took place according to the news) or outbreaks of water borne diseases. Heck, no one was killed by the quake as according to some experts, the strict building codes to quake-proof its structures have helped. (Compare against 230 000 killed in the Haiti quake.) Nevertheless, the sewage pipes were broken in the quake, allowing sewage to mix into the drinking water supply which probably probably suffered from broken piping too.

Consequently, residents in affected areas were asked to boil their tap water for drinking. I am thinking: these people are lucky (despite the quake and all). They still have electricity or/and gas. Imagine... if you have no gas, no electricity and only sewage infused tap water, how are you going to boil your water?

Imagine some more.... the NZ scenario (without the gas and electricity) happens right here in good old SG (assuming we survive the quake), do you have a wood burning stove and charcoal at home? How about a camp stove with extra gas tanks? The lucky ones will be those NOT using piped gas. The years of effort to heft around those gas cylinders would have been worth it.

Do you have Aquatabs on hand? Bleach? Do you know how much to add into water? Personally, these are not my favourite choices because of strong chlorine taste and many health controversies of overchlorination. By the way, if you opt for bleach, only use the straight ones without extra ingredients e.g. scent.

Boiling is good if you can do it but it only removes the bugs and not all the other nasty stuff (pesticides, metals) in the water. Imagine having a Pakistani scenario here. I will boil my water before running it through a good filter.

I personally recommend the British Berkefeld (or Doulton) gravity filter. (In America, it is sold under the name of Berkey.) No water pressure, no electricity needed. Simply pour your water through the top and collect clean water at the bottom. The key element in the setup is the filter candle with the ATC SuperSterasyl being the best. It has a ceramic outer shell impregnated with silver. The ceramic physically remove microbes and particulate matter from the water while the silver suppresses bacterial growth. The water next enters a granular activated carbon core containing a metal ion removal medium (works by ion exchange, I believe) to eliminate many organic compounds (e.g. pesticides), chlorine and metals (e.g. lead, cadmium).

Figure: The external setup of the British Berkefeld stainless steel gravity filter minus the faucet which should be attached near the bottom. It is certainly not small (this is already the smallest stainless steel model) so it should be used for the family or small group at a static location.

Figure: Opening the lid reveals 3 holes for fixing a filter candle each

Figure: The heart of the filter system - ATC SuperSterasyl filter candle. Notice the white ceramic exterior. Water enters through the ceramic and filtered water leaves through the black nozzle on the right.

Figure: The top portion is removable for fixing the filter candles. Filtered water goes into the bottom portion for dispensing via a faucet.

Having one of these filters will certainly add a great degree of water security to any family. And if you are involved in overseas community projects, keeping one with you serves as insurance, especially if you are not sure of the water quality or source of your drinking water.

This line of filters may be procured locally from Arkwater. Of course, I am in no way affiliated with the company except for purchasing these filters from them.

Water lessons from Haiti

Facing a cascade of news about the situation in Haiti after a magnitude 7 earthquake, I can't help but compare Haiti with Singapore. (I know this sounds off topic but don't worry, I will get to the water part soon.)

First, a summary of the aftermath in Haiti:

1. 100000 - 200000 people died (the number varies, depending on the news source)
2. Survivors are in dire straits - severe lack of food, water and shelter.
3. The various institutions (government, law enforcement, health care etc.) are seriously crippled.
4. Looting is rampant in the capital.

Some recent news of Haiti:
HAITI: Agencies rush to get water to earthquake disaster zone (19/01/10)
Haiti's Environment Needs Long-Term Help: Experts

Most of us would immediately sympathise with the Haitians. But if asked whether the same thing can happen in Singapore, most of us will instinctively shake off such a possibility.

Here is an informative post discussing the possbility of an earthquake here. Naturally, there is no definite answer since earthquake prediction is not an exact science though our odds of not having an earthquake seem pretty good.

However, I remember reading a book in my childhood about an earthquake recorded in Singapore in Feb 1861. The interesting part is not the earthquake but the rain of frogs and fishes that preceded the earthquake. See:

1. It's raining frogs and fish
2. Frogs rain
3. Weird, weird rain

However, there was no mention of casulties, magnitude of quake or damage level. I presume that was linked to the quake in Sumatra at that time.

My point is: Singapore's history is so short that we won't know if there ever was a killer quake in the past while we assume we are safe.

Anyway, it does not take an earthquake to disrupt civilised society. You can choose from any of the following crises (some more probable than others):

1. Terrorist attack
2. Tsunami
3. Nuclear power plant accident
1. Indonesia - a, b (is Indonesia still building its nuclear plant in Java?)
2. Malaysia
3. Singapore
4. Social unrest
5. Economic collapse
6. Pandemic (H1N1, H5N1, Sars etc.)
7. 20 December 2012 (this will be hard to survive)
   

Back to water...

It is said that you can only live 3 days without water yet how many of us actually pause to ponder about how the water reaches our taps and where to get water if our taps run dry? From Haiti's experience, water is clearly a top priority commodity once the normal channels of water supply are disrupted. Yes, I am sure people will kill to obtain this precious fluid.

Check out the following sites on handling a crisis/ emergency in Singapore.
Singapore Government Crisis News Website
Water distribution (under purview of SCDF)
Stockpiling of essential household items (SCDF)

We are encouraged to stockpile food, candles, first aid items, torches, radios but water is glaringly missing from the list. (Do not be mistaken. The above items are critical too.) Instead, in an emergency, water is to be collected at distribution points served presumably by water tankers. How reliable is this? If 10% of the population is incapacitated, will the water tankers still run? What about 50% of the population being incapacitated?

It is my belief that each family should stockpile some water. How much? This is trickier to answer. A good estimate is to have 8 litres per person per day to survive comfortably. Depending on the severity of the crisis, you may need to store enough water for 3 days to 3 years but I feel 3 days should be the bare minimum. (Updated by author on 6/4/17: I smiled inwardly to myself when I reread this estimate of 8L per person per day because I was reinforced with the Sphere standards in the Sphere Handbook the past few weeks. For those unfamiliar with Sphere, "The Sphere Handbook is one of the most widely known and internationally recognized sets of common principles and universal minimum standards for the delivery of quality humanitarian response." Anyway, it suggested a minimum requirement of 15L/day/pax! Remember, this figure applies to refugees from manmade and natural disasters. But bear in mind that it includes washing, bathing (the minimalistic kind), cooking in addition to drinking. Therefore, if we were to talk an emergency in the first few days, 8L can pull you through (in a way) but longer than that, we are going to face big problems.


(Further update by author on 30/8/17:
Actually, the "minimum" requirement of 15L/day/pax is at the upper limit of a range of 7.5-15L/d/c, depending on several factors. See below for a breakdown.)




Alternatively, your water supply may still operate but because of disruption to the water treatment process due to the crisis, the water quality of water from your tap is less than ideal. (In fact, some people already believe this to be so currently, which explains the popularity of water filtration/ purification devices.) Do you have the ability to filter/ purify your water? If you are lucky to have a water filter/ purifier, does it need electricity (which may not be available) to work? If you boil your water, is gas or electricity available?

Figure: My favourite Katadyn Mini - mostly for use outdoors. It can remove particulates and most bugs but not heavy metals, pesticides. However, because it is so light and small, I won't mind bringing it along whenever I head outdoors so when I really need it, it will be there. (Batteries are of course not needed.)









A final question to keep you thinking critically - if there is no water supply, your toilet flush is not going to work. What are you going to do with the loads of bodily waste from your family -  both liquid and solid. Talk about solving a filthy problem.

 I hope that at the very least, this post will start you thinking about the many things we take for granted in civilised society and how fragile many of society's support services are. And if you go ahead to do something about these, all the better.