Wilderness Survival Priority 6: Drink water

Having safe drinking water is the sixth priority in any wilderness survival situation

Drink water. Lots of water. You can go days—even weeks—without food, but you will die within days without water.

Dehydration will also hasten many illnesses, and make it harder to function—and therefore to do what it takes to survive.

When doing strenuous activity, try to drink 6–8 liters (or quarts) of water per day, and a bare minimum of 4 liters (4 quarts) of water per day—much more if water supplies are plentiful.

If you are mostly sitting around, waiting to be rescued, 1–2 liters per day is sufficient—though more is always better.

How to drink water (seriously)

Ideally, don't wwait long stretches then guzzle and gulp; the water will just go right through you and you'll waste most of it by peeing.

Sip water continuously throughout the day so that you body has a chance to absorb it all.

If your urine is pale yellow, you're drinking enough. If it is dark yellow or gold and rather smelly, you are dehydrated.

Why do we treat water?

Untreated water can make you sick (think: explosive diarrhea). This is not a huge issue in the U.S. and Canada, but it can happen.

Here are the two water-borne illnesses you are most likely to catch (and before you think we are just being overly cautious, Reid has suffered both of them—admittedly the Crypto was from drinking untreated water in a small native village in Mexico, but there were extenuating circumstances that time):

• Giardiasis: diarrhea, gas, nausea, cramps. Appears in 1-2 wks, lasts 4-6 wks or longer. Needs hard-core antibiotics to kick.
• Cryptosporidiosis: diarrhea, loose stool, cramps, nausea, slight fever. Appears in 2-10 days; lasts 2 wks. No treatment.

There are three kinds of beasties that can make you sick: protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. You are most at risk from the protozoa (especially giardia), but luckily those are the largest and easiest to kill.

It is exceedingly rare to find viruses in U.S. water.

How to find water

Rule #1: Conserve sweat, not water. If you sweat 1/2-gallon obtaining 1 cup, you're worse off.

When looking for a good source of water in the wild:

• Always try to get the clearest water you can.
• Collect from slowly running water if possible (but not from rapids).
• Don’t use smelly water.

Finding visible water:

• Where to find water: Valley bottoms, the bases of rock cliffs, ends of animal paths.
• Streams. Again, running water better than still.
• Look for hollow stumps, large rocks with depressions.

Working for your water

• Bandana. Good for sopping up hard-to-reach water and for collecting dew.
• Dew: Collect dew in mornings. Tie bandanas to your ankle to walk through grasses. Wipe broad leaves. Wring directly into your mouth or into cup.
• Dig in a dry stream bed. Water will often still be flowing underneath the surface. Best bet: the outside edge of a sharp bend. Look for sandy part, dig (sometimes up to 6 feet).
• Tree branch still. Tie mouth of large plastic bag (preferably clear) around tree branch, as airtight as possible at the open end. Leave a small rock in it so that it pulls down one corner. You can poke a hole in the bottom to drain water, but it's re-useable if you build it with a siphon tube. It'll take a full, sunny day to get a cup of water.
• Solar still. Dig hole 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep in a sunny yet damp spot. Place leafy branches in it (crush the leaves a bit) and a collector at the bottom. Cover hole with plastic sheet. Tamp the plastic firmly down all around. Place rock in middle of sheet directly above collector so water will run down the depression and drip into the reservoir. This, too, is a slow process (a cup or so per day) but works even in semi-deserts.
  
• Finding water in vegetation works mainly in jungles (banana trees) and dry environments where certain plants (cacti) harbor water. Just chop it about 2 feet from the ground and, if necessary, hollow a bowl into the stump to collect water as it seeps up. Our deciduous forests, though, aren't too good for that sort of thing.
• Some food (most fruits, many vegetables) are rich in water and can help keep you hydrated. Fish flesh, too, though it's high in protein (which requires more personal hydration), so it's best to wring the raw flesh inside a cloth, then wring the cloth out.
  
• Extreme situations: The ocular cavity of a freshly killed fish is filled with desalinated water. Catch a fish, poke out its eye, and suck it dry. (You can also crack the spine and suck the bit of water stored in the vertebrae, but you get very little—and that's almost as disgusting as the eye thing.)

How to treat water

Treat all water that doesn't come from a tap by filtering it (which takes care of larger beasties, like protozoa and bacteria) or by purifying it by using a sterlizier bottle, iodine or cholrine tablets, or a UV sterilizer like a SteriPen (all of which are chemical processes that also get tiny viruses).

There are actually four main methods of removing harmful microorganisms from water:

• Heat
• Chemicals/Electrolysis
• Filtration
• Radiation

For backpacking in the U.S. with a group, the easiest method is to just use a filter. You don't need the extra protection of sterilization. (Old school tablets—iodine or cholrine—work great, but with the big drawback that you have to wait at least 30 minutes—and preferably 4 hours—before drinking.)

For solo travel and international travel, a sterlizier bottle or UV pen is easiest and best.

Here are the pros, cons, and details on each method of water treatment and what they kill.

Related pages

• The 7 wilderness survival priorities
• Wilderness first aid
• The 10 essentials
• Packing lists
• Leave No Trace principals
• Useful links (including where to get gear)
• Troop calendar (upcoming trips)
• The trips program