Once you’ve identified a water source that isn’t contaminated with chemicals, you will need to purify it to make it safe for drinking.
Boiling
Bring water to boil and let it boil for one minute. This kills most pathogens and renders the water safe for drinking.
However, boiling water doesn’t remove offensive taste or debris, so having teabags or electrolyte flavor packets on hand can make it more palatable.
I keep a variety of tea bags in my bug-out-bag.
LifeStraw
This is a popular option among hikers and campers for its convenience, as you simply drink from a body of water through the device’s straw. The Lifestraw is compact and light, can be stored for long periods, and its microfilter lasts up to 1,000 gallons (3,785L).
GRAYL Bottles
GRAYL GeoPress bottles not only filter out all waterborne pathogens like bacteria, viruses and protozoans, but they also filter out many heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and microplastics. GRAYL utilizes active carbon to remove these contaminants from the water.
This is a more serious option to purify water for drinking but it is more expensive, slower (8 seconds to press a bottle), and each GeoPress filter is designed to last for about 350 cycles (65 gallons / 250L).
I keep both a LifeStraw and Grayl bottle in my bug-out-bag.
Chlorine Dioxide Water Treatment Solutions
When mixed together these water treatment solutions create chlorine dioxide which kills pathogens and makes water drinkable in emergency situations. About 5% of water treatment plants in the U.S. use Chlorine Dioxide as a disinfectant.
Once treated and sealed, water can be stored for five years.
This is a better option than bleach which, while effective, gives the water an unpleasant aftertaste.
Berkey Gravity Drop Water Filters
The Rolls Royce of water filtration systems, Berkey water filters are made of stainless steel and provide clean, great tasting water. Berkey purifiers are expensive, but each duo of installed filters provide up to 23,000 liters (over 6,000 gallons) of purified drinking water.
Berkey Black Filters are made from a proprietary carbon composite material and claim to remove 99.9% of harmful chemicals from drinking water and over 200 contaminants including chlorine, viruses, bacteria and heavy metals, while leaving essential minerals like magnesium and calcium.