Water

[itsybitsy]

What's the least amount of water you would need to sustain yourself without doing irreversible harm to yourself? And would you need to change your daily routine to be able to function on a lesser amount if indeed that's possible?

Just thinking if the water supply was turned off/contaminated and you didn't have access to anything other than what you have stored.

[jameswhite]

So everything you wanted to know about water! Right we need 2 -3 litres a day depending on environment as discussed, dont forget this is purely for drinking you will need washing and cooking as well, we often remove water from camp for the last 2 days of a course for our instructor courses and it is amazing how your whole life revolves around the finding, storeing and cleaning of water, i know grown men who hide supplies from others! The male body is 70% female 65% reasons discussed we need water for the blood to make white blood cells and remove toxins from the body. Dehydration presents in many forms from confusion, tiredness, being grumpy (especially good for kids) the elasticity of skin but the best is the colour of urine, it should be clear or very pale gold and have no smell, if it is yellow or dark and smells you are dehrdrated. Thirst is a very poor indicator if you are thirsty you are already 10% or more dehydrated, hit 20% and its coma and death! Finding water depends where you are from solar stills, transporation bags, gypsy wells, rain, rivers, springs, snow, sea etc, always try to gather from fast flowing and as close to the source as poss. For carrying we have talked about bottles, i am not a fan of platypus systems on the back, firstly when you stop first thing people do is take it off and put it on the ground and contaminate the mouthpiece and second if someone has no water and is ill do you want to share a mouthpiece? Filtration is purely to remove organic matter like wigs and dirt usually to make it look more palatable, it will not make it safe to drink! best method is a Millbank bag very cheap no parts to break and very light but can do large ammounts, buy them from ebay just google it if you dont know what they are or if want to know ask me. For purification you need to think about the following to remove: Chemicals, radiation, heavy metals, virus, parasite and bacteria. If ther is radiation in the water you are to close to japan or have bigger problems, there are no commercial filters on the market that will clear radiation it is an industrial process so be aware but nothing you can do. Heavy metals from industry dont collect from next to a factory but again it is an industrial process there are no commercial filters available, exactly the same for chemicals no commercially available so dont collect from next to a field being sprayed. The above take time to build up in the body so small doses wont kill you in an emergency. Always best not to ration water, best place to store it is in the body keep a clear mind to resolve the situation. Virus parasites and bacteris are what cause sickness the runs from guardia cryptosporydiam yellw fever hepatitus etc. There are filters you can use that use activated charcoal and ceramic filters that you hand pump but again have working parts that can go wrong, there are steri pens that use UV light but need batteries, there are purification tablets now exclusively chlorine based as the EU has banned iodine based purification, these work ok but will leave a taste whatever they sell you to get rid of it, they also run out, in large quantities of stored water you can use a few drops of bleach but for very large ammounts. Best method is boiling, a rolling boil for 1 minute as discussed earlier. a millbank bag and a fire is all you need, nothing to break, light to carry! The above is a very basic snapshot of water im happy to answer anything in more depth if wanted, i know its boreing but none of us will live without it!

[jameswhite]

Sorry was busy writing so in answer to your questions, yes we cover making filters with sand, reeds and charcoal etc, the less water you have the more you will be affected doing day to day jobs, how much you need in an emergency to survive depends on the environment hot or cold, the ammount of food you eat for example in very cold you need maximum food to keep warm (much more effective than blankets etc speaking from someone who has had hypothermia) the more you eat the more water you need to digest the food and absorb the nutriants so it does vary alot, try not to ration or you will end up lookiong at the clock waiting for your next drink rather than taking steps to extend your supplys

[jameswhite]

incedently the reason filters say they remove 99.9% of nasties is that science hasnt identified all the nasties yet so we dont know if it removes 100%

[lone wolf]

You mentioned that thirst is a poor indicator of dehydration as you went onto rightly point out "if your thirsty your already 10% dehydrated"

So does the theory of not letting yourself get thirsty work ?,

Having climbed the highest peaks in Scotland and done 25 mile costal hikes, ive always worked on the knowledge that you constantly take on water weather you think you need it or not

Is this your advice too James ? or should there be regular hourly itervals of water in-take ?

Lone Wolf

[jameswhite]

by the way if you think im a water geek just wait till i get onto fire, shelter, cutting tools wild food and medicinal plants! oh and dont even get me started on bow making.

[jameswhite]

yes keep drinking at regular interverals, a good method especially with kids is stop every 20 mins or so and see if they can make saliva and spit not very pleasant but a good indicator.

[axelt123]

thank you for that information. i think i would be fairly safe as we have recently dug out a well and hold 6 by 12ft water (high water table hear) im trying to persuade the others to have a tank put in the loft to pump the water in for the toilets ect and it would be solar powered. Might be getting a windturbine as we know a company that will build, pay, maintain just for 20% of the profeits and it will run many homes abt 16- 20ft high (dont know the company name as im not the one sorting it out but they are putting one in a friends school and thats how i know as she has spoken to them as she is secatary)

axel

[jameswhite]

great idea, would love a well it seems in alot of countries you can just dig one whereas here unless there is already one there the permits etc are a nightmare.

[diamond lil]

I never drink the stuff, hate it. Unless its got a teabag in it We have tons of wee burns here & I know where all the clean water is in my area. I would boil it for ages first though, even if I collected it high on the hill. I know how thirsty you get when you work hard in snow or really low temps, very important to drink a lot in the cold.