Water

Associated directly with food is water. These 2 are ESSENTIAL to life. Many men died because they did not know how nor where to look for water in apparently dry and arid regions.

WATER IS EVEN MORE ESSENTIAL THAN FOOD FOR SURVIVAL. Thus one has to know how to find it and fast if one is to survive. Real FAST! We know today that you can go up to 60 days without solid food, but you will be tormented by hunger etc., but not without water.

Many different forms of life are certain indicators of water in the near vicinity. The bees MUST have water. Pigeons and all grain eaters MUST have water, but the flesh eaters such as the crow and the hawks and eagles can go without water for a long period.
By knowing something of the nature of the insects, birds animals and reptiles you can often find their hidden stores of precious water.

Since most of the common diseases in a survival situation are water-born, pollution of drinking water MUST BE RIGOROUSLY AVOIDED.

NEVER! NEVER! EVER TAKE THE SLIGHTEST UNNECESSARY RISK WITH DOUBTFUL WATER.

Any one of us can generally get along a while longer without a drink.

JUST MOISTENING! YES! JUST MOISTENING! YOUR LIPS IN WATER! 1 DROP of which is contaminated can on the other hand, so sicken us that if nothing worse we will become to weak to travel!

THE SAFEST PRINCIPLE REGARDING PURITY MUST BE USED AT ALL TIME!

How can you tell if water is pure? Short of a labouratory we can not, for even in a mountainstreem, the putrefying carcass of a winter-killed animal may be lying a few yards upstream.

The folklore that any water a dog will drink is pure enough for his master is false. We have often seen dogs drink from toilet water. The same notion for horse is also false. Smell or no smell is no guaranty, sulphurous water stinks like hell, yet it is safe to drink boiled or when not polluted, if you travel you know what I mean.

The fact that natives may assert a water source is pure may mean instead that either they have built up a certain degree of immunity or because of familiarity they can not believe the water is tainted (polluted).

Even the loneliest wild stream can be infected with this so called rabbit fever by such wild animals as muskrats and beavers.

Yet taking chances with drinking water in a well-settled community is in one sense a lot less dangerous than trying out water in a wilderness away from medical help.

STRANGE COUNTRIES & A CAUTION
When in strange country it is also safer not to drink tap water but rather buy and drink bottle water or get ready for the Tourista which is a mild case of "runs" which could cause graver sickness.

So the SAFEST principle in any event is to assume ALL WATER to be IMPURE until proved otherwise, positively & recently!

MAKING SURE IT IS PURE
Water can be rid of germs by boiling. The exact time required to accomplish this depends on altitude, the nature of impurity and several other factors, so a safe general rule is at least 10 minutes, longer is by no means a waste except for fuel.

If there is a reasonable doubt that water is contaminated don't take chances even if in hurry and harried although such a process of purifying water takes time and trouble. A great deal more inconvenience and delay can result from using just any water.

BOILING TAKES ONLY 10 MINUTES
Getting sick takes days even weeks some time before getting any better, some times death is the end result.

Nor does this apply only to water that is actually drunk. It is also applicable with equal gravity to any water drop of which may enter the human body. Eg: The water in which the toothbrush is dipped, water in which food and utensils are washed, and water for cooking except when kept in high enough temperature for a sufficient time to insure purity.

Boiled water tastes flat, so air and taste can be restored by pouring the cooled water back and forth between 2 utensils or by shaking it in a partially filled jar or canteen. Or if one is in hurry and has salt, just add a pinch of salt.

WHY 10 MINUTES BOILING?:
Some germs can survive even 10 minutes boiling so; you can not take chances unless you are ready to die or to be sick like dog!

STAGNANT WATER & POLLUTED WATER
Both can be made safe to drink without equipment. If time permits such water can be filtered trough a sieve of charcoal. This will both clarify and to a large extent purify the water, but it is ALWAYS SAFER TO BOIL WATER BEFORE DRINKING AT LEAST 10 MINUTES, plus once boiled, swirl the water for a minute or so to give back its oxygen and taste.

MUDDY WATER CLEANING METHODS
If the water is muddy, the clay particles in flotation in the water can be precipitated by a pinch of alum which will precipitate the particles and so clarify the water. This however requires at least 12 hours to wait.

If no artificial means such as IODINE tablets are available, the polluted or dirty water can be filtered by straining through closely woven garments such as a felt hat or a pair of thick drill trousers.

HOT STONES METHOD
The water if polluted can be sterilised by adding hot stones to the water in the filter. The water will soon boil and so made sterile & safe drink.

In an area where there is a likelihood of water being infected with bacteria (near cities or villages), it is ALWAYS SAFER TO BOIL BEFORE DRINKING or put a pinch of chloride of lime.

Water which is very muddy, dirty or stagnant can be clarified and sterilised through a good filter made from a pair of drill trousers with one leg turned inside out and put inside the other leg. The cuff is tied and the upper part held open by 3 stakes driven well into the ground. Fill with the dirty water and then drop in the hot stones.

The water will filter through and MUST be caught by a container and poured pack until the dirt has been filtered and the water is then boiled at least 10 minutes.

REMEMBER JUST MOISTENING polluted water will make you sick for days and can even kill you in short term.**

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT - EVEN DEADLY NOT TO KNOW, OR BE AWARE, THAT EVEN TASTING IT COULD DO THAT.

TO CLEAN & PURIFY MUDDY WATER
1) Let it rest during 12 hours.
2) Let it circulate inside a bamboo stick measuring 1 metre long which you have filled with sand & the end is filled with grass.
3) Dump water in a cloth filled with sand which filters the mud.
4) Boil that water afterward. 10 Minutes minimum.

WATER PURITY
Once you have found a water source, you have tow old drinking rules to choose from, depending on how healthy you are, how cautious you are and where you are.

The first is, when doubt about water, purify it. The second is, a lively bubbling stream cleans itself in 30 feet of flowing over rocks and sands. Or as one old codger I know, referring to the same quality of stream bed, put it succinctly, "If the cow's around the bend, the water's fit to drink." Which rule you follow is up to you. We tend to use the second when in mountainous, wooded country.

Our stomachs might not be cast iron, but they are pretty resistant to Montezuma's Revenge and La Turista. Yet as pollution increases we lean more and more to the first rule.

Boiling takes a lot of fuel and a lot of time to cool off but in dangerous regions it is better to drink a lot of tea rather than wait for the water to cool off.

Use 1 Halazone tablet per pint of water or 2 if in serious doubt. You MUST still let it stand 1/2 hour or more to be safe to drink but it tastes funny like a water from a swimming pool. Yet aerating the water by pouring it back and forth between two containers several times will eliminate most of the chlorine taste. This chemical is quite volatile and if you hold your breath while drinking it, you will hardly taste a thing.

SIMPLE CHEMICAL PURIFICATION
One can buy at most sporting goods and Drug Store a 2 ounce bottle containing 100 Iodine tablets

.Since their purifying action depends upon the release of chlorine gas, these should be fresh and the container kept tightly closed and its contend dry.

NO PURIFICATION OF WATER BY CHEMICAL MEANS IS AS SAFE AS BOILING
But 2 tabs of Iodine will ordinarily make a quart of water safe for human consumption in 1/2 hour.

If the water is muddy or it its integrity seems particularly questionable it is good insurance to double at least the amount of halazone and the time as well to be sure.

Care MUST be taken with chemical purifier so employed to disinfect all points of contact with the container, so that the water once sterilised will not be easily reinfected.

If a jar or canteen is being used together with Iodine, replace the cover loosely and wait 30 minutes so that the tablets can dissolve. Then shake the contents thoroughly, allowing some of the water to spill out over the top and lips of the holder. Tighten the cover then and leave it that way for the time required before using any of the water.

YOU CAN USE CHLORIDE OF LIME
Chlorine in some form is regarded as the most dependable disinfectant for drinking water.
When introduce in proper quantities it destroys any existing organisms and for as long as enough remains in the water, it prevents reoccurring contamination. It is better to err moderately on the side of over-dosage if at all than not enough.

EMERGENCY CHLORINATING DONE IN 3 STEPS

1) Dissolving one heaping tablespoon of chloride of lime in 8 quarts of water.

2) Adding one part of this solution to 100 parts of the water to be disinfected.

3) Waiting at least 30 minutes before using. The stock solution MUST be kept tightly corked in a cool, dark place and even then it should be frequently renewed.

IODINE AS A GERMICIDE
(Now replaced the old Halazone pills.)
Tincture of iodine can be used as an emergency purifier. A drop of this fresh antiseptic, mixed thoroughly with one quart of water in the same manner as the old Halazone pills will generally make the water fit to drink in 30 minutes. Both the amount and time may be doubled if this precaution seems warranted.

IODINE WATER PURIFICATION TABLETS
Chlorine-releasing compound can not be relied upon in Semi-Tropical and Tropical areas.
Neither there nor anywhere else incidentally does the addition of liquor to ice nor water rid either of the latter of germs. (Germs keep well in ice, they don't die). So water in those regions MUST be sterilized either by boiling or by iodine water purification tablets.

Containing the active Tetraglycine Hydroperiodine, these have been adopted as standard by the armed services of the USA. The tablets have been proved effective against all the common water-borne bacteria. Added to water each tablet frees 8 milligrams of iodine which act as a water purification factor.

One tablet will purify one quart of water. These tablets too MUST be kept dry. The bottle MUST be recapped tightly after opening.

1) Add one tablet to a quart of water in container with cap.
2) Wait 3 minutes.
3) Shake water thoroughly, allowing a little water to leak out and disinfect the screw threads before tightening the cap.
4) Wait 10 minutes before drinking or adding beverage powders and if water is very cold wait 20 minutes.
5) If water contains decaying vegetation or is murky and discoloured use 2 tablets for every one quart.
6) MAKE CERTAIN that the iodine disinfects any part of the container which will come in contact with your lips.

OTHER CHEMICALS TO STERILIZE WATER
1) JAVEL: You add 5 drops of Javel per 4.5 litres of water NEVER pass that dosage. Its inconvenient is that water taste acid.
2) #Permanganate de Potasse#: Drop a piece of it in the water in a way that the water is HARDLY tainted & WAIT 1 hour before drinking.
3) In South America people purify water ponds with copper sulphate 1 million part to one part of water.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE POISONOUS WATER HOLES?
A few water holes as in the southwestern deserts of North America contain dissolved poison such as arsenic.
Once can recognize these easily, partly because of bones of unwary animals scattered about but mainly because green vegetation will be conspicuously absent, so avoid any water hole around without green plants.

HARD WATER
If the area travelled has hard water which we are not accustomed, severe digestive upsets may result if while getting used to it we absorb more than small amount at any one time.
Boiling may be of some help, but that is all one can do, until one gets used to it. Sorry to be so hard on you.

HOW TO MAKE A FILTER
Water can be cleared by filtration although this process will neither affect any dissolved minerals nor will it ensure purity.
Water is polluted by animal and mineral matter rather than by discolouring vegetable substances such as grass roots and dead leaves.

The first two can not be removed with any sureness by ordinary filtering. The filter is to clear water by straining solid material from it.
A wild filter can be made without too much trouble particularly in sand by scooping a hole a few feet from the source of supply and using water seeping into it.

POISONED RIVER
While fighting the Boers, Baden Powel came across this problem, and resolved it this way, having learned that the water had been poisoned.

He simply dug a hole at 9 feet from the river bank and let the water seep through thus eliminating the poison. However the hole MUST be dug deeper than the river bed.

A WAY TO SWEETEN WATER
Camping in a swamp or by a pond which has an unpleasant odour you will want to sweeten and purify the water in a single operation. Just drop several bits of charred hardwood from the campfire into the boiling pot. 10 or 15 min of simmering will do the job. Then you can skim away most of the foreign matter and then strain the water through a clean cloth or if plenty of time and pots, merely allow it to settle.

WATER HAZARDS and SICKNESS
DISEASES FROM WATER MAKE ONE OF THE GREATEST THREAT TO SURVIVAL, IF NOT THE GREATEST AFTER INJURIES COLD AND MAN!
Among them which we find: Dysentery, Cholera, Typhoid, Douves.

DYSENTERY
This sickness causes a general diarrhoea, painful and long duration with bloody shit and weaknesses.
If you think you suffer it, eat frequently and drink if possible coconut milk, boiled water.
As for coconut milk being a laxative drink only small dosage. Boiled rice is strongly recommended as food in that case.

CHOLERA AND TYPHOID
Even with vaccine you stay vulnerable to those diseases if you don't take proper care of your water drinking habits.

DOUVES *
They abound in stagnant and polluted water especially in the Tropics. When you swallow them, they infiltrate the blood causing severe sickness and often death.
Those parasites worms penetrate even the body trough the skin. Thus don't walk or bath in contaminated waters.

LEECHES & HOW TO RID OF THEM
The small leeches abound most particularly in water streams of Africa.
When swallowed they cling to throat and nose passages. They suck the blood and cause wounds. Those parasites move and each time they cause new open wounds which open the way to infection.

Clean your nose as quickly as possible by sniffing very salted water or remove those leeches with improvised tweezers or with the heat off a cigarette an old jungle trick or rubbing salt on them will make them go away.