Water is one of the most important things that we need to survive. When out in the wilderness, you will need water, and most of the time it is not clean. With that being a health hazard, here are some ways to purify the water:
1) Water purification tablets. With doing this, you would follow the directions on the package.
2) Boiling the water is one of the most safe ways to purify water. In a large pot or kettle, bring water to a boil. You should keep it there for one minute. Some of the supply will evaporate, so it is best if you do not leave it there for a long time. After the water is boiled, let the water cool to a temperature that would be comfortable for drinking. The boiled water will taste better if you re-oxygenate it by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers.
3) Using bleach is another effective way to clean the water. Use a regular, unscented variety that contains 5.25 to 6 percent sodium hypochlorite. Because of the fact that bleach will diminish once opened, buy a lot of small bottles. To treat the water, add 16 drops, or an eighth of a teaspoon, to a gallon of water. Stir it together and let it stand for 30 minutes. Ceramic filters provide good protection against bacteria, and they just require gravity.
There are many ways to purify water, and there are many things to beware of in the water. Here are some things to beware of:
1) Dysentery. This is a disease associated with severe, prolonged, bloody diarrhea, fevers, and weakness.
2) Cholera and typhoid. Cholera enters the body through the mouth from food and/or water. Heart failure could result with this. Typhoid comes into action through contaminated water. Symptoms of this includes headaches, nose-bleeds, and rashes. In the later stages, death may occur.
3) Flukes. If flukes is swallowed, they will bore into the bloodstream, live as parasites, and cause disease.
4) Leeches. If a leech is swallowed, it will hook onto the throat passage or inside the nose. With that being done, it will suck blood, creating a wound, and move to another area. Every time there is a bleeding wound, it may become infected.
With that being said, water purification is very important. Some side effects of non-purified water could be death.
To the left is water being boiled. This is one of the many ways to purify water.
This is a picture of a water filter. This is effective, but does not remove viruses.
This is a picture of a leech. Once the leech enters the system, it sucks blood, creates wounds, and repeats the process.
To the left is a picture of a fluke. This is one of the more dangerous viruses you can get by not purifying the water with bleach. The bleach kills all of the parasites.