O.K. here's the scenario. I am out wheeling alone (stupid) in the middle of nowhere in the dessert, when I roll my rig, break my leg, my beer cooler is empty(probably why I rolled) and my water jug breaks open leaving me really screwed. I do however have a few MREs and my 3 stage water filter that I use for backpacking.
The filter is a 3 stage unit with a 50 micron, a .2 micron and a final activated carbon stage. could I filter out enough of the ethylene glycol from my 50/50 coolant water mix in my radiator to keep me alive untill someone finds my stupid, sorry ass?

lol, pass the pipe bud.. :smokin: :D

Originally posted by zags
O.K. here's the scenario. I am out wheeling alone (stupid) in the middle of nowhere in the dessert, when I roll my rig, break my leg, my beer cooler is empty(probably why I rolled) and my water jug breaks open leaving me really screwed. I do however have a few MREs and my 3 stage water filter that I use for backpacking.
The filter is a 3 stage unit with a 50 micron, a .2 micron and a final activated carbon stage. could I filter out enough of the ethylene glycol from my 50/50 coolant water mix in my radiator to keep me alive untill someone finds my stupid, sorry ass?


After all that I think I would shoot myself! :D

Sorry, not a chemist :(

If you did survive, I bet you'd end up a retard:D

sorry, when you rolled it puctured the radiator and you lost all your coolant, so you don't even get the chance.

Nope. And I am a chemist. Those filters are to get objects (like microorganisms - e. coli, dysentery, botulin, etc.) out of the water. Won't do a thing for the ethylene glycol, since this is a true solution. As for the charcoal, it'll adsorb (as opposed to absorb - there is a difference :D) some organic material. Unfortunately it relies on surface effects and is much more effective in removing immiscible compounds; ie. if you had a cup of engine oil, maybe with some soap, in 5 gal. water, it'd be just the ticket. For 50/50 EG/water, no way.

Some people in a law enforcement forensic lab told me that people sometimes drink EG to get high/drunk/inTOXICated, and it gumms up their chromatography columns so bad they're very difficult to get clean - in a laboratory, under ideal conditions. If you try your filter on coolant, throw it away. This is a very bad idea; NEVER DO THIS.

You'd be much better off keeping a big, black plastic tarp on hand; dig a pit, put whatever plants you can find in there, put a cup in the middle, and a rock on top of the plastic over the cup. Water will evaporate from the plants, collect on the tarp and drip into the cup. Not much, but maybe enough to keep you alive if you don't do anything else too stupid.

Originally posted by Mustard Dog
If you did survive, I bet you'd end up a retard:D

Naaaaw, you wouldn't survive more than a few days. Ethylene glycol is about 200 times smaller than 0.2 microns and it is too polar to stick to activated charcoal. You could always distill out the H2O.

Thanks guys

C'mon it could happen...........

Why is everyone calling me a retard today? uh, nevermind.

I'm a biochemist. Next time, save some beer. Alcohol will counter the harmful effects of the ethylene glycol. Take a sip of fluid, then a sip of beer.

HAHA don't drink ethylene glycol for any reason. Administer alcohol to a poisoned individual, but don't do it on purpose.

As stated, the filter will not get the EG out. I don't even think you could easily distill the water out because their boiling points are close and I think it forms a higher-boiling azeotrope with water.

Originally posted by FeCamel


HAHA don't drink ethylene glycol for any reason. Administer alcohol to a poisoned individual, but don't do it on purpose.


I use to date a veterinaian and what she would do to cats that have been drinking glycol is shoot them up with everclear for 36- to 48 hours. Ever seen a cat with a hangover after a three day drinking binge :D :D

Dude, you need to drive an old XJ. Then you could just suck on the passenger side carpet which is ALWAYS wet from a/c condensation draining into the cabin.

What about reverse osmosis system on the mixture?

Just practice pissing in your own mouth! That'll keep you occupied while you die... :D

I don't even think coolant will seperate out if you let it sit. About the only it would be useful is to pour it in a jug, let it cool and collect the condensation on the outside of the jug. Might have to wait for morning for that.

Originally posted by dangerber
Just practice pissing in your own mouth! That'll keep you occupied while you die... :D

OMG I could just see some dude trying this.:p :D

What is it, you can live 3 days without water and 5 days with out food?

You can get water from plants using the process mentioned above, but you'll be needing some munchies soon.

Better think about self amputation. start with like your toes and work up your leg....ect. It's broken anyway right? Might as well have it for dinner :barf: :D

Yes, you could purify the water with RO followed by de-ionization (just to make sure) and then re-mineralization with needed electrolytes. I will give you a dollar if you bring a setup like this on the trail, just to see it.

You can't drink the condenstation from it because this would be similar to distilling, which would not work if I remember correctly. There would be residual EG in the condensed/distilled water.

Next time, bring more beer!:beer: ya know, just in case!

Originally posted by FeCamel
You can't drink the condenstation from it because this would be similar to distilling, which would not work if I remember correctly. There would be residual EG in the condensed/distilled water.

What I meant was put the antifreeze in a sealed container and drink whatever condenses on the outside. Actually it wouldn't even have to be sealed, but it would make it easier to collect.

I read a survival book once that said if you drink your piss you will die in about the same amount of time as if you drank nothing at all. The difference is that you will stay conscience longer. The same goes with seawater.

The only good thing about eg is that you wont freeze at night!

I hope I never see the day when someone finds Zags near his rolled junk with broken legs, no beer, antifreeze breath, and his pants down from drinking his own piss. Might be kind of hard to explain to the family.

Don't worry about Larry turning into a retard, he's already there!:flipoff2:

Seems to me that the pressure you'd need to apply for reverse osmosis of 50/50 EG/water would be on the order of 20 kilobars (ca. 300,000 psi). I could calculate it properly, but I'm too tired right now and I'm SURE it's a lot more than anything you'll be able to generate on the trail. Without explosives.

we already have one registered RETARD, what are we gonna do with another ?

Originally posted by Old Scout

I use to date a veterinaian and what she would do to cats that have been drinking glycol is shoot them up with everclear for 36- to 48 hours. Ever seen a cat with a hangover after a three day drinking binge :D :D

I would pay to see that !:cool:

Simply dont wheel alone.....
problem fixed and you do not even get piss breath!
:flipoff2:
drink the :beer: :beer: :beer: and :smokin: and use your cell or cb for help!

i hate when my chromatography colums get gummed up, farts sound like i'm underwater.

hey you know, you could run a PG coolant instead of EG. it is non-toxic and if you really had to drink it, in small amounts, it wouldnt kill you. but i am not going to try it.

Originally posted by FeCamel
I don't even think you could easily distill the water out because their boiling points are close and I think it forms a higher-boiling azeotrope with water.

With a boiling point of 197.6 C and a low vapor pressure, you will achieve substantial purification by distillation. The LD50 in humans is about 100 ml, so you could get by with 1-2% contamination and get a nice buzz on it at the same time.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/e5125.htm

Originally posted by Pin Head


With a boiling point of 197.6 C and a low vapor pressure, you will achieve substantial purification by distillation. The LD50 in humans is about 100 ml, so you could get by with 1-2% contamination and get a nice buzz on it at the same time.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/e5125.htm

You're right, I must have looked at the wrong line, I thought the BP was 127 C. I still don't think you can distill it because of the azeotropic properties it has with water. That is why it is a good coolant additive. It substantially increases the BP of water, maybe enough to contaminate a distillation, especially a trailside distillery. I guess you could always distill it two or three times and slowly get it all worked out.

Duhhhh....come on guys. You have all heard of bottled water. Water jug for drinking water? What, you out on a road crew or something?:rolleyes:

Now who in the HELL would drink EG? that is just stupid. Better take some survival courses, hunters safety, or just go to the library and do the research. while you're at it, get some GOOD tiedowns installed. that way, if you happen to roll it again, your supplies are safe, and also they wont be missles being launched at you. :flipoff2:

Are the particles in urine large enough to be flitered?

I think I would drink my own piss before anti-freeze, so I would probably smoke the tailpipe for a half hour or so and quit worring about it just relax and take a nice long nap.

Originally posted by JEEP_TJ_FREAK
Are the particles in urine large enough to be flitered?

I think I would drink my own piss before anti-freeze, so I would probably smoke the tailpipe for a half hour or so and quit worring about it just relax and take a nice long nap.

Kinda hard to tell. I'm sure one guys uric acid is different his buddys!
Here is some more info


uric acid , white, odorless, tasteless crystalline substance formed as a result of purine degradation in man, other primates, dalmatians, birds, snakes, and lizards. The last three groups of animals also channel all amino acid degradation into the formation of glycine, aspartic acid, and glutamine, which combine to form purines and finally uric acid; these so-called uricotelic organisms thus excrete uric acid as the major end-product of the metabolism of all nitrogen-containing compounds. Uric acid is a very weak organic acid that is barely soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol and ether. The urates are its salts. Uric acid is present in human urine only in extremely small amounts but constitutes a large part of the body waste matter of birds (see guano) and of reptiles. It collects sometimes in the human kidneys or bladder in calculi, or stones, and is responsible, when present in tissues or deposited upon bones in the form of urates, for gouty conditions (see gout). It occurs also in normal human blood. The pure acid is obtained from guano and other similar substances. Upon decomposition urea is obtained. A common test for the presence of the acid in urine depends upon the formation of murexide (an ammonium salt), which is an intense reddish purple. Nitric acid is added to the urine, which is then evaporated. If uric acid is present, murexide is formed when ammonia is added to the residue.