Water Treatment

Charles W. Bryant,

water treatment

If you're stranded or lost in the wild, the one thing you need to live long enough to tell your harrowing tale is drinkable water. Humans can only live a few days without it, and that's in ideal temperatures and conditions. You can live without food for up to a few weeks as long as you have water.

If you're planning on going on a wildlife adventure, you should have more than one way of purifying water available to you. Water filters come in all shapes, sizes and prices. You can choose anything from one no bigger than a fat drinking straw for emergencies to a pump model that screws onto your water bottle. These can filter a quart of drinkable H₂O in just a few minutes. Make sure your filter takes care of cryptosporidium and giardia, two of the most common parasites.

To be on the safe side, you should pack some water purifier tablets or solutions as well. They're generally made of iodine or chlorine compounds. If taste matters to you, go with the less offensive chlorine. It's also a good idea to pack them in different areas in case you become separated from your backpack. Put the larger filter in your backpack and your tablets and emergency filter in a waist pack, or even carry them on your person.