Finding survival water

[lisaloolibell]

http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/freebook ... lwater.pdf

[FEISTY]

http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/freebook ... lwater.pdf

Had a wee look at this Lisaloolibell, but didn't get very far. It's not well written and extremely vague. I suppose I have less of an interest in finding water in arid regions than some, as I'm in the West of Scotland and live by a large river . God forbid I should ever find myself in the Arizona desert - my idea of hell! I'm not complacent by any means, but finding water in Scotland really just isn't such an issue - having the means to purify it is though. I read recently somewhere that 10 minutes was an excessive amount of time to boil water for and most of your water would evaporate - can anyone else confirm this or otherwise? Would be good to know for sure, but I'm not sure I trust the writer of the link to give me the right answer.

[rickoshea]

Let it all boil and condense it. You can ensure its purity then. Not very energy efficient though.

[jansman]

I personally, would go with the 10 minute boil. Reheated food( stews etc) is advised to be be brought to rolling boil for 10 minutes to kill pathogens. That's Food Standards Agency info. Good enough for me.

[cpslashm]

Put a lid on it to increase the partial pressure and reduce the amount of energy needed to keep the temperature up. Even better is a pressure cooker as the boiling point is higher.

[ForgeCorvus]

Water only really needs to be brought to the boil as its spent enough time at over 70C to kill most things...... The problem is that that is based on very low levels of particulates (read 'almost zero')
Nearly all found or gathered water will have 'lumps' in it so you'll need longer contact-time.

A well fitting lid will reduce evaporation as well as do the stuff that cpslashm mentioned

As Jansman said, foods have to be heated for longer. This is to ensure that everything is heated to over 75C (I think is the recomended temperature) all the way through and held there for long enough to kill the nasties

Personally, boiling is the last option I'd use (unless I'm planning on making tea with it)...... But its still an option in the same way that you never only have one way to make fire

[Vespa]

Should the SHTF I'm lucky enough to have access to several springs, moorland streams and reservoirs and I would suspect that water from theses would need minimal treatment.

My preferred method would be boiling but rather than use a regular pan I have a 6L pressure cooker. They actual raise the temperature to 121 C and you only have to let it reach that temp for less than a min' and they require only about half the fuel per litre than a pan with a lid.

Backup I have 20L of Milton fluid which at the rate of 2.5ML per 5L is enough for 40 tonnes of drinking water, as I said though the quality of the water I intend to treat should be quite reasonable already.

Ordinary house hold bleach can be used but I don't like the idea some how.

I also carry 10 purification tablets in my EDC and a full box of them in the boot of my car.

In some ways I genuinely believe that prepping for water is actually more important than for food.

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4124

[Hamradioop]

Water treatment with Milton
To make water safe for drinking, use ½ teaspoon
(2.5mL) of Milton Fluid to 5L of water and leave for 15
minutes.
http://www.babybrandsdirect.co.uk/sysim ... ures_8.pdf

[ForgeCorvus]

Vespa: Springs are cleaner then streams, which are cleaner then reservoirs/lakes.... Which are cleaner then ponds

Gather your water as close to source as possible, the further it travels (on or near the surface) the more crap it can pick up.

Bleach doesn't store long term, it degrades and becomes less active. Water tablets are a solid form of bleach that stores better (ie less picky about the conditions) and for longer.
Really long term, you store 'pool shock' (which is the same stuff that is used in bleach factories) and make small quantities of bleach as you need to.

[junmist]

10 minutes I have always been told to have a rolling boil for 1 minute I would filter all water first.
The US environmental protection agency says water of 70c will kill pathogens in 30 mins at 85c a few minutes so by the time your water has reached 100c all pathogens will have been killed, so once it has reached a rolling boil it will be safe to drink. HOWEVER remember that it will not remove any chemicals or toxins that may be in the water from farm run off or other industrial pollutants.