Water Filter Disinfection After a Flood or Hurricane

During the aftermath of every natural disaster such as a flood or a hurricane, every household will be in dire need of clean and safe drinking water. Although the plumbing system of your house is still fully functional, there’s the huge risk of contaminants getting into it. This then  makes it have unsafe water. Flooded streets and damaged plumbing can cause a breach in your local plumbing system which can let harmful contaminants pass through and enter your own water pipes.

Even if you have your own water filtration system, there’s still a large possibility of it being contaminated with these foreign matters. To prevent any harm, it’s important to clean and disinfect your water filter system as soon as possible. This is in order to ensure your water system is safe to bathe and drink right after a natural disaster.

The Contaminants You’ll Encounter After a Disaster

Encountering a natural disaster means that there’s a huge possibility of getting your water system contaminated, even with a water filter. The contaminants that you might encounter are all dangerous as there’s a huge likelihood of them causing harm to your health. Some of these contaminants aren’t visible but it’s safe to assume that it isn’t safe to directly drink your tap water no matter what type of water filter you’re using.

Pathogens

Pathogens are the most likely type of dangerous contaminant that’s able to enter your water system during a disaster. These can be bacteria, parasites, or viruses where any of them can cause major gastrointestinal issues or other severe medical conditions.  Most pathogens found on these incidents are usually able to enter your local water system due to the chance of leaking pipes. If your home’s water filtration system is below water level then it can flood the system, making it possible to easily enter your home’s plumbing system.

Hazardous Chemicals

Another type of deadly contaminants that can be found in water during floods or hurricanes are organic and inorganic chemicals. Most of these materials come from areas such as landfills, heavy industrial locations, gas stations, and even private garages. Some of these chemicals can even be found in your house such as the toxic waste that you haven’t thrown out, chemicals used for maintaining your car, and pesticide or gardening chemicals.

With these areas containing dangerous chemical substances should be safe, a catastrophic natural disaster can cause damage enough or more than enough to create a spill.  The spill then can start to find its way through your water supply through any type of breach that may open up because of a disaster.

Turbidity in Water

Turbidity is the measurement of how much transparency is there left to water. This indicates the amount of organic matter and other sediments that are contained in it. It’s important to test the turbidity in your home after a major event to let you know the amount of contaminants that contain in your water. With these various contaminants being a huge health risk, you need to know if your water system needs to go through treatment.

The treatment process can also apply to your water filter as it’s necessary to eliminate any potential pathogens or chemicals on your water filtration system.

Steps to Disinfecting Your Water Filter

Step 1

No matter what type of water filter is installed in your home, the first step is always to drain out all the water that’s inside it. Make sure that your water filter is also shut off during this process. Clean it out from any debris outside the filter such as dirt and mud. The inside should also be disinfected by using a disinfectant spray to kill off any possible bacteria that may have entered your water filter.

Step 2

Next is to thoroughly clean out your water filter tank to make sure that it’s absolutely free from any kind of contaminant. As there are different types of water filters, we’re just going to show you how to disinfect some of the most common water filter systems.

Water Softeners

Repeatedly flush out the water inside your water softener until it’s able to produce clear water. You can then proceed to remove the brine tank to remove any remaining water inside of it. Proceed to use chlorinated water into your tank for disinfection and close the tank off in order to run several regeneration cycles.

Reverse Osmosis Water Filters

Cleaning out a reverse osmosis water filter will take quite some time so it’s best to use a testing kit to see if it’s necessary for it to go through any kind of cleaning. If cleaning is needed, you can use a concentrate of chlorinated water solution and continually flush the system through several cycles.

Carbon Water Filters

For whole house water filters that use carbon media, you need to first remove the used water filter and clean the system off with bleach and detergent. Once finished, you can proceed to place a new carbon filter on the tank and proceed to turn your water system back on to check if the water that’s running in your home is all clean.

Step 3

Before using your water, check if all the chlorine and disinfectants you’ve used have been flushed out of your water system. You can then further finish it off by verifying the water output and see if it’s able to produce purified water.

Looking for Possible Sources of Safe Water

The problem that every person faces right after a natural disaster is finding any possible source of safe drinking water. This can sometimes prove to be difficult as natural disasters tend to ruin water systems which makes it impossible for water to be safe to consume. In case of an emergency, it’s best to have a stored supply of bottled water to use when there are no viable options to obtain clean water. Another method is to boil your tap water to a point where it’s able to kill off any remaining bacteria inside of it.

Conclusion

The procedures for disinfection of your water filter will depend on the type of water filter currently in your home. It’s also best to check the user manual of your unit to have a detailed explanation of how to properly disinfect your whole house water filter.