Finding Water in the Wilderness

Water is one of the basic human needs.  You won't last long without it.  In a survival situation your first priority will probably be shelter .  You can survive only about 3 hours in adverse weather conditions before you succumb to exposure.  In hot times, you need to seek shade.  In colder or wetter times, you'll need shelter to conserve body heat.  Generally you can live about 3 days without water, although some people have survived longer than that and in high temperatures and low humidty or lots of physical activity or if you are one of those people who perspire a lot you won't survive as long.  Thus, finding water will be near the top of the list if you are in a moderate climate that doesn't require immediate shelter or after you've taken care of your shelter needs.

In forest and mountain areas you may be able to find natural sources of water:  springs, streams, ponds, lakes, snow and ice.  However, even water that looks clean is often contaminated with biological or toxic substances that could kill you faster than dehydration.  It is best to boil water from natural sources before drinking it or using it to cleanse wounds.  There is some argument about how long you need to boil it to kill germs, but the general thinking now is that you only need to bring it to a boil.  Note:  boiling does NOT remove toxins!  If the water is contaminated with toxic chemicals, like arsenic near or downstream from old mining and smelting sites, it would still be dangerous after boiling.  In fact, boiling may concentrate chemicals as clean water is converted to steam.  Removal of toxins might require special filters or chemicals that would neutralize the bad stuff, neither of which you're likely to be carrying  around with you in a survival situation.  Some filtered water bottles are capable of removing at least some toxins.  Mountain tops often retain patches of snow or ice long into the summer months and these can be a possible source of water.  Clean snow is usually pretty safe but it may still be contaminated.  To be absolutely sure it is biologically pure, melt the snow and boil the water and let it cool before drinking it.  One way of getting really pure water is to capture steam from boiling water and condense it back to liquid.  You can get small amounts by soaking up the steam in a bandanna, letting it cool enough to condense the steam, then squeezing out the water for drinking.  For larger quantities you will need some kind of still where you can boil water and capture and condense the steam.  An easy way to turn small amounts of contaminated water, antifreeze, or even urine into fresh water is via a solar still.  Dig a small hole in the ground and place a cup or other container in the center of the hole.  Pour the water you need to purify around the cup.  Cover the hole with plastic, securing the edges tightly with stones, dirt or other heavy objects.  Place small rock or other object in the center of the plastic directly over the cup so it pulls the plastic down in the middle.  As solar heat evaporates the water in the hole it will condense on the inside of the plastic, run down towards the rock in the  center, and drip into the cup.

Rain and snow are usually thought be "pure" and, usually, they are safe for a drinking water source.   However, if you consider that rain drops first begin to form around dust particles in the air you can see that even fresh rain contains some contaminants.  Rain from areas with high air pollution can be even worse, even to the point of becoming "acid rain".  In a wilderness survival situation it is likely using rain or clean snow to stay hydrated will be pretty safe, unless the rain tastes really bad -- or the snow is yellow.  Unlike sno-cones, yellow snow in nature probably won't be lemon or beer flavored!

In dryer environments, like deserts, finding water is much more difficult.   On rare occasions you might find an oasis with a spring or a stream.   Even if the stream appears dry there might still be some water in the ground, especially under rocks or overhanging banks.  The most likely place to find residual water is along the outside bank of curves in the stream.  To find possible stream beds in the desert look for patches or strips of green vegetation or watch animals and insects that might lead you to their sources of water.. You might get water from desert plants like cactus and prickly pear.  The juice from these plants may not be very palatable, but it might give you enough moisture to extend your survival time.  Don't use it if the liquid is milky or smells bad or tastes bitter as that usually indicates it is poisonous.  Even if it isn't poisonous, you may loose more of your precious body fluids by throwing up than you gain from trying drink nasty tasting stuff.  Prickly pear is a safe source of both water and nutrition.   Even vegetation that appears dry will  have some moisture in it if it is still alive.  Sometimes you can extract water from plants using a kind of solar still.  Wrap a section of the growing plant in plastic, sealing it as well as you can.  The heat from the sun should evaporate water from the plant.  When the plastic cools (usually at night), the moisture inside the plastic will condense on the inside surface and you can collect a small amount of water for drinking or medical uses.  Water collected in this manner does not have to be boiled.  You can also use a solar still (as described above)  to reclaim your own urine and extract drinkable water from vehicle coolant (most radiator fluid is 50% water).  Dig a small hole and place a cup in the bottom.  Soak the area around the cup with urine or radiator fluid.  Cover the pit with plastic and place a small stone in the middle so it forms a dent in the plastic directly over the cup.  As solar heat evaporates the liquid in the pit, it will condense on the plastic and drip into the cup.  Blood from animals you get for food might also be put into the pit.  Since most animal blood, including human, is quite salty, it is unlikely you'll get any hydration benefits from drinking the blood directly, but the water that evaporates from it in the pit would be usable.  A downside of putting blood into the pit is that it may attract varmints or may introduce a nasty smell as it decomposes.  Despite how dry things may seem, there may be some moisture in the air that will condense into dew at night.  Look to soak up dew from the leaves of plants or turn over a rock so the moisture can condense on the freshly exposed cooler underside.  Soak up the dew with a handkerchief  or other article of clothing and wring it out into a container or directly into your mouth.

Drink up!