Double the amount of bleach if the water is cloudy colored or very cold.
Water storage treatment bleach.
Newer regular liquid bleach which has been available for several years now contains a concentration of 8 25 sodium.
Add 1 4 teaspoon 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water if the water is cloudy and 1 8 teaspoon 8 drops if the water is clear.
Emergency water storage.
For many years regular bleach contained a concentration of 5 25 sodium hypochlorite.
Another way to purify water is to use a small amount of regular liquid bleach.
The water should have a slight chlorine odor.
One option is sodium hypochlorite bleach but has been manufactured so that there are no impurities in it and as a result it is the only bleach product.
If your long term water storage is from your well there will be nothing to inhibit organic contaminants if there are any so it may be a good idea to add some chlorine bleach.
This article provides simple directions for routine non emergency cleaning and disinfection of water storage tanks using household chlorine bleach.
Centers for disease control and prevention cdc provide online resources for cleaning disinfecting and maintaining cisterns and other rain catchment systems.
Use the table below as a guide to decide the amount of bleach you should add to the water for example 8 drops of 6 bleach or 6 drops of 8 25 bleach to each gallon of water.
Use regular household bleach with the only active ingredient sodium hypochlorite.
Stir and let stand for 30 minutes.