hi, im looking for a way/ device that can remove heavy metals from water. i live in rural wales, i can find loads of cost effective water filters but none seem to take out the heavy metals and the area i live in is riddled with silver and leads mines. can anyone help?
heavy metals in water filtration
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I am not a chemist, but I suspect you would need a special system designed specifically to target the contaminants in your water - and even then you would have to test the treated water.
been doing some more reading and thinking. a normal kitchen brita water filter seems to do it, i might try to take one apart and build new slimmer filter out of it.
forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
You really need -- as mrcharly suspected -- more involved chemisty than normally offered by water filters. You would need a system that could more or less selectively bind these atoms and ions and let the water pass (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelation).
This task was actually one of the reasons that the (in)famous peat, charcoal and sphagnum filter was invented (as a field improvisable metal chelating system, better than none).
This task was actually one of the reasons that the (in)famous peat, charcoal and sphagnum filter was invented (as a field improvisable metal chelating system, better than none).
I know it's confusing , but there is a lot of confusion and quite a distinct difference between filtration and purification!
There's a British company that sells portable purification systems. These clear the usual bacteria , parasites and viruses but the reason I chose this system is in that it excels in removing pesticides, chemicals , and trace metals!
They also sell an adapter, where you just stick it on your tap, camelpack or gravity filter...
Purified water on tap! 😉
http://www.drinksafe-systems.co.uk/products.php
Take your time to read the technology page as it explains the difference between the purification products and the filter ones.
They also sell filters , so just check all the info before purchasing.
I have no deal with them , nor do I work for them ... I'm just a happy customer!
They were very helpful before me purchasing my systems , and all my e-mails were responded swiftly!
Hope this helps ..
Ps- there's also the famous berkey filters with different candle attachments, each with different functions, sure they must do a metals one... they even do the fluoride candle...but not so portable.
There's a British company that sells portable purification systems. These clear the usual bacteria , parasites and viruses but the reason I chose this system is in that it excels in removing pesticides, chemicals , and trace metals!
They also sell an adapter, where you just stick it on your tap, camelpack or gravity filter...
Purified water on tap! 😉
http://www.drinksafe-systems.co.uk/products.php
Take your time to read the technology page as it explains the difference between the purification products and the filter ones.
They also sell filters , so just check all the info before purchasing.
I have no deal with them , nor do I work for them ... I'm just a happy customer!
They were very helpful before me purchasing my systems , and all my e-mails were responded swiftly!
Hope this helps ..
Ps- there's also the famous berkey filters with different candle attachments, each with different functions, sure they must do a metals one... they even do the fluoride candle...but not so portable.
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Hi and welcome!
It might help if you made it clear whether you are looking for a filtration set up for mains, borehole or spring water for domestic, long term off grid living or just weekend camping purposes.
FWIW, I grew up in a village described by the tabloids in the late 1970s as (IIRC) as possibly "the deadliest spot on earth" due to the high levels of heavy metal contamination (specifically cadmium) in the soil as a legacy from mining going back to Roman times - the conclusion of exhaustive analysis of water, soil, vegetables, household dust, meals eaten and medical tests of half the village population was that our health was not materially better or worse than that of residents in a control village with no contamination.
Heavy metal poisons are a serious issue and historic use of lead pipes for drinking water was clearly not a good idea but TBH if you are only drinking a few litres a year while out camping, the risks seem low.
Stay safe.
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sorry i should have said, its for wild camping, figured it was a given since im on a bushcraft forum lol.
"Heavy metal poisons are are serious issue and historic use of lead pipes for drinking water was clearly not a good idea but TBH if you are only drinking a few litres a year while out camping, the risks seem low." my friend said much the same thing, but the issue is that its probably once a month so i dont want that horrible stuff accumulating in my body over time. as ive said i reckon i can mod a brita water filter but need to do a bit of reading before. anyone ever tired anything like that? from reading about then last night it sounds like it should be fairly easy to reconfigure into a small sieve or straw like set up. dont know if it will work mind
Wild camp above the contamination?
Wild camp somewhere other than where you live?
Die early of something unrelated, just to stick it to The Man?
Don't just guess at the water contamination. You postulate setting up for one thing when it really could be another. Your starting position should be both composition and concentration.
Being a student in environmental engineering, I think I can offer some help.
First of all, this is a very important point:
If you can't get information from a such source, then don't use the water if there's concern for heavy metal contamination.
Another good point is here:
I removed the original post because water purification is such a complex and expensive procedure, that I wouldn't try to reproduce it at home. Even in emergency, I's rather distill (boil and condensate) water than try to treat it. Surface water potentionally contaminated by mine runoff shouldn't even be considered as a source for drinking water production. So, under no circumstances would I suggest that you try to clean such water with any method other than distillation.
First of all, this is a very important point:
I thought the thing over once more, and removed most of the original post. The thing I suggest is that you get official information regarding the water quality of the water sources in question. Either from a state agency (or similar), or by taking your sample to a qualified analytical laboratory for analysis (which is expensive and I know you won't do that, but it's an alternative nonetheless).
If you can't get information from a such source, then don't use the water if there's concern for heavy metal contamination.
Another good point is here:
Get rid of the contamination problem completely, if you can. Most likely the safest thing you could do.
I removed the original post because water purification is such a complex and expensive procedure, that I wouldn't try to reproduce it at home. Even in emergency, I's rather distill (boil and condensate) water than try to treat it. Surface water potentionally contaminated by mine runoff shouldn't even be considered as a source for drinking water production. So, under no circumstances would I suggest that you try to clean such water with any method other than distillation.
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Read this
http://www.cdc.gov/safewater/flocculant-filtration.html
Might be OK for a stationary camp, but takes a long time for it to work, making it not so good for backpacking. Suggest you wild camp high, above the toxic run off and use a sawyer. As others state here, a few litres over the odd weekend is not going to screw you provided you don't use streams below the old lead workings. A hacked about Brita filter won;t work. They work to take out heavy metals because they have an activated charcoal bed. the amount needed makes it impractical for backpacking.
http://www.cdc.gov/safewater/flocculant-filtration.html
Might be OK for a stationary camp, but takes a long time for it to work, making it not so good for backpacking. Suggest you wild camp high, above the toxic run off and use a sawyer. As others state here, a few litres over the odd weekend is not going to screw you provided you don't use streams below the old lead workings. A hacked about Brita filter won;t work. They work to take out heavy metals because they have an activated charcoal bed. the amount needed makes it impractical for backpacking.
Judging by the article, the thing is not really good against heavy metals. It will precipitate some of them, more or less, but definitely not all. Transition metals don't react with hypochlorite, and not all the sulfates are insoluble. The product is designed to remove floating stuff and disinfect the water, I'd reckon it's quite effective at it. However, the high number of toxic metals and their varied behaviour means one does not simply remove them all with a mix of two simple chemicals. Also, I'd like to point out that arsenic is not a heavy metal (as the text states) but a metalloid, and therefore behaves very differently.
Not sure about there but here many universities will also do soil and water analysis free of charge.
What is actually in the water? How much is in the water? I've got water that you wouldn't wash your hands in = looks like a jolly little fresh mountain stream.
Two problems very much south of me:
1. While it doesn't exactly glow in the dark, the tap water is radioactive.
2. Turn on the cold water tap. Light a match. Set your water on fire. Need natural gas? We got lots.
My village has superb mountain melt water which runs through a huge wetland before treatment.
Standing at my kitchen sink, turn on the tap. Look up and to the left to see (South) the mountain source as you fill the kettle.
If you're faced with really ugly water, might be a plan to bring your own.
Two problems very much south of me:
1. While it doesn't exactly glow in the dark, the tap water is radioactive.
2. Turn on the cold water tap. Light a match. Set your water on fire. Need natural gas? We got lots.
My village has superb mountain melt water which runs through a huge wetland before treatment.
Standing at my kitchen sink, turn on the tap. Look up and to the left to see (South) the mountain source as you fill the kettle.
If you're faced with really ugly water, might be a plan to bring your own.
The hypochlorite is there to kill bacteria and viruses. Flocculation is about the only way you can easily remove heavy metals from water. OK not all are removed. Activated carbon is not practical IMO for backpacking, so the Brita hack doesn't work. Ion exchange resins would need another large package so is not practical. AS I stated earlier, source selection for least risk of contamination is the only practical method. As others point out, a couple of litres a weekend for a few weekends a year is not going to kill you. It's not as if you are trying to filter the Manchester Ship Canal.
I have to disagree with you on this one. Flocculation removes suspended particulate matter, and, if the system is designed so, arsenic. The principle of operation is the following: these particles are negatively charged and thus repel each other, remain suspended. We add some water-soluble iron(III)- or aluminium(III)-salt which form a hydroxide precipitate in water. The hydroxides adhere to the floating particles, charges are masked and partially neutralized. The now-neutral matter forms aggregates, which can be then easily removed by filtration. Arsenic can be removed thus because it is present in water as negatively charged polyatomic ions. Now, all heavy metals form positive ions in water, which renders flocculation practically useless when dealing with such contamination.
Seems odd that I can find multiple articles listing flocculation techniques for removing heavy metals.
For example:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389408014726
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