Review: mostly a waste of time
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2013
A short work that could have been a lot better.The book promises to teach you to make clean water. It really doesn't. It does not appear the author knows all that much about the subject since so little space in the book is actually dedicated to it.It starts with some statistics about water usage, and then goes into the history of water treatment, and briefly goes over public water sources. It inserts a number of dubious claims along the way.The work then claims the "best" solution for home water purification is filtration. It suggests pitcher type filters, counter top systems, and what it calls multi-stage filter systems (even calls these "sophisticated"). It claims RO units are environmentally unfriendly along the way.It briefly then goes over what it refers to as wilderness water purification. It mentions boiling, purification pumps (I guess he is referring to filters with built in pumps), tablets or drops, and evaporation traps (usually called a solar still). It devotes several paragraphs to describing a solar still used to purify one's own urine. It seems likely the author has never used a solar still or he would know how little water you can actually get out of one.It also talks about water pasteurization for some reason. It refers to it as "probably the easiest, fastest, cheapest and the most effective method of purifying water in an effort to make it safer for drinking". I have no idea why anyone would think this. Boiling is clearly easier, as fast, cheaper, and more effective than the goofy (albeit effective) idea of pasteurizing  water.At the very end it also suggests reducing ones water use.Over all I was unimpressed. It has some dubious claims in it and very little in the way of practical advice. I read the whole thing so it gets 2 stars from me, but it just is not a very good book on the subject. IMO, don't waste your time or your money on this one.