Disinfecting a camping water filter without bleach: NOT recommended

I've been trying to avoid bleach, but the Katadyn water filter I use to filter water while camping requires the disinfecting of the filter with bleach before drying it out for storage. I've been using grapefruit seed extract (GSE) instead, so I thought I'd share my recipe and how I came up with it. Disclaimer: My filter eventually got mouldy, so I don't think this works too well, but feel free to try it yourself.

Recipe

Add 100 drops of GSE into 1 gallon of water. Stir well, and pump all of the liquid through the filter. Disassemble and dry. When using again, pump 1 liter of water through it to clear out the GSE.

Why 100 drops? 

Normally, you would use 2 teaspoons of bleach in 1 gallon of water to clean the water filter for storage. So how much if GSE is that equivalent to? For emergency disinfecting of water, you use 1/8 teaspoon of bleach, or 6-30 drops of GSE. Counting with the lower value, we get 1/8 teaspoon bleach = 6 drops of GSE. In other words, 2 teaspoons bleach = 96 drops of GSE. At maximum (counting with the 30), we would get 2 teaspoons bleach = 480 drops GSE... but I don't have the patience to count that many drops!

EDIT: This method DOES NOT seem to work nearly as well as disinfecting with bleach. When I used the water filter later, the water had a funny taste, and upon disassembling, I saw mold growing on the entire filter, and it smelled like a towel that has been standing wet for too long. I don't know whether this was related to the fact that I had disinfected with GSE, but I DO know that in previous years, while cleaning with bleach, my filters always remained perfectly clean and mold-free after camping trips.

Black mold growing in spots. It's too small to see on this photo, but there also are tiny black specks of mold covering the entire filter. The filter should have remained snow-white near the outflow end.

Homemade green household cleaners

Here are the green cleaning product recipes that worked for me:

Alvin Corn Homemade Glass Cleaner

• 1/4 c. rubbing alcohol
• 1/4 c. white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 c. warm water

I found it here.

Leather Wipes

• 4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp pure Castille soap (mild vegetable soap for babies)
• 1-2 drops vinegar

House freshener recipes

1. Simmer the zest of a lemon in water with a teaspoon of cinnamon on the kitchen stove.
2. Simmer an inch of water with 10 cloves.

My "to do" list

Here's a list of the things on my "to do" list, in order to detoxify my home and my body.

• Avoid Mercury
• Don't eat fish high on food chain and prefer light tuna over albacore or "white" tuna.
• Avoid PFOA and PTFE
• Found in Teflon cookware, many nonstick and water-resistant materials, frozen pizza packaging, French fry containers, packaged-for-heating foods
• Don't eat fast food
• Buy stainless steel, cast iron or enamel pots and pans.
• Avoid BPA
• Found in plastic containers, canned food like coconut milk, soup, meat, vegetables, juice, fish, fruit and beans
• Pre-soak and freeze beans instead of buying in cans
• Eat out less
• French press coffee instead of using coffee makers with plastic tanks and tubing
• Avoid vinyl and polyurethane flooring
• Reduce exposure to THMs
• Leave drinking water standing, uncovered, for several hours
• Take shorter and cooler showers or, even better: take a bath
• Filter out many things from drinking water with carbon or charcoal filter combined with a reverse osmosis system. Check NSF website's database for comparison of products.
• Use green cleaning products
• Look for ingredient disclosure and not the words "green", "biodegradable" or "non-toxic" on the front (these don't mean anything!), e.g. Seventh Generation and Ecover are good
• Use homemade cleaning products made of vinegar, baking soda, etc.
• Look up cleaning products in the EWG database or on GoodGuide.com
• Avoid insect sprays and flea and tick solutions
• Instead: boric acid, vinegar+water, or diatomaceous earth
• Check EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database for safe sunscreen, personal care products and cosmetics, and make my own cosmetics as often as I can
• Avoid toxins in baby's stuff
• Buy only plastic products sold after 2009
• Look for low or no VOC in paint
• Make sure there is no formaldehyde in particle board or avpod particle wood altogether
• Limit electronic equipment in room, especially older models
• Use natural body care products such as Vitamin E, safflower oil or olive oil instead of lotion.
• Produce in the "dirty dozen" has to be bought organic
• Download or purchase the following apps:
• EWG Shopper's Guide for "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15".
• Chemical Cuisine for health risks of food additives
• Keep house germ-free
• Wash out veggie drawer in fridge once a month
• Buy plastic chopping board, not wood. Also, if it gets worn and grooved, replace.

 Bonus

• When pregnant, sign up for National Children's Study
• Check that our home, school or workplace isn't near an uncontrolled hazardous waste site, or Superfund site

Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about the fact that I live in smog-filled LA. Or the vinyl flooring in our rental. I promise myself that we'll move when I graduate from school. This tree-lined pocket of apartments between the freeway and electric power lines is just such a good deal in otherwise unaffordable West LA..! (I'm bad, I know.)

What else would you put on your "to do" list? Share in the comments!