GINSBERG5150 wrote:

I have a question. Can you purify the water that has been
contaminated? boiling the water? I read that a solar still would be
needed but is it able to rid the water of toxic componets? and for
drinking would iodine "cure" the water?


This is the kind of still I was talking about:
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm

The ultra fine radioactive dust particles that take several months to
reach the ground are so fine you can't even see them, but these will be
very widely distributed around the world. When radioactive fallout lands
on burning buildings or forest fires, some of it is put back into the
air in the form of smoke and this will be ultra fine particles difficult
to filter. Plus a nuke war will pretty much put a vast array of
pollution into surface water from busted sewer lines to destroyed
chemical plants. Even ocean water along the coast will likely be
contaminated soon after coastal cities are destroyed. Charcoal (cooked
wood) can absorb some things, but won't remove alcohol or petrolium
products like gasoline. A solar still won't remove any chemcials in the
water that can evaporate with the water like petrolium products. Almost
every flood will be highly polluted. If nuclear plants are hit they will
release radiation that is very persistant.

The safest water will be out of water wells. Rain water or water from
some wells unfit to drink (such as high mineral content) could be made
drinkable using solar stills.

Course it all depends on the level of contamination and polution. You'd
be best off moving to an area with the least contamination. Since
radioactive fallout follows weather patterns, the healthiest places in
the US after it goes through a full scale nuclear war will likely be on
the west coast. If only air bursts are used on its cities most of
California will likely have little contamination. Why did the nicest
real estate in the US have to get occupied by the weardest Americans?

I rembered another thing from Kearny's video. When eating tasty animals
that have ingested some fallout but are still healthy, consume only meat
not too close to the bones because radiative particles tend to collect
in the bones. I'm guessing internal organs are out too. Never eat a sick
animal.

I may be going a bit over board with minimizing elminating contamination
from food and water, but it may be worth while doing it for your
children and babies who are more vulnerable to poisoning. Generally it
takes 30+ years for cancer from radiation to develop, so the older you
are the less important.