Water

[usmcveteran]

So I know a lot of you have different methods of treating water.

Lets talk about those methods but also what other ways can you treat water naturally if you don't have your water purification gear or its life cycle is over?

Are there any special considerations in choosing a water source?

[usmcveteran]

One method I have seen is assuming you can kill lets say a deer and skin it you can dig a hole and place the hide in it. Now you can fill the hide lined hole with water.

Next you start a fire and heat up rocks. Once the rocks are very hot you can kick them or whatever you need to do to get them in the water. By adding enough hot rocks you can actually boil the water.

Another method I have seen is lets assume the body of water has a sandy beach. You can dig a hole a few feet away from waters edge and allow it to fill up with water, the sand will act as a natural filter.

[phritz]

Boiling with hot rocks works well as long as you can create a vessel. Even lining a hole with layers of large leaves can work to hold water.
Digging a shallow well a few feet from a water source also works, but I generally prefer boiling whenever possible.

[24Pink14Stink]

I like the hot rocks idea. I used to have a link that listed some pretty creative places to find chlorine/bleach for water purification around the average household. I'll post it up if I can find it.

At the house I have bleach, iodine, tablets, a Katadyn filter, and that little bottle of potassium iodide crystals.

[usmcveteran]

Interesting backup water purification DIY kit.

[DEmerson]

... remember boiling won't remove any toxins/poisons - chemicals,pesticides,petroleum products all that crap - filter/simple-distillation will be a better idea if the water is thought to have any chemical nasties in it - fyi if using a filtration system make a secondary pre-filter for it , even a piece of clothe or coffee filter - it will prolong the life of it a great deal

[usmcveteran]

Great point, anything to keep as much particulate out as possible

[Schmendrick]

Does charcoal from your campfire do anything?

[WARFAB]

What's the shelf life on iodine tablets for water treatment?

[Guest]

Learned a cool way to start fire for boiling water lol...pee in a clear ziplock baggie and spin it closed so it's just a tight sphere of urine in a clear vessel then use it as a magnifying glass with the proper angle with the sun to start the fire to boil the water. Cool beans!

[camper4lyfe]

Learned a cool way to start fire for boiling water lol...pee in a clear ziplock baggie and spin it closed so it's just a tight sphere of urine in a clear vessel then use it as a magnifying glass with the proper angle with the sun to start the fire to boil the water. Cool beans!

It doesn't have to be pee, just clear water will work too.

[24Pink14Stink]

Does charcoal from your campfire do anything?

I think so. Layers of charcoal and sand would work supposedly, but I've never tried it.

[24Pink14Stink]

It doesn't have to be pee, just clear water will work too.

Or just set the water in plastic bag in direct sunlight for about 6 hours and the radiation should kill the nasties.

[Meketrefe]

A bottle of bleach will treat water for a life time. In any case one might consider some basic sand or ceramic filtration to get the worst out of the water before
boiling or treating. It really depends on the situation and what one has at hand.

[camper4lyfe]

Or just set the water in plastic bag in direct sunlight for about 6 hours and the radiation should kill the nasties.

I've just recently heard about this process. I'm a little sceptical, but that may just be because I'm used to filters and chemical treatments.