Introduction | Water Sources | Water Purification | Water Filtration Devices |
Water is one of your most urgent needs in a survival situation. You can't live long without it, especially in hot areas where you lose water rapidly through perspiration. Even in cold areas, you need a minimum of 2 liters of water each day to maintain efficiency.
More than three-fourths of your body is composed of fluids. Your body loses fluid as a result of heat, cold, stress and exertion. To function effectively, you must replace the fluid your body loses. So, one of your first goals is to obtain an adequate supply of water.
Introduction | Water Sources | Water Purification | Water Filtration Devices |
WATER SOURCES
Almost any environment has water present to some degree.
Note: If you do not have a canteen, cup, can or other type of container, improvise one from plastic or water-resistant cloth. Shape the plastic or cloth into a bowl by pleating it. Use pins or other suitable items — even your hands — to hold the pleats.
If you do not have a reliable source to replenish your water supply, stay alert for ways in which your environment can help you.
Heavy dew can provide water. Tie rags or tufts of fine grass around your ankles and walk through dew-covered grass before sunrise. As the rags or grass tufts absorb the dew, wring the water into a container. Repeat the process until you have a supply of water or until the dew is gone. Australian natives sometimes mop up as much as a liter an hour this way. Bees or ants going into a hole in a tree may point to a water-filled hole. Siphon the water with plastic tubing or scoop it up with an improvised dipper. You can also stuff cloth in the hole to absorb the water and then wring it from the cloth.
Water sometimes gathers in tree crotches or rock crevices. Use the above procedures to get the water. In arid areas, bird droppings around a crack in the rocks may indicate water in or near the crack.
Green bamboo thickets are an excellent source of fresh water. Water from green bamboo is clear and odorless. To get the water, bend a green bamboo stalk, tie it down and cut off the top. The water will drip freely during the night. Old, cracked bamboo may contain water.
CAUTION: Purify the water before drinking it.
Wherever you find banana or plantain trees, you can get water. Cut down the tree, leaving about a 30-centimeter stump and scoop out the center of the stump so that the hollow is bowl-shaped. Water from the roots will immediately start to fill the hollow. The first three fillings of water will be bitter but successive fillings will be palatable. The stump will supply water for up to four days. Be sure to cover it to keep out insects.
Some tropical vines can give you water. Cut a notch in the vine as high as you can reach, then cut the vine off close to the ground. Catch the dropping liquid in a container or in your mouth.
CAUTION: Do not drink the liquid if it is sticky, milky or bitter tasting.
The milk from green (unripe) coconuts is a good thirst quencher. However, the milk from mature coconuts contains an oil that acts as a laxative. Drink in moderation only. In the American tropics you may find large trees whose branches support air plants. These air plants may hold a considerable amount of rainwater in their overlapping, thickly growing leaves. Strain the water through a cloth to remove insects and debris.
You can get water from plants with moist, pulpy centers. Cut off a section of the plant and squeeze or smash the pulp so that the moisture runs out. Catch the liquid in a container. Plant roots may provide water. Dig or pry the roots out of the ground, cut them into short pieces and smash the pulp so that the moisture runs out. Catch the liquid in a container. Fleshy leaves, stems or stalks, such as bamboo, contain water. Cut or notch the stalks at the base of a joint to drain out the liquid.
Introduction | Water Sources | Water Purification | Water Filtration Devices |
WATER PURIFICATION
Rainwater collected in clean containers or in plants is usually safe for drinking. However, purify water from lakes, ponds, swamps, springs or streams, especially the water near human settlements or in the tropics.
When possible, purify all water you got from vegetation or from the ground by using iodine or chlorine or by boiling.
Purify water by —
* Using water purification tablets. (Follow the directions provided.)
* Placing five drops of 2 percent tincture of iodine in a canteen full of clear water. If the canteen is full of cloudy or cold water, use 10 drops. (Let the canteen of water stand for 30 minutes before drinking.)
* Boiling water for one minute at sea level, adding one minute for each additional 300 meters above sea level, or boil for 10 minutes no matter where you are.
By drinking nonpotable water you may contract diseases or swallow organisms that can harm you. Examples of such diseases or organisms are —
* Dysentery. Severe, prolonged diarrhea with bloody stools, fever and weakness.
* Cholera and typhoid. You may be susceptible to these diseases regardless of inoculations.
* Flukes. Stagnant, polluted water — especially in tropical areas — often contains blood flukes. If you swallow flukes, they will bore into the bloodstream, live as parasites and cause disease.
* Leeches. If you swallow a leech, it can hook onto the throat passage or inside the nose. It will suck blood, create a wound and move to another area. Each bleeding wound may become infected.
Introduction | Water Sources | Water Purification | Water Filtration Devices |
WATER FILTRATION DEVICES
If the water you find is also muddy, stagnant and foul smelling, you can clear the water —
* By placing it in a container and letting it stand for 12 hours.
* By pouring it through a filtering system.
Note: These procedures only clear the water and make it more palatable. You will still have to purify it.
To make a filtering system, place several centimeters or layers of filtering material such as sand, crushed rock, charcoal or cloth in bamboo, a hollow log or an article of clothing.
Remove the odor from water by adding charcoal from your fire. Let the water stand for 45 minutes before drinking it.