# Hot tub water?



## Tommyt

Hello, I am new to this forum and my wife and I are working on our food and water supply. We have a hot tub with 550 gals of water in it. Can this water be used as an emergency source of drinking water. If so will it need to be filtered, boiled or just treated with chlorine. Thank you


----------



## Moby76065

This all depends on what you've treated the water with.
Some chemicals will not be filtered out so easily.
I'd check the ingredients carefully and do your own research on the web to 
determine how to remove them. Activated charcoal should remove a lot of things.

Another source of fresh water is your H/W heater. Provided you flush it regularly.
There is a valve on the bottom you can hook a hose to and flush it. If you've never
done it you'll get black sediment for about 3-5 minuets. Flush this every 3-6 months 
(depending on your water supply) and should water supply become contaminated
as it has on the east coast you've got that much in storeage. I also recommend a 
bathtub bladder.


----------



## FatTire

i have a friend that used to test the water in hot tubs, lots of bacteria, very nasty. if it was me and i had to use it as a water source, id filter it and boil it.


----------



## PrepN4Good

Last season "Doomsday Preppers" (I think) showed a couple who made hot chocolate directly from the water in their hot tub. Thought it sounded disgusting, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do...


----------



## hiwall

I agree with those above-use it as a last resort for drinking. It would make good water to flush your toilets.


----------



## Tommyt

Thanks all, agree that it could be a last resort for drinking. Just thought about all that water sitting there. I will rely on other sources!


----------



## LincTex

Build yourself a slow sand filter to run the water through first... a layer of charcoal as Moby suggested would be excellent...... then run it through a Berkey. I would drink it after that!

Boiling 550 gallons would use up a LOT of fuel.

At the same time, get a food-grade 55 gallon plastic barrel and fill it with water, then keep it in a dark place. You can use this water to drink from while you are filtering and treating the hot tub water.


----------



## Series80

I have a hot tub and although I wouldnt use it for this application , unless it was thouroughly cleaned and used the tub soley as a water collector , theres just too much bacteria in hot tubs , sure you might ingest some of this water on occassion ,no big deal , but usually you will use things like shock to clean it and ph balance chemicals , clear water chemicals , theres many kinds of chemicals that are used in a hot tub , like someone else said , im not sure you can filter out all these chemicals , I keep my tub at 103 degrees ,this will not kill bateriums , so the need for chemicals exists ,boiling will kill the baterium but it will not do a thing to the chemicals (although it could cause a chemical reaction)


----------

