THIRST
My spirit wails for water, water now! My tongue is aching dry, my throat is hot For water, fresh rain shaken from a bough, Or dawn dews heavy in some leafy spot. My hungry body's burning for a swim In sunlit water where the air is cool, As in Trout Valley where upon a limb The golden finch sings sweetly to the pool. Oh water, water, when the night is done, When day steals gray-white through the windowpane, Clear silver water when I wake, alone, All impotent of parts, of fevered brain; Pure water from a forest fountain first, To wash me, cleanse me, and to quench my thirst!
Claude McKay
In the survivor's world, few things are more important then water. After Oxygen and Shelter, it is most critical to sustaining life. After an incident that is big enough to effect your community, water may be scarce or suspect. Sources of water vary and depending on your location, may be limited. If you are lucky enough to live in a rural area water may be plentiful but transient. In larger cities water may be down right impossible to find.
But finding water may not be as hard as making it safe to ingest. Stagnant water or water that may have been contaminated by waste run off MUST be disinfected! If you can boil water for a few minutes (Covered rolling boil for 10 Min)you can eliminate all living pathogens. Toxic metals and chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides as well as fertilizers will unfortunately remain. These must be filtered out. I recommend the BRITISH BERKEFELD filter for home or base camp, check Jamesfilter.com for more info or the Katadyn Endurance filter for the same applications. In the field for carrying in your Go Bag I like the Katadyn Hiker series hand filters.
Check Katadyn.com
Now what can you do if you don't own a filter or need to move and don't have time for boiling and cooling your water.
CHEMICALS.....BLEACH or IODINE
Bleach Disinfection: 5.25% solution NO ADDITIVES or PHOSPHATES! Just plain old bleach..the cheap stuff!
1 quart.....clear......2 drops
............cloudy.....4 drops
1 gallon....clear......8 drops
............cloudy....16 drops
5 Gallons...clear....1/2 Teaspoon
............cloudy.....1 Teaspoon
Let stand 30 Minutes
Your water should have a distinct chlorine odor/taste. If not add more bleach. An important note pointed out by a friend: Bleach by it's self is an "encapsulate", if not diluted with water, it actually will protect the bacteria it covers instead of destroying it. DON'T USE STRAIGHT BLEACH!....Thanks Bill
Iodine Disinfection: 2% Iodine
1 Quart.....clear......3 Drops
............cloudy.....6 Drops
1 Gallon....clear.....12 Drops
............cloudy....24 Drops
Let stand 30 minutes.
DO NOT try to disinfect more then 1 Gallon of water with iodine at a time. It is easy to poison yourself. Iodine treated water should NOT be ingested by Pregnant or nursing women or by people with thyroid issues.
Source FEMA
Cook it chem it clean it and carry it. Although it should not be wasted, Never ration water. Silly dried and desiccated dead men have been found with water in their canteens.
Watch your six
RJ
