Making Collected Water Potable

[ForgeCorvus]

This is why everyone who could used to drink small beer rather then water, it was safer.
Ditto Tea (other hot drinks are available).
You don't need to maintain a rolling boil to make water safe, because the 'bugs' start to get killed off once you get over about 75 degrees C. The three to five minutes (depending on altitude) recommended is based on getting over that threshold not boiling point (guessing 75C is difficult, boiling is pretty easy to spot).

A healthy working age adult should be able to stand a certain level of nasties (although high level contamination will get you sooner or later, biggest killer of soldiers during the 18th and 19th centuries was 'Flux'), if you're older, younger or below average fitness you need to be more cautious.

Harvesting rainwater has one main advantage over ponds, streams or wells. The only contaminates are from your system (catchment area, gutters, pipes and tanks) not from the environment (dead sheep upstream, agri-chemicals etc).

It all comes down to what you're happy with as a minimum, as Jansman said "If you want to be sure, then be sure"

[Drcamburn]

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