At what deepness the water becomes pure enough to drink?

Question

free from all pollutants, chemicals, pesticides, etc.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Water depth is not a factor.  Contaminants will be present at any water depth.

Answer 2

It's not necessarily related to depth.

It was a striking realization for me when a ranger up in the high sierras admitted that their water quality testing revealed contaminants in the water system even at the highest altitudes.  When I pack in, I always pump the water or boil it before I drink.

Answer 3

exactly 20,987 feet.

Answer 4

in some spring feed streams right from the source in some lakes(fresh water)I would not let my worst enemy drink from any depths depends on the industrial sources on the lake and what they dump into the lake or what has been previously dumped into the water way.PS I don't know of any fresh water lake 20 000 ft deep so ignore that one and the oceans are salt water not drinkable

Answer 5

ever watch old westerns , when cowboy move the water around and then scoop. deep enough

Answer 6

It's not a function of depth, but what kind of pollution is nearby and the local geology.  Groundwater that's really, really deep can even be polluted with chemicals if there was a way that they were able to seep down there.

Pollution also actually doesn't have to mean "bad chemicals" -- it can also be just normal microorganisms that have been out in the environment since before humans existed.  Your digestive system just doesn't like them.  It's those that I'd personally be a lot more concerned about than the chemicals, at least in this kind of blanket situation.  Are you near a bunch of animal "waste" that could run off and get into the water you're trying to drink?  At depths where you could dig to easily or in just surface water bodies, this could be a big issue.

I'd just bring along some nice treated drinking water from civilization from home if you were planning to actually do this in practice.