[National Library of Medicine. HF 1862. This transfer made: 01/16/06. Length: 00:18:05]
[Official Training Film. T.F. 8 1174. War Department.]
[Produced by The Signal Corps for the Commanding General Army Service Forces 1943.]
[Purification of Water]
Wasteland, devoid of any living thing, because there is no water.
Without water, the land is dead.
Water (unintelligible) to the valley.
Water plows the fields and threshes the wheat.
Water makes the bread that nourishes life.
In the civilian world, you accepted water. It was there.
You didn't worry about where it came from or whether or not it was pure.
You got used to drinking good water - pure water.
Did you ever wonder how it got that way?
This looks like beautiful, clean water. But take a look at it under the micrososcope.
It is alive with all sorts of living matter, with deadly germs that may give you dysentary, diarrhea, typhoid fever, para typhoid, or even cholera.
Your local government protects you against these diseases by treating water to make it pure.
By aerating, settling and filtering,
and chlorinating, until it looks like this.
Quite a difference, eh? One means life;
the other may be deadlier than a machine gun bullet.
That's why you must never drink water unless you know it's safe.
These boys have been hiking all day. They're thirsty, and they're taking a 10 minute break.
But drinking from this apparently harmless stream will get them a 10 month sick leave.
Because upstream there's an open privy,
and a trash dump,
and a hog wallow.
There's usually habitation along streams and all people have their own waste to dispose of,
as well as animal waste and garbage.
About 9 times out of 10, these wastes go into the stream.
Brother, that water you drank before was polluted,
and now your belly is full of disease germs.
There's only one way to beat the game: don't water unless you know it has been purified.
In the field, the Corps of Engineers usually supplies water for troops.
With each army, there's an engineer water supply batallion.
This outfit has mobile purification units mounted on trucks.
These units usually operate as water points in the rear of the army area.
When the water is purified, it is normally stored in large canvas reservoirs.
From there it's conveniently transported to the troops.
Most of the time, the Corps of Engineers depends on smaller, portable units,
which work in about the same manner as the big mobile outfits,
except that they're set up by the combat engineers.
The purified water is stored in the large canvas tanks until the forward units can send for it.
Unit tank trailers and water cans are used to carry water from the engineer's water point to the troops.
This is one way the army looks after your water.
Here's another. Every unit of 100 men or less is issued a water sterilizing bag, known as a Lister bag.
It's usually used to store and distribute water that has already been made fit for drinking.
But this bag is also used to purify water when the water trucks can't get through.
This bag is made of heavy canvas or rubberized fabric, and will hold 36 gallons.
Hang it from a tripod of poles or branches.
Make sure the tripod is fastened tightly at the top so that it doesn't collapse.
A box of calcium hypochlorite ampules, a powder which purifies by chlorinating -
and a bottle of orthotolidine, a test for sufficient chlorine -
are issued for use with this bag.
When you purify water by this method, first be sure you get your water from the best available source.
If the water isn't clear, let it stand until the dirt settles to the bottom.
When the water is cleared, pour it into the bag carefully, making sure that the dirt stays on the bottom of the bucket.
Fill the bag to the 36 gallon mark,
or if there isn't one, to within 4 inches of the top.
Then run about a teaspoonful of water into your canteen cup.
Break an ampule of calcium hypochlorite into it,
and with a clean stick, mix the purifying powder and water into a paste.
Once you've done that, add more water until the cup is two thirds full.
Stir thoroughly.
Empty the solution into the Lister bag.
Then, stir it with a clean stick that's long enough to reach the bottom of the bag.
Check the time on your watch. The water is not immediately ready for drinking.
It takes 30 minutes for the chemicals to kill any germs that may be in the water.
While you're waiting, flush out each faucet.
This permits some of the purifier to come in contact with the inner surfaces of the faucets.
You pour this water back into the bag.
After the calcium hypochlorite has been in the water for at least 10 minutes, run off a small amount.
And then run some into a clean canteen cup to a depth of about half an inch.
Take the bottle of orthotolidine to test the mixture.
Use the dropper cap from the bottle.
Fill the dropper to the mark, and then add the preparation to the water in the canteen cup.
Rotate the cup gently to mix the water and chemical, and allow the solution to stand for 5 minutes in the shade.
At the end of 5 minutes, the water should take on a deep yellow color, to indicate the right amount of chlorination.
If it doesn't, break another ampule of calcium hypochlorite into a separate cup.
As you did before, use your stick and mix the powder and water into a paste.
Draw some more water from the faucet.
Stir thoroughly.
And add the solution to the water in the bag.
Stir the mixture as before, and repeat the color test in another 10 minutes.
If you get an orange color, you've added too much calcium hypochlorite, which gives the water a bad taste.
You can correct this by adding more untreated water to the lister bag, after which the color test should be repeated.
If it comes up a deep yellow color, you're alright.
Thirty minutes after the correct amount of calcium hypochlorite has been added,
the water is ready to drink. And brother, this is safe water.
Here's another way that orthotolidine is issued:
in a kit that contains a bottle of orthotolidine tablets, slipped inside a testing vial.
These tablets are used instead of the liquid solution to test for chlorine.
After removing the inner bottle and flushing the faucet, fill the outer vial with water from the faucet, up to the yellow band.
Drop in one tablet from the bottle.
Shake gently until dissolved, and note the color produced.
If the color is about equal to the yellow band, the water is satisfactory.
Sometimes there won't be any orthotolidine around.
If that happens, after you've added the hypochlorite, get one of your men who hasn't helped out in purifying the water.
Have him smell and taste it.
Make sure this man hasn't handled any of the hypochlorite,
because the odor of chlorine on his hands will make it difficult for him to smell it in the water.
If there's just a faint odor or taste of chlorine in the water, it means that it's safe to drink.
Sometimes, however, there may be too much chlorine in the water. This gives it a bad taste.
Rather than drink it, some thoughtless men may drink untreated water, just because it tastes better.
That's a sweet way to start an epidemic.
This sergeant has the right idea.
He knows that all you have to do is just add a little more raw water, wait 10 minutes and retest.
Remember, a mild flavor and odor of chlorine is the guarantee of safe, dependable water.
If you don't have a Lister bag handy, use a 5 gallon can,
or even a 10 gallon milk can will be satisfactory.
When using these containers, break an ampule of calcium hypochlorite in your canteen cup,
and mix in the same manner as you did for the lister bag.
Fill your cup about 2 thirds full with water from the can, and stir again.
But you don't pour all of this mixture into the can.
For a 5 gallon can, pour in about 6 tablespoons full.
For a 10 gallon can, use about one third of the mixture in the canteen cup.
Stir it thoroughly, and then test with the orthotolidiine, or by smelling and tasting.
Soldiers operating alone or in small groups have to purify their own drinking water.
Enough food can be carried on a march for several days.
But water's too heavy and bulky, and you've got to know how to purify it,
since each man usually needs one gallon a day for drinking and other purposes.
The corporal has picked a flowing river,
because river or lake water is usually purer than water taken from puddles, swamps, or other sources.
But no matter where you get it from, all water must be treated.
In this case, an ampule of calcium hypochlorite is being used.
Let it dissolve for 5 minutes.
Each man fills his canteen in the river.
After 5 minutes have gone by, a canteen capful of the strong solution the corporal has mixed is poured into each canteen and shaken well.
Wait one half hour to give the solution a chance to work.
If there's just a faint odor and taste of chlorine, the water is safe to drink.
If hypochlorite ampules are not provided, water purification tablets will be issued to men who may be separated from their organizations.
This is how to go about it.
After you've filled your canteen, add two tablets.
Screw on the cap, and shake well for several minutes.
Wait 30 minutes before drinking this water; then it will be safe.
When on his own, a good soldier doesn't wait until his canteen is empty before refilling it.
Whenever he finds water, and his canteen is less than one half full, he takes a drink from the canteen, and then refills his canteen and adds the purification tablets.
In this manner, the water will be purified when he again becomes thirsty.
Sometimes there won't be any clear water handy.
In that case, you may have to use puddles, swamp water, or water from pot holes.
When this happens, use four tablets to purify it.
Don't wait until the last minute. Whenever possible, treat the water the night before.
You can disinfect in larger containers with these tablets:
40 tablets for 5 gallons of clear water, 80 tablets for dirty water.
By preparing the water in advance, these boys have made it safer, and better tasting, and ready without waiting for it.
There may be times when you haven't any purifying agent.
If this happens, you won't have to do without water.
You can sterilize it by bringing it to a boil for one minute.
Be sure you let it boil.
Allow it to cool, then stir it vigorously. This gets air into the water and takes away the flat taste.
There's another method of aerating, and that is to pour the water from one container into another.
Cholera - just as vicious as a Jap bullet.
Dysentary - as effective as a Nazi bayonette.
The sixth, seventh, and eighth columns.
Troops needed at the front, knocked out of battle -
by beautifully clear water.
Water that contained filth, dirt, and pollution, from a hog wallow,
from a cow pasture.
This one forgot to use his purifying tablets.
This soldier drank untreated water.
This poor guy thought well water was better than water in the Lister bag.
Use the Lister bag when you're on your own.
Don't help the enemy. Don't jeopardize your own life or your buddy's.
Drop in those purification tablets. Boil it if you can't do anything else.
But - purify your drinking water.
[The end. T.F. 8 1174.]
[This film is restricted.]