When you are put into a survival situation finding a clean source of water will be a key part of staying alive. Humans can only survive 2 to 3 days without water. Stagnant water is most likely ridden with parasites and bacteria that can cause sever illness. Escaping from zombies while vomiting and diarrhea is not an ideal situation. Once you get sick, it can last for weeks!
Don’t risk drinking dirty water! Follow these techniques and purify!
Boil Water:
This is a simple technique that most everybody knows. Place your dirty water in a fire-proof container like a pot or pan. Bring to a boil. Bacteria is dead, water is clean! It is also a good idea to filter your water, if possible, prior to boiling.
Read further to lean how to make your own water filter.
If the only water available is mineral rich, like salt water, filtering and boiling may not be enough to remove the impurities and make the water drinkable.
Build a Water Still:
The concept of a water still is simple: Water evaporates. Minerals, bacteria and parasites are left behind. Capture the evaporated water and it will be clean to drink! There are a number of ways to build a water-still, the idea is to use the utensils you have available. The simplest method involves a puddle of water covered with a plastic sheet (like a trash bag) with a cup placed where the sheet droops the lowest. As the water evaporates it condenses on the plastic and trickles down to the lowest point. At this point you place a cup to capture the droplets.
There are a number of ways to build a solar still to purify water. Be creative and utilize the items you have available. You can always speed the process up by adding stronger heat source than the sun: If you have access pot that has a curved lid, and a heat-proof cup that will fit inside, you can make a heated water still. Place the cup in the center of the pot. Fill the pot with dirty water so that it come up half way to the top of the cup. Make sure the cup is not buoyant, if it starts wanting to float you have added too much water. Slowly bring the heat up making sure NOT to boil the water as this may cause contaminated water to splash into the cup. Keep it on a medium to low heat. Place the lid upside-down on top of the pot so that the curved portion allows the water to condense and drip down into the cup.
There will be times when you don’t have the luxury of having the tools available to purify water. In these dire and unfortunate times there still are precautions you can take to prevent illness from contaminated water.
Make a Water Filter: A water filter can be made using found materials. One simple method involves cutting the bottom off a soda bottle to create a funnel. Save the cap! Use a screw, nail, or knife to poke very small holes in the cap. Then fill with your filtering materials. Its best to put some cotton, a coffee filter or clean fabric at the bottom (nearest the opening you drink from). You can then layer your other filtering materials on top of this in order of fine to coarse. Charcoal from a campfire makes a great filter and can be used for the bottom layer. On top of the charcoal add sand and then gravel and slightly larger rocks. Pour the dirty water down the large end and collect it from the small end. You may want to filter the water a few times and, if possible, boil before you drink.
As a last resort, if you are unable to follow any of the above techniques: When you find a water source, dig a small hole next to it. Wait for the saturated water in the ground to seep into the hole. The dirt and gravel in the ground will help filter the water and make it much safer to drink.
These are great tips for filtering and purifying water in a survival situation. However, a good zombie prepper is prepared!
So why not get a LifeStraw Personal Water Filter
