How To Purify And Store Water
Water is the most important part of survival, next to breathing
. When in emergency situation, or when you are preparing for them, knowing how to properly purify and house your water supply is key to survival.
While you are at home, it is easy to purify your drinking water. Most refrigerators have one built in, and you can easily attach a purifier to your kitchen faucet.
Many people also just buy it in bottles and only use the sink for washing dishes. The point is, while in your home, finding clean liquids to drink is incredibly easy and convenient.
If you are outside camping, however, and the only water source is a nearby stream, you need to find a way to clean what you drink without the modern amenities of your kitchen. You are thirsty and being dehydrated in the wilderness is the worst thing to do for the sake of survival.
Even if the stream seems clear and drinkable, you have no way of knowing toxins, chemicals, and harmful bacteria may be present. Having even a little bit of harmful chemicals can make you violently ill in a few hours.
The first thing you want to do is to find the source of this stream. Because bacteria thrives in stagnant bodies, you will want to find a source of flowing water be it a river, creek, or stream.
If the running stream smells, you should automatically have a red flag go up and avoid this. If it has an odor than that is a sign that it is contaminated, full of sulfur, or has a lot of organic matter growing in it.
The bottom line is that you should not drink it, or clean yourself with it for that matter. If, however, the stream is full of debris or cloudy, that is okay.
It may seem bad, but you can filter out the debris using a clean sock or shirt made of cotton. Once you have found a source that is drinkable, you can explore many options depending on what materials you have available to you.
The most basic form of purification is through boiling. If you have the means to make a fire, and fireproof container to house the liquid in, you can use this method.
Pour the liquid into a metal or tin container and place it over the fire. Make sure you bring it to a full boil.
Continue boiling it for at least ten minutes to make sure that you kill any harmful bacteria like Giardia. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool before you drink it.
Once the liquid has cooled, transfer it to a different container that you can drink out of. You should purify as much drink water as you can to stay hydrated, especially if you are in the sun or will be exerting a lot of money.
Your second option is to purify using tablets. This of course requires you to have advanced planning and buy the tablets beforehand.
If you are not planning on being stranded in the wilderness without water, you probably will not buy tablets from the store and pack them in your bag before you leave the house. These are more for your emergency and camping supplies.
If you do not plan on building a campfire, then packing purifying tablets will work for you. There are two types of tablets available, which are iodine and chlorine.
Iodine will get rid of most bacterial while chlorine will get rid of bacteria and some viruses. For these tablets, measure out two for every one quart of liquid.
Drop into the liquid and shake well to break down the tablets. It is important to clean the threading of the bottle as well, as you will probably be placing your lips on that portion of the container.
You can also use a portable filter that fits onto your water bottle. When you purchase this piece of equipment, make sure that the filter is EPA approved and removes bacteria up to .1 micron in size.
For the inline filter attach the source tube to a gravity bag, a camel pack or a bottle. The water will pass through the filter and come out of the second straw.
by: Tom Selwick
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