What is the best way to make filthy water drinkable in forest? Thanks.?

Question

What is the best way to make filthy water drinkable in forest? Thanks.?

Answer 1

There's several ways you can do this.  There are devices you can buy which filter water for you using either silver iodide or charcoal.  Some of them use a pump mechanism to force the dirty water through the filter, the filter then removes the impurities and the water can safely be drunk (an anti bacterial may need to be added if the water is heavily contaminated with bacteria and germs).  There's also micro-porous material and bags you can purchase, the material has minute holes in it allowing water through but trapping contaminants such as bacteria.

There are water purification tablets you can buy - either silver iodide or chlorine based.  You add one or two to the water, give it a shake and leave for 15 minutes to 2 hours (depending on strength of tablet) until the bacteria have been killed off.  Silver iodide tablets have the advantage that they don't make the water taste like a swimming pool.

Another method is to simply boil the water.  As has ben mentioned you can collect condensation by placing green material in a plastic bag (it doesn't produce much water).  A similar principle if you have a plastic sheet is to scrape out a hole, fill it with cut green vegetation, place a container in the centre of the hole, cover the hole with the plastic sheet and put a small stone in the centre of the sheet directly over the container.  Mositure evapourated from the vegetation, condenses on the pastic and runs down and drips into the container.

A completely natural method using materials in the forest is to make your own filter using sphagnum moss and charcoal.

Sphagnum moss is abundant in many forests and is one of natures most versatile plants.  To make a natural filter just partially burn some timber to produce charcoal, break up the charcoal then pour the dirty water through alternating layers of charcoal and sphagnum moss.  A hollow bamboo is ideal for this as it can be packed with layers of charcoal and spagnum, dirty water poured in one end and clean water out of the other.

Additionally many plants contain large amounts of water, if you know which ones to look for you can cut a short length of stem and clean water will pour out.

Answer 2

there are tabs you can buy to add to bad water, at like GNC or health food stores.  you can also add a SMALL amount of chlorine bleach, but it tastes a bit off. boiling might be best if possible.

Answer 3

If you can, boil it! that is the safest way to go.

otherwise ... drug stores sell these little white tablets to add to water (googling for the chemical name, but the pharmasist will know) ... they work, but not as effective as boiling.

If you are stuck in the bush and have no means, the water must be filtered at the very least. Run it through anything you can several times (anything - jeans, maxi-pads, shirts, etc.)

You may get the runs, but it may well save your life

Answer 4

okay well i did an experiment on this kind of thing a few years ago. it's quite simple really. what you do is gather lots of green plants; may it be grass, leaves, whatever. you find something clean that you can stuff all these green plants in that has a whole at the bottom of it for the water to go through. then you take your dirty water and poor it on the top of all the plants you gathered in the container. when the water comes out from the little whole at the bottom it would have gone through many layers of green before reaching the bottom. it will now be much cleaner. if you do not wish to wait till you are in a forest to try this then go ahead and do it in your backyard! let everyone else know how clean your water turns out:)

Answer 5

a solar still would work best, otherwise wrap a plastic bag around a group of greenery and wait for the air inside to condense giving you clean drinkable water (make sure there are no bugs or insects on the foliage first)

Answer 6

Filtration to remove silt and other large solids, followed by bacterial filtration to remove micro-organisms followed by treatment with a viracide (typically bleach).  I have a small filtration system I carry in my back back.

Answer 7

u pick out the bacteria one by one using your hand

Answer 8

boil it.

Answer 9

boil it. or look for a fresh clean river, if there is any left.

hahaha