Almost all laundry bleaches, whether Clorox or any other brand, have 5.5% Sodium Hypoclorite, which is a suitable purification chemical for water.
Bleach in a suitable container with an eyedropper dispenser makes a nice addition to any camping/survival kit.
Make sure you do not use powdered, scented or other non-pure bleaches.

Prior to the addition of bleach, remove all suspended material by filtration (through a cotton cloth or improvised sand filter for instance) or by simply allowing sediment to settle to the bottom.

Add 8 drops of bleach per gallon of water (or 2 drops per quart). If the water was filtered, then shake it up for even dispersal of the bleach, and wait 15 minutes. If it has sediment at the bottom, don’t shake it up. Instead, allow the treated water to stand for 30 minutes.

Properly treated water should have a very slight chlorine odour.
If you can’t smell chlorine, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand another 15 minutes.

For cloudy, green or really nasty water (i.e: swamp water), you can start with 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water (or 4 drops per quart).
As detailed above, smell the water.
If there’s a faint odour of chlorine, the water is drinkable. If not, then repeat the treatment.

Treating Larger Quantities of Water

- 1 teaspoon equals 60 U.S. drops. Therefore a teaspoon of bleach treats about 7.5 gallons of clear water or about 4 gallons of dirty water. The teaspoon measure is handy for treating 5 gallon buckets of water.

- 1 tablespoon equals 180 U.S. drops. Therefore a tablespoon of bleach treats about 20 gallons of clear water or about 10 gallons of dirty water.

- 1/4 cup equals 720 U.S. drops. Therefore a quarter cup of bleach treats about 90 gallons of clear water or 45 gallons of dirty water.

(a quarter cup measure is suitable for use in a 55 gallon drum of fairly dirty water).

How Does Bleach Work and What’s up with the Smell Test???

Bleach is an oxidant, and it will react with and kill pretty much any microscopic cellular life (including viruses) that it comes in contact with.
When it reacts, the bleach is actually consumed in the process.

Because killing microorganisms also consumes the bleach, the scent test tells you whether or not there’s anything left to kill. If there’s no chlorine odour, then all of the bleach was used up, meaning there could still be living organisms. If there is a chlorine odour, however faint, after 30 minutes, it tells you that all of the bacteria, viruses and other nasty stuff is dead, and the bleach has done its job with some to spare.

When a large-scale disaster happens the most essential thing you can have is a supply of clean water.
Emergency water filters and a good supply of drinking water in Storage Containers (1 gal/day per person) is an absolute necessity.
It is possible to survive weeks without food but only around 2 days without water.
When it comes to water survival and emergency preparedness, you should begin with learning how to store water, and how to be prepared with purified, and filtered drinking water.

Why It’s Important To Store Safe Water

•When a disaster has been forecasted, or does occur, people will be rushing frantically to prepare. What happens when you discover there isn’t one bottle of water left at any market or convenience store? You and many others will be in a real panic.
•After a natural disaster, people can become subject to water-borne illnesses when their water supply becomes polluted. If unprepared, they can be forced to find and drink water that is unsafe to consume.
It takes so little time to prepare ahead for the unexpected and unimaginable. Take the Time Now… and Just Do It!
How Much Water?
•Short term emergencies:
1 gallon a day per person can provide the minimum amount needed for: drinking, basic food preparation, and personal hygiene. (Double that amount is recommended, especially for longer term situations).
•Be sure to remember your pets in your water storage amounts.
A good rule of thumb is to count them as another person: 1 gallon per pet, (Take size and species of pets into consideration).

Where Do I Get It?

Choose from the following choices to prepare your emergency water storage:

1. Purchase in advance, store-bought bottled water, or factory sealed emergency water.
2. Purchase Water Storage Containers:
There are many types of containers available for safe water storage.
a. Fill the containers with filtered water (best).
b. Fill water containers with your household water supply (if safe for drinking).
The Emergency Water Filters Page explains why filters are an essential part of preparedness.
3. Re-using plastic containers: If water, soda, or juice comes in a good recyclable bottle, it can be refilled with safe water (same as step 2) to meet emergency water storage needs.
There are basically two grades of plastic containers: edible (used for soda, water, juice) and non-edible grades (liquid laundry soap bottles, etc), be sure you refill edible grade only.
Re-used edible grade bottles are a free, recycled resource, and therefore fit into everyone’s budget. Re-using them keeps them OUT of the landfills.
DO NOT use gallon milk jugs for storage or drinking. They are designed to break down and biodegrade. Within six months they can start leaking in your storage area, and no matter how well you wash them, you can’t get out all of the milk fats, which will leach back into your water. The same goes for cooking oil bottles. Toss them out.
DO NOT use old bleach bottles for drinking water. They are a non-edible grade plastic. If not thoroughly rinsed, too much bleach can become toxic to the system.
Important: All storage containers must be thoroughly washed, sanitized, and rinsed before filling for storage:
1.Wash containers with dish washing soap and rinse with water,
2.Sanitize by swishing a solution of 1 teaspoon of liquid household chlorine bleach to a quart of water on all interior surfaces of the container,
3.Rinse thoroughly with clean water before use.

How To Store Emergency Water

•If you have safety concerns or questions regarding water you are using either for drinking or storage, follow one of these two options:

•Add 1/8th teaspoon per gallon of household chlorine bleach (non-scented no additional ingredients).
•Purify water by bringing it to a rolling boil for 1 to 3 minutes (5-7 minutes at high altitudes).
Visit the Ways To Purify Water Page to learn about the important methods of making water safe to drink in emergency situations.
•Store containers away from sunlight, using safe edible grade containers only.
•Water stored in containers can eventually get stale, rotate and replace with fresh/updated water every year.
•Do not place stored water in direct contact or close proximity to toxic substances, gasoline, paints, household cleaners, etc.

Alternate Emergency Water Sources

If a disaster does catch you without a stored supply of clean water, you can use the water in:
•Your hot-water tank
•Pipes and faucets
•Ice cubes
If your tap water is safe to drink, then the water in your pipes and hot-water tank should be also, even if the idea seems unappealing. If you don’t drink the water from these sources, it can still be used for sanitation purposes.
If you need to find survival water outside your home, try:
•Rainwater
•Streams, rivers, and other moving bodies of water
•Ponds and lakes
•Natural springs
You should NEVER drink flood water.

Take one of the following appropriate steps to treat water from any of the above sources to make it safe before drinking it:

•Boiling: 1-3 minutes at a rolling boil
•Filtering: Below are water filter options that are available for your emergency water preparations:
1.Portable Emergency Water Filters
2.Gravity Drip Filter/Purifier Systems
•Treating or Purifying: find options for both here

Emergency Water Storage Tips

•Ways to increase your emergency water storage supply: (when a disaster has been forcasted)
Most people have at least one toilet tank, one bathtub and one sink to fill with water. Filling these can increase your emergency water storage supply to many more gallons than you would have had otherwise. (Put a piece of plastic wrap over the drain to slow any leaking.)
•Don’t waste stored water doing dishes:
Instead store paper products such as: toilet paper, paper towels, plates, bowls, cups, plastic ware, a variety of plastic bags, bread sacks, aluminum foil, trash bags, etc.
•Hygiene items that are a must:
Buy baby wipes to keep on hand. In an emergency, this may be the only source of bathing for adults, children and babies. Also buy plastic canisters of pop-up and individual/foil-wrapped, anti- bacterial hand wipes.
•”Canning” safe water at home:
If you have empty glass jars & bottles taking up space on your storage shelves, use that space for safe “canned” water storage.
If you are used to preparing your own canned food, it is actually very easy. Use the same method as for open kettle food canning. Sterilize the jars and lids just as you would for any type of canning, and add clean, boiling water and seal as normal. Cool and store.