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As long as the water is reasonably clear, just leaving it in a plastic bottle in the sun for a day or so will get the water safe enough to drink. http://en.wik
by ghshephard 13y ago
As long as the water is reasonably clear, just leaving it in a plastic bottle in the sun for a day or so will get the water safe enough to drink.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection
http://www.irinnews.org/report/79172/benin-sunshine-plastic-bottle-clean-water http://www.irinnews.org/report/79172/benin-sunshine-plastic-...
And this water is not ground water - so all of the many, many normal types of ground pollution are being avoided.
- bigbugbag 13y agoYou're supposed not to drink water from a plastic bottle which has been exposed for some time to the sun.
- harlanlewis 13y agoThe amount of time matters. The 5 hours required for solar disinfecting is far less than the time a plastic bottle will degrade in the sun and contaminate the contained liquids. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET - commonly used for soda bottles) can withstand direct sunlight for 5 years. There's leeching occurring throughout the degradation, and I can't find any trustworthy research on leeched PET harm when ingested repeatedly over a lifetime, but a few hours in the sun is pretty far from the danger zone.
- ghshephard 13y agoAll things equal, I'd rather deal with a small risk associated with pollutants leeching from the bottle, than the much higher risk associated with diarrhea-causing organisms in the water.
- tonylemesmer 13y agoI'm Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was referring to potential moss / buildup on the structure itself.