Printable View
We all know that water is a necessity, that you can die from dehydration quicker than from starvation. What are the best ways to purify water if you're in a wilderness situation? I know about boiling it and using tablets, what, if any, are some of the other ways?
There aren't many good ways to purify it perse, but there was ways to minimize risk.
Condensed water is clean and there are a variety of ways you can collect condensed water from plant material if you have plastic of some type with you (a garbage bag should be a survival kit essential, a bunch of them even).
If you drink from a river, try drinking from fast moving areas as far upstream as you can go.
It is possible to construct a basic water filter out of sand, rocks, and charcoal but I have doubts about their efficiency.
I understand about the basic filter idea. However, I don't know that those items would necessarily be readily available all the time. Sand and rocks, sure, but I'm not sure how likely you are to find charcoal in the wild.
You generally don't find charcoal in the wild, you make it. Burn some thick wood partially and you have charcoal (well primarily charcoal). This is not idea charcoal for much of anything but it works for most purposes I believe.
I'm going to do some experimenting with ways to get water, I'll let you know the ways i have found to be the simplest and most effective ways without having much to work with. I Know some companies produce some pretty cool filters that are supposed to work great for getting water from streams an stuff while hiking. I think Ecoquest was working on something for the military also in regards to water filtering
There are a lot of cool small water filter contraptions you can pick up from REI or a similar store. They all work very well but they take up vital space for long backpack trips. I carry them whenever I can though. Other than that they sell small tablets that work well. Just drop them in the water and it will purify it after a certain amount of time. Other than that boiling your water is one of the easiest ways and I've done it many times.
Bleach is okay for purifying water. Doesn't taste any worse than what is being pumped through the water lines to our homes today. You could keep a small vial of it in your gear bag.
When in the woods and around flowing water, look and listen for small natural springs. I find them along clear water creeks and in deep, wet gullies running through heavy forested woods. Today, I could hear one before I found it. A light sound of water drops hitting the surface of smooth water lead me to it.
Haven't I seen some packaged additives in the hiking shops for purifying water? Maybe I haven't but it would make sense.
Isn't there an herb you somehow use to purify water? I read about it somewhere...but I can't remember where! It's going to bug me now....
Bleach is bad for the health I would only recomend it as a last resort. In fact i recomend getting filters that remove chemicals from your tap water and shower water. It won't kill you all at once but it's really not good for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bowcatz
These are some great ideas. I like the pills. I have seen them but never have tried them. Bleach would work I would imagine but I would think it wouldn't be safe to drink?
Could you be thinking of tea tree oil? Not that I've seen anything about using it to purify water, just that it's the first one that comes to mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by rubybeetle
swamp water is best 2 be fillter through a tight woven material cotton is best den boil it den boil it again and it will be nerly like tap water
tree tre oil wood work but den u would need 2 filter the oil out unless you want 2 keep it in there i wood prefer it not 2 b persanalyQuote:
Originally Posted by taiarain
I would probably make a filter using sand and a grass mesh or part of my shirt or something and some sort of hollow wood, just fill the wood tube, (bamboo perhaps) with the sand then put the grass mesh on one end and pore the water through it, this will take out a lot of the nasty stuff floating around in the water. Then boiling the water for 20 mins will kill the bacteria and stuff. some peopel say you only have to boil it 5 but i recomend 20, makes sure things are dead. this won't remove chemicals though but it works. When i was in Bolivia living in the jungle we boiled the water from the river for 20 mins and if we let it sit for a bit after pooring it in our cups then the dirt would sink to the bottom.
If you are talking about getting a small filter that doesn't take up too much space, Katadyn makes the ExStream Purifier Bottle that is really cool. It's the size of a sports bottle (like for biking or like a squeeze bottle) and it has a PURIFIER inside it. Not a filter, but a PURIFIER. The big difference is that while a filter gets alot out of your water, a purifier will kill the viruses that might be present as well. The unit holds either 26 or 34 ounces depending on model and both of them will filter 26 gallons. If you have reliable water that is close at hand you can't go wrong. Plus there is no nasty taste. All you do is dunk the bottle into the water to fill it, screw on the cap, and start sucking through the straw. That easy.
If you are talking low teck (relatively), the sand filter and boiling sounds pretty good to me. The filter gets out all the solid matter and the boiling kills all the non-visible matter that might otherwise kill you.
Both coffee-filters & clean bandanas make good pre-filters to get the debris out. Boiling is good in that it's the least costliest, but if you got no fire you're in deep Kim-Chee! Dr. Ron Hood showed a cool way with a one oz. bottle and 8 grams of Iodine crystals, but then there's the taste to deal with.:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by survivalhike
Try polar pure, similar to Ron Hoods method, but with directions, a crystal trap, and much sturdier glass bottle.
You can purify water in many ways:
1) boil
2) chemicals
--that about ends it for most people--
3) evaporation*
4) leeching**
5) ground water filtration***
6) rainwater
* place a good amount of wet moss, leaves, etc under a tarp or (preferably) saran wrap, elevated about 6" above the mound. Place a small rock in the center of the covering and place a small bucket or empty tin under the inverted cone formed. With the sun out, the water will evaporate and collect on the covering. The inverted cone will center the dripping into your collection plate.
** Many plants store water in abundance. moss especially but in the south you have water vines and trees that absorb gallons a day. Cutting or squeezing these flora will give you safe water.
*** ground water found dripping from cave walls and through sandstone blocks is safe to drink. They'll be heavy in minerals (thus the formation of stalagtites/mites) but free from most bacteria/viri
You can use ultra Violet light and just a clear bottle in the sun about 1 hr.
Actually that takes about day. The sunlight needs to be strong and you must have the right kind of bottle (see this article on SODIS)Quote:
Originally Posted by Smok
There is also a good video on water filtering in the outdoors.
You should be very careful about using commercial water filters. They are not all the same, some will filter well, others let some pathogens through.
mitch.chesney is right, if your in an area where there is heavy vine growth from trees these can be cut and the water (liquid) drank also. I wouldn't recomend bleach ever, and for some reason boiling my urine just doesn't apeal to me either and I was taught to never drink your urine in the Army, but terrain plays a huge part, some plants have liquids in them that are not water but will suffice.
If you're dying of thirst and come across some water that you're not sure is safe to drink? Well, it's entirely up to you and depends on how desperate you are for water. But if you've been wandering around for days without any water and you're starting to feel weak, delirious, and downright desperate for something to drink. You got a choice, you can either die from dehydration or risk dying from unsafe/contaminated water. Now personally, if I was wondering around for days without any water and suddenly came across some, provided it wasn't discolored or have a strange odor… I'd drink it. Why? I'd rather risk drinking unsafe water and hope it would give me enough strength to travel/continue on just little bit further and longer than to give up and die right there on the spot from dehydration. After all, whether you feel ill after drinking some suspected contaminated water or not, if it gives you the strength to place one-foot-in-front-of-the-other and move on, your chances of surviving and being rescued before it actually overcomes you with severe illness is greater then giving up and lying down somewhere and dying, don't ya think? Sure it is! No doubt you probably prefer to have some clean, safe, purified, water to drink, right? Sure, everybody would, but sometimes it's just not possible to find, ya know? And although there are many ways in how to find, improvise and acquire water, the following are the most "commonly overlooked" techniques that require none or very little filtering and "no purifying." And the only things you need are some "clear" plastic trash bags, an empty bottle, and a couple of handkerchiefs, and the more you have - the more water you'll be able to produce. Note: Always pack a few of these in your survival kit, except a bottle, of course. Because a tree holds an enormous amount of water, if you place a clear plastic bag over a "leafy green" branch you'll force it to cough up some of the water through condensation. But it's important to make sure the bag is tightly sealed around the branch or it won't produce any water at all. And no matter where you go today, plastic and glass bottles can be found littered almost everywhere, even in some of the most remote and isolated places of the world. Really! (Well maybe not everywhere…) And if you take a "green leafy" branch and place it inside a bottle and seal it close, by the end of a hot sunny day it'll produce as much as 1/3 cup of water. And so the more bottles and or plastic bags you use - the more water you can produce. Figure it out, bubba! And of course, the best time to acquire clean water is when it rains, and the fastest and easiest way to gather it is by laying out sheets of plastic cut from trash bags. But if you don't have anything to carry the water in, then it's probably better to just roll up the sides of a trash bag and allow mother nature to slowly fill it. And lastly, in the early mornings and some- times late at night, if you tie a couple of handkerchiefs or rags around your ankles and or to the end of a stick and walk through some tall grass you'll be able to soak up quite a bit of moisture, then all you gotta do is wring it out. Yep, a crude, slow method… but works!
When it comes to filtering and purifying water for consumption, you can't screw around and take shortcuts. You either do it right or you're gonna get terribly ill, or worse yet, die from improperly treated water if you can't get to a medical facility in time. Filtering is the removal all "visual" particles and matter from the water such as dirt, leaves, critters, etc, so it can be properly purified and then safely consumed. Purifying is the removal of all "invisible" bacteria, germs and other harmful elements from the water so it can be safely consumed. You got it? In other words, "before you can consume untreated water, you've got to purify it, and before you can purify it, you've got to first filter it." (Untreated Water + Filter + Purify = Safe To Drink)
Film Container Water Filter and yep, as you can guess by the name, it's made out of a 35mm plastic film container, which you'll also need 2 x plastic water bottle caps and either some disposable coffee filters, cotton, or a piece of white cloth. Now I'll bet you're wondering, "What's the second bottle cap for?" Right? Well it's for squeezing out the last few drops of water left inside the filter and for covering the hole (after you have remove the other bottle cap) from the bottom of the film container so you can keep it clean whenever you're not using it. When should you replace the coffee filters, cotton or white cloth? When (a) the filter becomes blocked, (b) the filtered water is dripping very, very slowly, (c) the filtered water doesn't look very clear.
Ther ya go.
Beo,
If you have been stranded with a busted down car or other vehicle/aircraft with a liquid radiator, you'll have a couple gallons of clean water in there. That water's been boiled multiple times by running thru a hot engine. Be careful that antifreeze wasn't added though.
Radiator water? Even without antifreeze, you've got all the rust and crap from your car's system floating gently down to the bottom and if you've got even a trace of antifreeze, well....you were dying anyway, right?
You dont have to boil it that long :o , Remember when it gets to 100oC Everything is already dead you only should leave it for a few seconds after that, Milk is pasturised at about 77oC, If you boil it for 20 mins half of it will be gone up into steamQuote:
Originally Posted by thinkfree3
2% Tincture of Iodine. It is available at Drug stores, in the HBA section of discount retail stores, It is an inexpensive way, you can carry it with you, and it works.
4 drops (per quart) of "CLEAR" water. 8-10 drops in "CLOUDY WATER." Let it stand for about an hour. . . .Good to go! ;)
If it is stagnate water I wouldn't drink it. If I had too (in a dyer emergency,) I would boil it, strain it, and boil it again before I ever let it touch my lips!
I carry a NSA filter in my pack. I have filter straws in the BOB's. I know that straining and then boiling works. House hold bleach does work and 2 drops in my army canteen (wait 30 minutes or more)will not kill me but will get the nastys.
Condensation works. You just need a big enough piece of plastic.
Getting water in some areas is not a problem. In some areas, like this desert I live in, it would be intresting but it is do-able.
Beowulf65 makes a good point about drinks unknown water or dieing of dehydration.
Don
I ran across this article on water filtration. I thought it was pretty well written:
http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml
I don't carry fancy any things any more, take up to much space
One of the things I do when water is a questionable is to dig a small hole a distance away from the main water source (this makes it less likely to have feces in the water I'm extracting
I've only done this once; normally I carry a couple small water bottles (converted pop bottles) and fill up when I run across good water
If your pretty sure there are little nasties in the water and you are getting to the point of no return
Weigh your options, most get help before two weeks are up in the lower 48 (unless they don't really want it)
It takes about 3-14 days for these pathogens to take effect, so if it was me, I would deal with the doctors when I get out of a situation
The better option is to be very careful, if around a larger water source, walk the edges and find secondary water sources, follow them upstream until you get to areas where it is coming out of the ground or is on a slope that there's no possibility of slow moving water
Another note to consider, there’s a reason they call it beaver fever... :)
You don't even boil it? I doubt there is any place on earth that doesn't have some pathogen in the water today. Even ground water (springs, artesian wells) needs to be purified through some process. Obviously, not every ground water source is contaminated but enough are to warrant treating the water.
We have a free flowing artesian well near our home that has a constant stream of people filling up jugs. The county checks it every week and posts it when they detect some problem with the water.
It's not just about feeling sick. Diarrhea can be life threatening because of the dehydration it can cause. I know you know that but some of the newbys might not.
Seriously, you don't treat the water?
I don't normally (cept when I'm making coffee or soup)
I think one of the reasons people get so sick whan these pathogens are present is they have lost their immunities to these little critters
My stools do soften to a point on occassion (find it more so when fishing beaver ponds and chew the line to break it when changing out hooks instead of cutting it)
Another thing, most of you guys live in flatter country, more fury critters filling all the streams and the potential is far greater than me or a few others living in the Rockies or cascades...
I have drank only the water from my creek every day for 8 years, and never treated it in any way, and never experienced any problem.
In 38 years of wandering, and guiding in Alaska I have never treated any water I drank. However I would not drink out of a city (like Anchorage) creek, at least not after it entered the city.
about the filter it works by turning big pieces of wood into charcoal and then moving the water though it i have tried it works but tastes awfully like overcooked bbq:mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
here is a link for small ones hope it helps http://www.fridgefilters.com/water-p...d-filters.html
This is the one I carry.
Depends where you're at. Locally, we only have to worry about giardia (beaver fever). A cheap filter (about $30) is sufficient. They used to have them in the Campmor catalog, but I don't see them in the latest issue. I often just take water from springs instead.
Rivers are generally not as good a place to get water locally as that is where you find the most beaver. Taking water from the center of a large lake is usually the best if you don't plan to use a filter. Purifiers, such as the Pur or Katadyn products, are usually overkill locally.
Giardia is from Europe. There was a time when you could drink the local water without any problem. Giardia was never a problem locally, until 1973 when (apparently) someone came over from Europe and took a dump. Nasty bugger!
I cook for a living these days, and I know a little about sanitizing things.
If you're using bleach, two or three drops in a quart of clear water will kill stuff.
I use the kodine from my first-aid kit. It fixes the water like the pills, and I can treat cuts and scrapes.
I think boiling would be the best way if you were in a survival situation. All that requires is a fire and some sort of metal container (soup can, bowl, soda can, etc). Plus as long as you have these and a sufficient supply of wood, you will never run out.
Just make sure the liquid is clear, colorless and odorless. Dont drink liquid that is milky, yellowish or pinkish. Dont place the vine in your mouth. Acids like oxalic may be present in the cambium which will irritate soft skin. let a few drops fall into your palm and taste it first with the tip of your tounge. It should not cause any feeling of irritation, burning etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beowulf65
Cut the vine with a single stroke of the knife. one clean cut! firts at the top then the bottom.