When spending time in the outdoors, Tom Watson explains that it’s important to know where to find water, how to treat it and when to drink it.

“All day I’ve faced the barren waste without the taste of water, cool water.” ––Bob Nolan

Our body’s cells, tissue and organs rely on water to function. We expel water through our breath, perspiration, bowel movements and urine, helping rid our bodies of waste. Water also acts as a lubricant and cushion for our joints.

Those losses require us to replenish our body’s water supply throughout the day. For men, that typically requires about four quarts daily for routine activity, more for strenuous or climate-affecting factors. Women need slightly less, three quarts or more per day.

Time for a drink?

It’s important to keep adequately hydrated throughout the day, paying closer attention when you are active or your body is using water at a higher than normal rate. Besides exerting effort during activities, be mindful that illness (diarrhea, for example) can cause excessive water loss. Staying healthy is another way to stave off dehydration.

Exertion causing water loss often means loss of electrolytes, as well. It’s important to replenish these, too, most commonly by drinking a “sports” drink. Do not confuse these with “energy” drinks that do not replenish electrolytes, but instead offer an energy boost via sugars and caffeine.

The number one sign of dehydration

Besides feeling thirsty, a more serious indication of your level of dehydration is the color of your urine. Clear or light yellow is considered normal. When it starts to look like apple cider or darker, it’s time to rehydrate.

So, let’s get down to it. What are some water sources we should look for in an emergency or self-reliance situation?

The obvious ones are natural sources of fresh water: lakes, rivers, springs, rain. All of which—with the exception of spring water collected as close to its ground emergence as possible—should be treated before consuming.

Rainwater showering down from an open sky can be collected (bucket, plastic-lined depression, etc.) and consumed immediately. In dense forests, however, it’s not always safe to drink rainwater that’s washed down through the leaves and twigs of the canopy.

Fresh snow isn’t always pure, either. Still, it’s usually a reliable source of good water.

Any water source, no matter how clean you perceive it to be, is always safer if treated first—usually by boiling it after filtering out all the “floaties” you might find in it. Most biological micro-critters are killed at about 180 degrees, but how do you know when the water is at that temperature? Water boils at 212 degrees, so bringing the water to a rolling boil for several minutes is your best assurance that you’ve taken care of those biological contaminants.

Common methods for clean water

• Boiling – As mentioned, it’s a common way to kill off biological impurities.
• Filtering using nature – A rough method of removing larger fragments and particles is to pour water through some filtering material such as fine meshes or layers of cloth that will help strain out larger pieces. A sock filter is a handy method of straining out bits of debris down to tiny particles of dirt and other fragments using layers of grass, sand and charcoal. It will still be necessary to boil or chemically treat this filtered water.
• Filtering using an appliance – There are several filtering appliances on the market that are either pump-action devices that propel the tainted water through a micro filter or that require the user to draw water through an in-line filter. They can clog, so some pre-filtering may be necessary for them to treat water adequately.
• Condensation – A solar still produces water by using the sun to form water vapor that condenses on a sheet of plastic. Even better, simply wipe the dew off grass and foliage and ring the water-soaked cloth into a container. I filled a cup with water in about 30 seconds, wiping the dew off grass in my backyard.
• Chemicals – Several chemicals will usually kill the biological impurities found in water. Various disinfectant tablets are on the market. Iodine and chlorine (bleach) are two common household remedies, but they must be used carefully. Do your homework before using these. Typically, chemicals work better when the water is warmer. In the case of iodine and bleach, add it very slowly. Stop as soon as you detect even the slightest taste. That usually means you’ve added enough.
• Other methods – Commercial UV devices can be used to purify water. You can also fill a clear liter bottle with suspect water and expose it to the sun for at least a day (two days, if overcast).

A word of caution: If you treat water in the same bottle in which you collected it, make sure you rinse the outside rim and cap once that water is treated to wash away any contamination from before treatment.

Waste water parasites

Two common water-borne biological parasites are Giardia and Crytosporidium. They thrive in waters contaminated by animal feces. Sometimes fast-flowing waters carry these cysts along in the current. That fast-moving, bubbly water may not be as pure as you think it is.

Lastly, the ultimate decision may be to choose between getting sick for a while (usually in a week or two) by drinking untreated water or becoming seriously dehydrated and suffering a potentially more serious outcome.

To find out more about making the most of your time outdoors, read MidWest Outdoors, available at the newsstand or by subscribing on our website.