A section in Chapter 2 of the book:
Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking

Using water evaporation in a still—whether commercial or improvised, is best for making drinkable water from the worst sources, like the following.

• Sea water
• Polluted water
• Industrial runoff water
• Urine

Heat is needed to increase the rate of evaporation. This heat may come from the sun (solar), from a fire (wood, stove, etc.), or any other heat source. The heat can just be warm enough to encourage evaporation, or hot enough to create steam. Plan ahead by packing several lightweight turkey-sized oven bags.

Stills can be created in a number of ways. Each has the following basic components.

• A container of unclean water
• A heat source to accelerate evaporation or create steam
• A means to capture evaporated water
• A clean collection container

Consider the following ideas to distill unsafe water and make it drinkable.

Bottle Trough Still

Cut bottom off of a clean, plastic bottle—the larger the better. Roll up the bottom edge so that it curls inward, creating a trough around the inside, about an inch deep. If needed, use heat from a flame to help mold the plastic. Place this still, with cap in place, over something wet and in direct sunlight. If needed, use string to suspend this still over unclean water that is being heated. As evaporation (or steam) rises and condenses on the sides of the bottle, it will collect in the trough. To drink, twist off the cap and drink like any water bottle. Repeat as needed.

Hourglass Bottle Still

Fill a water bottle one-third full of unpurified water. Tape another bottle to this bottle at the mouth, so that together they look like an hourglass. Please these bottles in direct sunlight at a slight angle so that evaporated water from the lower side can cool and collect in the upper side.

Tree Branch Transpiration

• Tightly wrap a plastic bag around a leafy tree branch (or any leafy vegetation) and let sit several hours—until evaporated water from leaves collects in the bottom of the bag.

Wide-Mouth Jar

• Position a large, clear, glass or plastic jar over a container of unclean water in a manner that allows evaporated water to collect on the inside of the large jar and trickle down into a clean collection container. You may need several of these to produce enough distilled water.

Plastic Bag

• Much like the jar described above—with some effort, you can set up a large, clear, plastic bag—with unclean water in the bottom and inflated or propped up to direct distilled water out the side.
• Multiple bags will multiply the amount of water collected.

Hole in the Ground

• Dig a large hole in the ground, about a foot deep and 3 feet wide
• Place a large container of unclean water in the hole
• Place in the center of the hole a clean collection container
• Cover the hole with a clear plastic sheet and secure around the edges with rocks or dirt
• Place a small weight in the middle of the plastic sheet so that condensation that collects on the bottom of the sheet will drip into the clean collection container.

Large Bucket, Drum, or Pool

• Place unclean water in the large container
• Place in the center of the large container a small, clean collection container, which may need to be weighed down to keep it from in position
• Cover the large container with a clear plastic sheet and secure tightly to the rim
• Place a small weight in the middle of the plastic sheet so that condensation that collects on the bottom of the sheet will drip into the clean collection container.

Capture Steam

• Prepare a place to boil water—over a stove, campfire, candle, etc.
• Using an inverted funnel-shaped device, capture steam from the boiling water into a long, clean tube that directs the steam—as it cools and condensates into distilled water, into a clean collection container.
• Alternatively, tie large leaves, bottles, sheets of metal, or panes of glass above the rising steam that will collect the cooled vapor and drip into your container.
• Additionally, you can position cloth, t-shirt, towel, sponge, etc. over the rising steam to collect the moisture. When saturated, wring them out into a container.

} } }  This information is in the book “Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking.” { { {

A section in Chapter 2 of the book:
Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking

Without a high-quality filter, boiling water is the best and most reliable method of purifying water for drinking, removing all living microorganisms. To be extra cautious, some might say to boil water for 10 minutes or more. The key is to raise the temperature above 160 degrees long enough to kill all germs and parasites—which doesn’t take very long. Most experts agree that a full, rolling boil is sufficient.

Poor Taste: Boiling water releases air from the water, giving it a flat, unpleasant taste. Drizzling clean water between two containers (like you see in a fish aquarium) can infuse air back into the water and restore some of the taste. Even better is to mix in flavoring like powdered lemon juice or fruit-flavored drink mix.

Direct Heat

• Place water in a metal container and boil over a fire.
• Containers might include: beverage can, tin can, pot, canteen, aluminum foil shaped into a bowl, etc.
• Depending on the size of your fire, you should be able to bring it to a boil within a few minutes.
• Place water in a non-metal container and place hot rocks from a fire into the water-filled container
• Containers might be made of plastic, bark, hide, cloth, glass, seashell, bamboo, coconut, or anything else that could not be placed over a fire. Plan ahead by packing several lightweight turkey-sized oven bags, which hold a gallon of water.
• Heat large rocks (that will still fit into your container of water) in a fire for about 10-15 minutes, then drop them one-at-a-time into your water for about 20 to 30 seconds each. You should be able to flash boil your water within a couple of minutes.

Caution: Boiling water does NOT remove things like
chlorine, gasoline, ammonia, herbicides, pesticides, arsenic, lead, mercury, etc.
Use a charcoal filter for these.

Plastic Bottle

If a plastic bottle is the only thing you have to hold water, there are still options for using it and heat to purify water. A word of caution, however, in that a slight misjudgment in heat or placement may ruin an otherwise good water container.

• Completely fill the bottle with water, cap it tightly, and place the full bottle in or above some hot coals. The water inside and lack of air should prevent the water from boiling and the plastic from melting. Your goal is to get the water above 160 degrees for several minutes.
• Suspend a plastic water bottle just above flames or coals so that the water inside keeps the plastic from melting.
• Leave the water bottle in bright sunshine for several hours to help kill any bacteria or parasites from the sun’s heat, light, and ultraviolet rays.

Poisons: Boiling water kills harmful pathogens,
but does not remove chemicals, toxins, or poisons like oils or metals.

} } }  This information is in the book “Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking.” { { {

A section in Chapter 2 of the book:
Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking

Several types of filters can be used as the first stage in water purification or as a better-than-nothing alternative before drinking questionable water.

Prepared Filters

• Keep a stash of coffee filters or dust masks in your pack
• Water bottles with built-in filters can slowly process water while you hike to your destination
• Filtered straws can be purchased for use in an emergency

  See it yourself: Lifestraw Personal Water Filter

Natural Filters

When possible, use water that has already been filtered by nature.

• Passed through vegetation like reeds, grass, moss, etc.
• Moving or flowing rather than standing or stagnating
• Bubbling, gurgling, or ripping rather than smooth flowing

Improvised Filters

Do the following to remove visible impurities like dirt, plants, sand, mud, or general cloudiness.

• Strain water through a handkerchief, t-shirt, cloth, paper towel, coffee filter, or dust mask.
• These makeshift filters can be placed over the mouth of a bottle or canteen to filter water as it passes in or out of the container.
• A plastic bottle can also be cut into a funnel to hold your filter materials.
• Repeat filtering with finer materials or more layers to improve quality.

Dirt Filter

You can do the following with no tools but your hands and maybe a stick or a rock.

• About five to ten feet away from the edge of a pond or swamp water, dig a hole about two feet wide and a foot deep.
• As you are digging, water from the surrounding soil will seep into your hole. Bail out this water two or three times, which will likely be muddy or discolored.
• By then, the water that seeps into your hole will be clear and drinkable—because the ground itself has filtered the water.
• Note, however, that this method will NOT filter out any chemical toxins—so look around at nearby vegetation and signs of wildlife drinking in this area to ensure that it is clear of pollution.

Create a Charcoal Filter

• Create a funnel-shaped container that has input and output, like a 2-liter plastic bottle with the bottom cut off.
• In this container, layer fine charcoal dust, cloth, and sand.
• After passing water through improvised filters (see above), pour water through this do-it-yourself layered filter to remove very fine particulate matter and most parasites.
• For 100% effectiveness with removing germs, boil your filtered water to ensure that it is safe to drink.

Reliability: Very few filters, store-bought or homemade, will remove 100% of all undesirable contaminants. Heat (boiling) is more reliable.

} } }  This information is in the book “Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking.” { { {

A section in Chapter 2 of the book:
Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking

Always filter and boil (or treat) water to be used for drinking or cooking—as most natural sources likely contain dangerous or unfamiliar parasites, germs, and bacteria that can make you sick. Bad guys that may be found in surface water include: Hepatitis A, Giardia, Shigella, E.coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, coliform, cholera, and viruses

However, even muddy, smelly water can be made drinkable with proper filtering and boiling—but avoid any bitter or alkali-tasting water as it is poisonous and can only be treated by distillation.

===\/===

QUICK TIP: While this chapter includes many methods to purify water that may have biological or chemical contamination, here is my three-step approach for most water found in the woods.

• Rough filter (cloth, coffee filters, sand)……………………………………………. remove debris
• Fine filter (charcoal, carbon, ceramic)…………………………………………. remove chemicals
• Bleach or Boil (if I already have a fire going)…………………………………… remove germs
  ~10 drops/gal of Chlorine bleach, wait 30 mins to kill everything

===/\===

Purifying water may include the following methods.

1. Filtering Water
2. Boiling Water
3. Distilling Water
4. Treating Water with Chemicals
5. Treating Water with Light

>> This information is in the book “Prep Lists for Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking.” <<<