Water: Purifying – 1. Filtering Water

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.” { { {