If you love to camp then there is always a chance that you could find yourself in a survival situation, regardless of any plans which you have in place, you never know when disaster can strike. When you find yourself in such a situation, the first thing that you need to concentrate on is getting water. Humans can live for weeks without food but without fresh drinking water, you could only last 3 days, 4 at the most. There are lots of sources of water around the World from seawater to rainwater, springs and rivers but unfortunately, many of these sources of water are dirty and you need to find a way to filter and purify them. Should you ever find yourself in such a situation, here are some tips for cleaning the water that you find.
Filter
The best way of purifying water in a survival situation would be to take your own filter, there are many on the market that are small, lightweight and super easy to take with you. Some filters are even as simple as a star like device that allow you to drink direct from source. If you haven’t been so well prepared then you can make you own using a straw or hose-like device with some pine wood jammed into the hole, as you pour the water through, the wood will strip away any toxins that are contained in the water.
Solar Energy
If you leave a bottle of dirty water out in the sun all day then the UV rays from the sun will actually kill of 99% of bacteria that exists in the water. If you are in a difficult situation in a warm place then you could implement this method of purifying dirty water.
Distillation
Distillation can be a great method of cleaning water or even urine so that it is fit to drink, the process requires some plastic sheeting, perhaps from your tent and some heat form the sun. You should dig a hole in the ground and pour the dirty water or urine into the hole, place a container in the centre of the hole and put the plastic sheeting on top. Above the plastic sheeting you should place a small stone on the sheet, above the container to act as a centre point and a place for the water to drip from as it condenses. Wait for some hours and the drink the contents of the container.
Boiling
If you have access to fire then by far and away the safest method of water distillation is to boil it on a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Boiling water in this way won’t kill every bit of bacteria but it will kill enough so that you can drink it without getting sick.
Hopefully you never find yourself in a survival situation but you never know and should the worst happen to you then now you are fully prepared to go and use whatever water source that you can find and clean it sufficiently for you to drink.