💧 Water outdoors
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No river, unchecked spring or rainwater is safe without treatment, however clean it looks.
Open the guide in the app (works offline)Step by step
- Take water from flowing streams, away from villages, farms, paths and livestock.
- If it's cloudy, let it settle and strain it through a cloth before treating it.
- Treat it: boil for 1 minute (3 above 2,000 m / 6,500 ft), suitable bleach (2 drops per liter and 30 minutes), tablets or a filter (and, if the filter doesn't remove viruses, chlorine too).
- Collecting dew or rain with a clean tarp gives little water, but it's usually good quality: treat it anyway.
Safety
- Never drink seawater or urine: they dehydrate you further.
- Water contaminated with diesel or chemicals can't be fixed by boiling.
Source: CDC and EPA (water disinfection)