sql_yoda wrote:tool133 wrote:Blacksmith wrote:... Nothing filters radiation, but in a small scale nuclear attack near by you will likely be leaving anyway.
You can say it's irrelevant all you want, I still would take as many precautions that a jury-rigged filtration system can handle before relying on an exposed swimming
pool to provide life-sustaining water. If that includes putting several purposeful 90 degree pipe bends in the delivery system, I'd do it...
When it comes to radiation, a lot of people tend to over-engineer things. Once you learn about radioactivity and truly understand how it works you'll actually see its not quite as scary as you may have previously thought.
Radioactivity 101:An atom is a structure made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. Stable atoms contain these particles in equal numbers. If the numbers are unequal, they are called an isotope of an atom. Most isotopes are radioactive. Because the radioactive atoms want to be stable, they emit excess particles until they reach a balance. Alpha particles are a bundle of two protons and two neutrons. Beta particles are usually an electron. Gamma rays are a wave of energy, like an x-ray but more powerful.
When Alpha particles strike another atom, they either cause it to split into two different atoms or add to the atom and create a new element (i.e. an alpha particle can strike an iron atom and it becomes a radioactive isotope of nickel) When a beta particle strikes an atom it releases an x-ray. Gamma rays are much more powerful, they are not a particle but an energy like a radio wave. When it strikes an atom it knocks an electron loose which becomes a beta particle. Sometimes a gamma ray is powerful enough to cause an atom to shed an alpha particle and two beta particles. When this happens the atom is a completely different element. For example, a potassium element becomes chlorine. This process repeats until there isn't any more energy to break an electron free from its orbit around the nucleus of an atom.
Radiation is dangerous to us because we are complex machines relying on millions of chemical reactions taking place every second involving every cell in our body. If an atom changes from one element to another it will produce a different chemical reaction. This will alter how a cell behaves. In the case of a gamma or x-ray, the cell or its DNA molecule becomes damaged to the point it either dies or mutates. When cells become damaged they can produce symptoms of a burn due to the body's reaction to repair the cell, or the damaged DNA molecule can become corrupt enough to behave in ways it isn't programmed to. Normally the body destroys cells that behave irregularly but when their numbers overwhelm our defenses they become cancerous. Obviously, radiation is only dangerous to living things and not inanimate objects. In the grand scheme of things, there are about 1000000000000000000 atoms of carbon and oxygen and twice as many hydrogen atoms in a single sugar crystal (C-12, H-22, O-11). Prolonged exposure to radiation over a long period of time would still fail to produce a number of changed atoms or resulting molecules in a number sufficient enough to detect with the world's most sensitive instruments.
Because radiation is either a particle that is eventually absorbed by another atom or an energy wave that causes a chain reaction of disintegration until it loses enough energy that atoms are unaffected, shielding can prevent radiation from reaching our bodies. Denser atoms provide better shielding than lighter atoms because their greater number of atomic particles in their structure and associated energy bonds offer more absorbtion capabilities than a lighter atom. Lead is the densest non-radioactive element, which is why it is considered the best shield. The more shielding between you and the
source of radioactivity, the better the chances the radiation is absorbed by the shielding.
In conclusion, it is impossible to filter out a subatomic particle or energy. If the fallout particles (which
are able to be filtered out of, or even isolated entirely from the water supply) are prevented from being consumed, you are prevented from ingesting a
source of billions of unstable atom, i.e. radioactive particle, and therefore the many cells in your body aren't being cooked.
Radiation for ZS'ers:
Imagine a fallout particle as a group of drunk retards armed with glock 19's, AR-15's and Mossburg 590 A1's. Each drunk retard is a radioactive isotope. They are all shooting in random directions, using their mix of weapons, all at once. Keeping this group out of your BIL is a good idea. A wall will block you from the gunfire, the thicker wall the better. While you may have windows on your wall that allows the occasional bullet or slug to enter and harmlessly strike the walls and furnishings, the group as a whole cannot enter and is therefore not a serious threat. Not being within the confines of the wall, the milkman is fucked. Eventually the group will run out of ammo and sober up and no longer be a threat.
For those interested in learning about radiationYou can take a course about radioactivity through FEMA's online training site (Emergency Management Institute) All of this information is the same stuff I've learned in physics courses, so it isn't government propaganda.
http://emilms.fema.gov/IS3/FEMA_IS/is03/index.htmFWIW, the best way to keep swimming
pool water from being contaminated from radioactive contamination is putting a cover on it. If you're that close to the
source of the fallout that you don't have enough time to cover your
pool, you have bigger problems.
I dont know your purpose behind the 90-degree bends in your plumbing, other than relating it to 90-degree bends in shelter entrances. All that would accomplish is lowering your water pressure due to friction loss. 90-degree entrances are used in shelters to provide shielding in places that would otherwise be a weak spot, such as doorways.
ETA: minor errors in grammar.
