Finding and Making Safe Water (incl. humidity)

WATER IS YOUR #1 PRIORITY You can go weeks without food, but only about 3 days without water. Find it, then make it safe. STEP 1 -- COLLECT SAFE WATER FIRST - Toilet TANK water (not bowl) is usually potable. - Hot water heater tank (drain from bottom spigot). - Ice cubes, liquid from canned fruit/veg, melted snow. - Rain caught off a clean tarp or wide leaves. STEP 2 -- MAKE WATER FROM THE AIR (HUMIDITY) A) SOLAR STILL (dig a 'puddle from the ground') 1. Dig a hole about 3 ft wide x 2 ft deep in damp ground or near plants. 2. Put a cup at the center; chop green leaves/plants around the hole. 3. Cover with clear plastic; seal edges with dirt/rocks. 4. Set a small stone in the CENTER of the plastic so it dips into a cone pointing at your cup. 5. Sun heats the ground; moisture evaporates, condenses on the plastic, runs down the cone, drips into the cup as pure distilled water. - A good still: ~0.5-1 L per hole per day. Build several. Add a pinch of salt for electrolytes. B) TRANSPIRATION BAG - Tie a clear plastic bag around a leafy, sunlit branch of a NON-toxic tree; seal tight. - Leaves 'sweat' water that condenses in the bag; tap and drink. ~1 cup per bag per day. C) DEW COLLECTION - Drag a clean cloth/T-shirt through grass at dawn; wring into a container. - Lay a clean tarp on grass overnight; wring it at dawn. D) FOG HARVESTING - Hang fine mesh or a tarp vertically; wind-blown fog condenses and drips to a trough at the bottom. Works in coastal/foggy zones. STEP 3 -- WHERE TO LOOK - Downhill; dry riverbeds (dig below the surface); the OUTSIDE bend of a dry stream; the foot of cliffs; animal tracks; low-flying birds at dusk usually head for water. STEP 4 -- PURIFY ANY STANDING WATER - FILTER through cloth/coffee filter/sand/charcoal to remove particles. - BOIL at a rolling bubble for at least 1 minute (3 min above 6,500 ft). - CHEMICAL: 2 drops household bleach per L of CLEAR water (8 if cloudy); wait 30 min. Or iodine/chlorine-dioxide tablets. - DISTILLATION (solar still) kills everything but strips minerals -- rehydrate slowly. STEP 5 -- STORE SAFELY - Clean, closed containers, out of sunlight; never store unpurified water (it grows bacteria). - Minimum: 1 gallon/person/day for drinking + hygiene (about 4 L absolute). DANGER - NEVER drink seawater, urine, or blood untreated -- they dehydrate you faster. - Melt snow/ice before drinking; eating it raw drops your core temp and burns energy. - Skip water that reeks or is colored -- chemical contamination can't be boiled out. - Practice building a solar still at home BEFORE an emergency; the field is not the place to learn.