prefilter material for silt?

[fossana]

I reran my test using a modified Secchi disk. I used the thinnest numbers for my visibility depth measurement.

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[Ted]

Does the alum bind with the silt, and both sink to the bottom of the container, is that how it works? The clear water poured off for later filtering or disinfection doesn't contain silt or alum? Or put another way, is Alum safe to consume in small amounts? I'm sure it's better than infectious disease pathogens, but.

Will it make mixed drinks turn black, like water sources with high iron?

 

[fossana]

Does the alum bind with the silt, and both sink to the bottom of the container, is that how it works? The clear water poured off for later filtering or disinfection doesn't contain silt or alum? Or put another way, is Alum safe to consume in small amounts? I'm sure it's better than infectious disease pathogens, but.

Will it make mixed drinks turn black, like water sources with high iron?

Alum (aluminum sulfate) is a flocculant, which binds with other particles and pulls them out of solution. It's considered safe by the FDA, and used in vaccines as an immune stimulant (adjuvant), as well as in food products, like pickles. You still have to filter the water for pathogen removal, although alum has some bactericidal properties and will also bind fecal coliform bacteria.

It didn't change the color of my drink powder when I accidentally added too much.