Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to ...

[Scorpion8]

Okay guys, gals n' fellow misfits!

One of the keys to survival believe it or not is gonna be such a simple little thing like..... <bingo> water! Those who have it will live, those who don't may not. Does everyone have a stock of iodine purification tablets laid in for drinking water? Do you know how to distill potable water from seawater?

I highly recommend the recent copy of BackWoodsMan magazine. Not only do they have great tips and tricks, but they also show you a home-made collapsible water distiller that will turn sea-water into drinkable water without any boiling (you may not have or want to start a fire).

Besides, it's great reading in a lot of other aspects too. Enjoy!

[Freebore]

The Backwoodsman, as a very good magazine. I have been meaning to subscribe to it. Potable water could be a real problem, and there is much to worry about if you're forced to rely on alternate sources. There is a lot of chemical, and pesticide runoff contamination that is very hard to remove. If I wanted to supplement a residential water supply, besides ground water(if it tests good), I would look at a roof water, cistern storage system.

[Scorpion8]

All depends how much rainfall you get and what's coming down with the rain (e.g. fallout, volcanic ash). Here in the SouthEast Alaska panhandle lots of the communities and houses live beyond the city water systems and thus use rain catchement systems or even stream runoff. But then again, water here in the SouthEast is the last of our problems.

Elsewhere, that's not true and poses much more of a problem. Sunlinght evaporators to purify water are one of the easiest systems to construct out of common items. BackWoodsman Magazine is full of these tidbits and highly recommended.

[Freebore]

There's always the "Age Old" remedy for questionable fresh water, brew it into Beer! Obviously this is not the real answer, and I'm just having s little fun with the subject!

[ozzy the nuke]

Dead on. Most Americans are already lugging months of reserve food with them where ever they go. But water is a different story. It takes a lot of water to stay alive. Especially in the more arid regions of the country.

As for me, I own ground with several springs that I can count on to be clean for a long time. I also have a portable hand pump type water filter that would be good on the move. At home, I have a reverse osmosis system. All it takes to make it work is a supply of pressurized water. In a pinch I could rig up some way to pressurize collected rain water, etc (think bicycle pump).

Never heard of backwoodsman mag. Will have to check it out.

[Scorpion8]

Originally Posted by Freebore

There's always the "Age Old" remedy for questionable fresh water, brew it into Beer!

You've identified one of the primary reasons they drank a lot of beer in the old days. Not all the water supplied could be trusted.

Ozzy -- We also have a portable hand filter. Of course, those diatom filters have to be replaced a lot so you'll need a supply of them for "the big event".

[ozzy the nuke]

I have never used my portable filter so I dont how well it would work. I usually take it and some spare filter elements with me when I am on the road. The plan is to have enough to get me back home where I am better equipped.

Does anyone have any real experience with these filters? Is one brand better than the other? How long does an element last in the field?

[ImtheGDP]

Regardless of your source of water, you will have to clean it. So stock up on the water filters.

[tanvil]

Yep, filters and potable water tablets. I drank a case of Giardia once. After 3 days I went to the ER because I realized it was killing me. The doc told me if I had waited 1 more day, I'd be dead. BE SURE of your water sources. In a survival situation, you wil not get a 2nd chance.

[sjohnson]

Giardiasis here, too. Got Lucky, mine was mild but damn! was I glad to be rid of it.