Survival Tips: How to Find drinking Water

Humans can survive almost a week without food, but 72 hours without water leaves a human knocking on death’s door. Water is key to survival in any disaster scenario, and it should come before everything else. Water makes up about 60% of your body, flushes toxins out of your body, and brings nutrients to your cells.

The symptoms of dehydration begin 24 hours after no water. You may feel tired, lightheaded, or have dizziness. So, your first order of business is to secure water for yourself, but not all water is safe to drink. There are ways to take unsafe water and make it safe to drink.

Chemical Purification

So, you find a stream and you aren’t sure if it is safe to drink. There are three choices for chemical purification.

1. Tablets
2. Iodine
3. Chlorine Bleach

   

It is a smart idea to keep one or two of these options in your survival bag. However, using chemical purifiying choices means you have to find water at all. You also could boil water if you don’t have chemical choices. Build a fire and boil the water, but you need a container in which you can boil water.

Luckily, these items are cheap and easy to find. Any big boxed store, like Wal-Mart, sells water purification tablets or iodine. Keep some in your bug out bag or car.

But what if you can’t find water at all?

Make a Solar Still

If there is no water available, some might suggest you drink your urine. The idea is repulsive for most people, and it is full of toxins. You need water to flush out the toxins; you don’t want to add more into your system. There are ways to distill your urine to make it safe for drinking, or use it for unsafe water.

1- Dig a hole in a sunny spot. It doesn’t have to be deep or too wide, and you can dig it with your hands.

2- Saturate the hole with the unsafe water or your urine.

3- Place a receptacle, such as a plastic bottle, on top of the saturation.

4- Cover with plastic. It is always smart to carry a garbage bag or some form of plastic with you for a survival scenario. Even a shopping bag works! Put the plastic over the top of the hole, covering the receptacle but not disturbing it. Make a V into the bottle by poking your finger on the plastic. Make sure to weight it down with the dirt or rocks.

The goal is to create a bunch of heat under the plastic and cause the unsafe water to start to evaporate, but the plastic holds it in. The V will cause the evaporation to drip into the receptcle, and it will be safe drinking water.

Making a solar still works for your urine or the unsafe drinking water you find randomly. Remember that water is the key to survival, so don’t wait for dehydration to start. Look for water immediately, which gives you ample time to get prepared.