How to purify and disinfect water in the forest without a pot or flask
The fact that water disinfection is solved by boiling is a long-known fact. If you have a pot or a metal flask, anyone can cope with this task. If there is no container suitable for installation on the fire, then prepare the water for consumption using perhaps more complex extreme methods.
Any water from a land source needs to be disinfected. You can drink it raw, and not always, you can only drink water from a spring gushing out from under the ground, which has just come to the surface. As for water from above-ground sources, it should be flowing and as transparent as possible.
Muddy water in a stagnant swamp is unsuitable because, in addition to microorganisms that die during boiling, it contains rotting products that will not go anywhere.
Sediments can also be used. Rainwater and snow are relatively clean compared to land-based sources. In critical situations they can be consumed without disinfection. It is advisable to collect snow from branches where it is definitely not in contact with animals.
If you have a plastic bottle, you can boil directly in it. To do this, it is completely filled with water. For heating, 2 small pits are dug on the hill, so that one is higher than the second. Then they are connected to each other by a tunnel. A fire is built in the upper pit, the air for which is supplied through the lower one.
Place a full bottle without an air bubble with the lid loosely closed over the fire. The cork should be on a raised surface. It must be covered with soil so that it does not come into contact with an open flame. Thanks to the water, the bottle itself will not be able to melt, although it will turn black on top.
If you don’t even have a bottle, you can make a container from birch bark. To do this, the bark is cut and torn off.
Then the corners of the birch bark are folded inward and fixed with splits from living young branches. The result is a cauldron. The box should be folded with the white side inward, so the water will give off less tar. Then spacers are placed on the splits so that the container holds its shape.
A small trench is dug for boiling. 2 sticks of living wood of sufficient thickness are laid across it so that they do not have time to burn out. A fire is built under the crossbars, and a birch bark container with water is placed on top. Next, you just need to make sure that the fire does not catch the edges of the bark, as they can catch fire.
If the water is dirty, it needs to be filtered before boiling. For this you need a funnel. You can use a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off or roll birch bark. The birch bark funnel is fixed with a pointed stick.
The lower quarter of the funnel is tightly packed with the green part of the moss. Then the cooled coals from the fire are poured into two quarters. It is important to grind them as much as possible, almost into powder.The upper part is covered with moss, after which the funnel is suspended and water is poured in to rinse the filter.
After decanting about a glass of washing liquid from the filter, you can filter it for consumption. This water will be much cleaner, but it still needs to be boiled.
For this method, you need to tightly roll the fabric into a sausage, wet it and lower one end of it into a container of water. A collection is placed under the hanging edge. It is placed below a container of cloudy water. The dirty liquid will saturate the fabric, rise along it and flow into the collection tank. In this case, the dirt will remain in place. This method cleans well, but is worse than coal. Filtration by cloth occurs slowly. To collect water for one person, you can use a rolled-up T-shirt. Next, the water is boiled.
What kind of water can be taken for boiling and what not?
Any water from a land source needs to be disinfected. You can drink it raw, and not always, you can only drink water from a spring gushing out from under the ground, which has just come to the surface. As for water from above-ground sources, it should be flowing and as transparent as possible.
Muddy water in a stagnant swamp is unsuitable because, in addition to microorganisms that die during boiling, it contains rotting products that will not go anywhere.
Sediments can also be used. Rainwater and snow are relatively clean compared to land-based sources. In critical situations they can be consumed without disinfection. It is advisable to collect snow from branches where it is definitely not in contact with animals.
Boiling in a plastic bottle
If you have a plastic bottle, you can boil directly in it. To do this, it is completely filled with water. For heating, 2 small pits are dug on the hill, so that one is higher than the second. Then they are connected to each other by a tunnel. A fire is built in the upper pit, the air for which is supplied through the lower one.
Place a full bottle without an air bubble with the lid loosely closed over the fire. The cork should be on a raised surface. It must be covered with soil so that it does not come into contact with an open flame. Thanks to the water, the bottle itself will not be able to melt, although it will turn black on top.
Boiling in birch bark
If you don’t even have a bottle, you can make a container from birch bark. To do this, the bark is cut and torn off.
Then the corners of the birch bark are folded inward and fixed with splits from living young branches. The result is a cauldron. The box should be folded with the white side inward, so the water will give off less tar. Then spacers are placed on the splits so that the container holds its shape.
A small trench is dug for boiling. 2 sticks of living wood of sufficient thickness are laid across it so that they do not have time to burn out. A fire is built under the crossbars, and a birch bark container with water is placed on top. Next, you just need to make sure that the fire does not catch the edges of the bark, as they can catch fire.
Carbon filtration
If the water is dirty, it needs to be filtered before boiling. For this you need a funnel. You can use a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off or roll birch bark. The birch bark funnel is fixed with a pointed stick.
The lower quarter of the funnel is tightly packed with the green part of the moss. Then the cooled coals from the fire are poured into two quarters. It is important to grind them as much as possible, almost into powder.The upper part is covered with moss, after which the funnel is suspended and water is poured in to rinse the filter.
After decanting about a glass of washing liquid from the filter, you can filter it for consumption. This water will be much cleaner, but it still needs to be boiled.
Fabric filtration
For this method, you need to tightly roll the fabric into a sausage, wet it and lower one end of it into a container of water. A collection is placed under the hanging edge. It is placed below a container of cloudy water. The dirty liquid will saturate the fabric, rise along it and flow into the collection tank. In this case, the dirt will remain in place. This method cleans well, but is worse than coal. Filtration by cloth occurs slowly. To collect water for one person, you can use a rolled-up T-shirt. Next, the water is boiled.
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