Survival Water

While you can go several weeks without eating, you can only go about three days without water. This means that by day two and through day three you will be dying of dehydration. Survival water means that you need to keep drinking to stay effective and survive. The average person needs one to two gallons per day to stay healthy. Survival Water Techniques:

Water purification tablets can be purchase at an army surplus store and on the Internet. These tablets can be added to water to make it drinkable.
Water purification systems or filters both home units portable. Ensure filters are long lasting and the system will keep up with the number of people in your family.
When all else fails you can boil water to make it safer. Water should always be collected from moving sources and you should steer clear of standing water. Even the clearest of mountain streams carries parasites so do not drink the water without purifying or boiling it first.
Another source of water is dew that condenses on plants. You can use a rag to collect the water and then ring it into your mouth or suck it out of the rag. When you venture out make sure you carry plastic bags with you. You can place these over leaves with one end lower than the other and tied off; you can collect potable water this way.
Never eat snow unless you have a way to melt it. Eating snow can lower your body temperature and put you at even greater danger for hypothermia.

Decide on the type(s) you will use and add them to your Survival kit. When you are trying to survive for long periods of time in a home and the public utilities have been shut off, you will need to find a more permanent source of water such as rainwater harvesting. You can collect rain water on your roof with a large container or collect it in your yard with a rain barrel. It is a good idea to purchase a rain barrel before disaster strikes as you will be hard pressed to find one after disaster, then you’ll have to wait and hope for rain. Hopefully you will never need it and you can just use the water for plants and other outdoor tasks.

There are things that you should remember to never do when it comes to drinking water.

Never drink from storm drains or sewers.
Never eat snow or drink even the clearest water without treating it.
Never eat food unless you have enough water because this can dehydrate you severely.
Getting water from plants may seem like a good idea, but avoid this if at all possible. Most plants have look-a-likes that are poisonous. Imagine having poison ivy in the back of your throat. Also, plants grown in soil close to urban areas or farms may have contaminates in them.

Getting enough water is essential to survival and cannot be rationed with the same scarcity as food. If you have water you need to drink it. Many stranded hikers have died of dehydration with water still in their canteens. However, don't add to a bad situation by drinking contaminated water; see our full discussion on this on our waterborne illnesses page. Survival water will be one of your top priorities if not the top, depending on the situation.

One last note; it was mentioned earlier that you should put your rain collector on your roof or in your yard. The roof is always a better option if you have a place to put it up there. In a disaster there will always be people who will take from those who have prepared because they have not. Having your collected rain water on your roof offers you some protection from looters and thieves.

carrying water