Question About Water

[Guest Victor9er]

OK, so I know the rule of thumb for any BOB or disaster storage is to have 1 liter of water per person per day. But here's my question... A lot of the "survival" meals that people include are freeze dried packs that require... yep, you guessed it... WATER... in order to be cooked. So does the 1 liter per person per day include the water you'll need to prepare your meals? Or do you need to include additional water if you plan on eating anything aside from nutrition bars?

The reason I ask is because I never see anyone mention this in any article or discussion. Everyone says to carry (for example) 3 liters of water in your 3-day pack plus some freeze dried meals. Well if you have to use your water to prepare your meals, won't you run out of water pretty quickly? How much "extra" water should people plan on packing?

Thanks.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Victor9er

[Jonnin]

A liter to drink, a bit more to wash (you dont want to get sick when the hospitals are out of reach!) and cook and such. Also a liter of water a day won't cut it this month if you are active (backpacking outta town thru the woods in 100 degree weather???). A liter might cut it for a guy in shape and used to the heat, but a normal guy who is neither a jock nor construction worker or the like, put out in that heat with minimal water is gonna be hurtin.

You cannot have too much clean usable water. Period. Take that one to the bank, and adjust your bag accordingly --- its heavy, so you have limits on what you can carry, but its literally something you cannot live without for long.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Jonnin

[Guest bkelm18]

Pack a water filter or some form of purification. I do when I'm hiking. I can easily go through 3 liters of water in a matter of hours.

Edited July 19, 2012 by bkelm18

[E4 No More]

Without exertion you need 2 liters of water a day to replace loss. More in the summer heat or heavy exertion That can be from drink or what's in your food. Alcohol binds to water, so it more if you are consuming alcohol.

[Jonnin]

Absolutely a purification system should be in there. I personally carry about 400 pounds of evaporated water too.

[peejman]

I've always heard 1 gallon per person per day.... that's 4 liters. You might be able to survive on 1 liter per day short term, but that'd be the bare minimum and certainly not when it's hot. If you've got other forms of food with a reasonably high moisture content, you can get a significant amount of water that way too. If you're using your water supply to rehydrate food, I think 1 liter would be gone in a blink. Water isn't real hard to find and a purification system is a must.

Edited July 19, 2012 by peejman

[Caster]

Absolutely a purification system should be in there. I personally carry about 400 pounds of evaporated water too.

I bought some dehydrated water, but I didn't know what to add.

[wewoapsiak]

I bought some dehydrated water, but I didn't know what to add.

One part dihydrogen monoxide per one part dehydrated water

Sent from my LG-P999 using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2

[Guest bkelm18]

One part dihydrogen monoxide per one part dehydrated water

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Careful, it's toxic in large quantities.

[Caster]

Careful, it's toxic in large quantities.

Just thin it down with some scotch.

[Guest bkelm18]

Just thin it down with some scotch.

Also toxic, but much more delicious.

[peejman]

One part dihydrogen monoxide per one part dehydrated water

Sent from my LG-P999 using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2

Hydrogen hydroxide works just as well, but it's cheaper.

[Dolomite_supafly]

And if you break down the dihydrogen monoxide down to basic components it will burn. So you can also have a means to start a fire handy.

Dolomite

[Caster]

So whats a really good water purifier that'll fit in my day pack?

[Guest bkelm18]

So whats a really good water purifier that'll fit in my day pack?

I personally use a Katadyn Hiker Pro. Probably not the best but I like it. An eye dropper with bleach works as well. A drop or two per liter or something like that.

[Guest BungieCord]

Never ration water, always ration workload instead. If the situation is so dire as to compel you to bug out, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion you're going to have to take extraordinary steps to remain alive. It's going to be hard to take those extraordinary steps if you're rationing workload because you're low on water.

Figure a gallon per person per sedentary day, two per bugout day. Which is another reason I favor 7-gallon Aqua Tainers. I figure one per person per three days.

At eight pounds per gallon, if it were any larger, full, it would be approaching the limits of the ability of a healthy normal woman to pick up and put into the trunk of her car. Also doubles as a long-term storage container. $20 at Wally World.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Get one of the Berkey filters.

They are considered the best standard filter.

The Sport is reasonably priced but the Go Berkey will last a lifetime if not longer. We bought a Big Berkey earlier this year and it is the best money we have ever spent. ANd it is still small enough to be able to take it with us.

Dolomite

[Guest Victor9er]

Thanks guys! Lots of good info in here!

[Mark A]

Recent Berkey adoptee here. I already drank a lot of water but that is almost all we drink now. We have a big berkey that we could toss in the truck if needed. I bought the sport bottle to keep in my pack in the truck. It would be a hassle to deal with for more than one person but it could be done.

Now that we see how much we like the berkey I think I will save up and buy the go model as well. If nothing else we can use it in the camper.

One thing I like about the berkey filters is if there were no other option you could carry one of the filters and turn just about any container that you can poke a hole in into a filtration system.

Mark

[whiskey]

hen it's not hot, 1.5 to 2 liters per day will suffice for most folks, but just for drinking. When it is hot, some may need as much as a liter an hour. I use a homemade Sawyer gravity/squeeze filter set up. If you check out some of the videos on youtube, you will see the versatility and ease of use of these filters. The pump filters work good too. I like the sawyer because I don't have to pump, and it doesn't have a pump that can break.

[Guest brentt]

i did a bit of research and was wanting a good lightweight filter to carry in my bag. one that requires no power source. I saw the Lifestraw which I realy liked. Lasts for about 250 gallons of water. I ended up getting the Aquamira Frontier pro. Doesnt last as long, only 50 gallons, but the reason I chose it is because you can screw it on any standard bottle thread like a 2 liter bottle or water bladders. you can also screw it to a bottle and hang it upside down to gravity feed the water through it if you had to. So I keep a 2 liter bottle in my bug out bag ,which fits perfect in one of the front pockets of my alice pack, just in case I dont have time to boil water. Both of these filters costs under 25 bucks.

[whiskey]

For a bugout bag water bottle option, check out this one:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sawyer-Inline-Water-Filter-with-34-Ounce-Bottle/8283710?findingMethod=rr

Fill it up, drink and this is rated at 500 gallons. You can also backflush it. It's made the same as filter they offer a 1 million gallon guarantee on, so your probably good for way more than 500 gallons.

[buck1032]

Every one please keep in mind most of the "filters" will filter out bacteria but not viruses. Please read the directions on what ever you have and adjust accordingly to your needs.

As a side note, someone mentioned bleach. Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is a good, tried and true method if used correctly with good bleach. Not the lemon scented or gel bleaches, http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oemergencypurifycalc.html is link to a page that tells about water purification with bleach.

[subsonic]

There are ways to cultivate water, ie: condensation stills. Drape plastic sheeting over plants and have a collection pan at ground level. Not a great method if you're on the move, but worth it if you're stationary.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Every one please keep in mind most of the "filters" will filter out bacteria but not viruses. Please read the directions on what ever you have and adjust accordingly to your needs.

As a side note, someone mentioned bleach. Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is a good, tried and true method if used correctly with good bleach. Not the lemon scented or gel bleaches, http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oemergencypurifycalc.html is link to a page that tells about water purification with bleach.

That is why I like the Berkey. The black filters, which are standard, exceed the standards for virus removal.

Even a single black filter will outlast most people. A dangle filter is rated for 3,000 gallons and can be cleaned and renewed at least 100 times. That gives you 300,000 gallons or over 250 years if you filter 3 gallons a day.

Even with dirty or turbid water it should last years.

Dolomite