Hello, ive been browsing this site for a while now.
Always been vegetarian since I was younger and this year began a vegan/raw transition to improve my heath and well being.
Anyways, I've been camped out by this stream for almost a month now (I'm homeless) and the water is crystal clear. I'm sure its rainwater coming down the hill. I've drank from it a few times as I can't always buy water, I get almost 6$ a day for food.
I would love to be able to drink this water.
I know I could boil it, but won't that take out minerals and such that your body needs?
I'm not sure..
What do you suggest is the best thing to do to make it safe to drink?
Thanks for your help!!
Replies
Thank you very much for your replies.
I just wanted to double check because i've heard a lot of mixed views on what kind of water you should drink.
Filter the water through a cloth first if it has sediment in it otherwise just put the water in glass bottles and lay the bottles in full sunlight...
This was very helpful, and i'm going to try it once I get some mason jars. I know that the sun will rid it of bacteria.. But I definitely wouldn't want to do that in plastic bottles. With all the rainy overcast weather lately I should probably lay out there for a few days
No def not plastic! Good luck Nicole! Vegan <3 to ya x
Distilling is best, you don't need minerals in your water, you take in minerals through food.
But if you're homeless i don't know unless you can acquire a pan and a stainless or even copper spiral tube, or whatever. anyway the idea is to boil the water and cool down the vapor so it turns into water again and capture that.
Boiling water won't really change the mineral content of water. If you boiled a rock, it wouldn't suddenly disappear from the pot...
Concerns with stream water would be organisms (viruses and bacteria) and chemicals. Boiling can take care of most, not all, of the organisms but if there's heavy metal poisoning or such, you'll still be in for a bad time. There's nothing you can reasonably do to purify water with chemical contaminants so trace the source back as best you can to be sure it's safe. Avoiding drinking from standing/still water always. After that boil it, use a little iodine if you're worried, or try to get a filter such as a Lifestraw.
I have never heard of a Lifestraw, I just looked it up. Awesome. This would really come in handy with my travels. I plan on getting one eventually. Thank you very much!
We live in Auckland, New Zealand - thankfully we can drink it straight from the tap.....though we use glasses!