Coffee Maker as a Water Purifier

[Morgan101]

I was wondering if it would be possible to use a coffee maker as a method of water purification? Boiling is the recommended method and water boils at 212 degrees. But if water reaches 160 degress the organisms will not survive. Does your morning coffee reach 160 degrees? It would be worth checking.

A cowboy coffee pot would also be a good tool to have to boil water. If there was no power you could use an open fire or a barbeque pit.

 

[Tirediron]

It has to be better than not doing anything. Are you refering to a perculator, when you say Cowboy coffee pot?

 

[Morgan101]

It has to be better than not doing anything. Are you refering to a perculator, when you say Cowboy coffee pot?

A percolator would work, but even that is a step up from the cowboy coffee pot. Here is a pic

You fill it with water; bring it to a boil and throw in the coffee.

 

[Tirediron]

I have one of those. I make a pouch out of a coffee filter when I make Refined cowboy coffee, look at that post 4 with a partial de rail

 

[backlash]

My coffee makers heat to around 192°.
I would not trust that temp to purify water. I would boil it.

 

[Morgan101]

My coffee makers heat to around 192°.
I would not trust that temp to purify water. I would boil it.

Boiling is the safest, but this comes from the CDC (if you can trust them). I have heard the same info from other sources.

Organic Contaminants: Boiling water is effective against most organic contaminants, such as protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. These microorganisms cannot survive the extreme heat of boiling water. Most organic contaminants will die when exposed to temperatures above 70°C (158°F) for about 10 minutes.

 

[zoomzoom]

I'd use a coffee maker as a first step. The paper filter will also help remove particulates.

 

[Tim Horton]

At one time, I made a number of homemade drawstring cloth bags out of all cotton bed sheet bulk material.. Bags about the size of the palm of your hand.. They would hold about a half cup of coffee grounds.. Worked very will with the gallon size coffee pot like shown in the picture of Morgan101 post... I boiled this up on the wood fired HOBO stove and it worked quite well..

 

[MoBookworm1957]

A percolator would work, but even that is a step up from the cowboy coffee pot. Here is a pic

View attachment 127334

You fill it with water; bring it to a boil and throw in the coffee.

I have several of those. Love them.
I use tea ball with a hook on the end of chain for my coffee usually lined with unbleached muslin homemade coffee pods.

 

[Caribou]

If you boil water there will be agglutination. Running it through a coffee filter should clean these out. It was always there but now you can see it. I you made coffee with water that had been boiled previously the filter should catch all the nasty looking particles floating around.

 

[joel]

I was wondering if it would be possible to use a coffee maker as a method of water purification? Boiling is the recommended method and water boils at 212 degrees. But if water reaches 160 degress the organisms will not survive. Does your morning coffee reach 160 degrees? It would be worth checking.

A cowboy coffee pot would also be a good tool to have to boil water. If there was no power you could use an open fire or a barbeque pit.

I would think you would have to screen/strain water from the creek, but water from a bottle or pump should work just fine, to run though the coffee maker.

 

[Morgan101]

I would think you would have to screen/strain water from the creek, but water from a bottle or pump should work just fine, to run though the coffee maker.

I was thinking you could just use two regular coffee filters to help screen out the bad stuff. No coffee obviously. This is just to purify water. The real question was would the water get hot enough to kill the biological contaminants, and from what Backlash stated it probably would.

If you were using the cowboy coffee pot you would definitely want to filter the water somehow before you boiled it.

 

[Caribou]

The problem I see with a coffer maker like a Mr. Coffee is that the water isn’t hot for very long. It is heated, goes up a tube immediately, and is dumped on the coffee. A cowboy coffee pot the coffee cooks for longer giving the necessary time to kill any pathogens.

 

[Jen]

This is good to know. Thank you.