Water Purification

How to clarify water from nature

When you run out of clean water outdoors and don't have a professional water filtration system or chemical tablets or powders or water disinfecting liquids with you, you can use an alternative method with a few tools:

It's best to rely on a self-made water filter, which consists of several layers. For this, you mainly need grass, sand (clean everything as well as possible beforehand) and coal. Ideal is of course a coffee filter that you should always have with you in an emergency due to its lightness, because it is very versatile in use. Otherwise, you can also cut a plastic bottle, holes must be made below through which the filtered water then runs.

In the lowest level of the filter should be the coffee filter, or alternatively also grass and leaves, ideally still straw, should be. Then a layer of sand or earth comes. Then comes a layer of crushed coal (the coal should be crushed to a powder as much as possible). Now another layer of sand or earth should be added, after which it should be sealed again with a coffee filter or grass.

After filtering, the water should still be boiled to be on the safe side. During filtering, only the coarsest impurities are filtered out, but there is no disinfection. One last recommendation: Flowing water should always be preferred to standing water.

What substances can contaminate water?

There are three groups of contaminants: organisms, chemicals, and suspended matter. In the worst case, four groups of organisms can occur in the water: multicellular, unicellular, bacteria and viruses.

Boiling

removes neither suspended matter nor chemicals. However, unicellular, multicellular, bacteria and viruses are reliably killed by boiling. The water should be boiled properly for at least 10 minutes. The necessary residue for water cleaning/filtration can be read in our expert tip above.

Germ-free water - what methods are there?

Water disinfection by boiling: Let water boil for at least 10 minutes and you're (in principle) ready to drink water. Advantages: No chemicals needed, no additional equipment, cost-effective and very reliable with appropriate cooking time. Disadvantages: Fuel is necessary, the boiling point of water decreases with increasing altitude - however, the cooking time increases, taste and odor of water are not improved, chemical substances may remain in the water.

Chemical Water Disinfection:

In this process, pathogens in the water are killed by adding drops, powder or tablets in a chemical way. Advantages: Extremely easy and quick to accomplish without much effort, low packing volume, permanent preservation, disinfection of large quantities of water at once possible. Disadvantages: Taste and odor of water may be affected, high costs per disinfected liter of drinking water, long effective times of over 30 minutes, chemical substances may remain in the water.

Mechanical Water Disinfection:

Depending on the filter used, bacteria, viruses and protozoa are filtered out of the water. Some water filters also have activated carbon elements for taste neutralization. Advantages: Reliable disinfection, no fuel needed, durable, with activated carbon filter taste and odor improvement, filters partly even chemicals, water can be drunk immediately. Disadvantages: Additional weight and packing volume, high purchase price, filter elements can clog and frequent cleaning may be necessary, pumping can be strenuous.

Which water filters are used in 7 vs Wild?

In the gripping survival series 7 vs Wild, water purification plays a crucial role in the participants' survival. The water filters used are specifically designed to obtain drinkable water from natural water sources. To discover exactly which water filters are used in 7 vs Wild, you can visit the ASMC - 7 vs Wild page. There you will find a carefully selected collection of water filters that are not only used in the series but also recommended by outdoor enthusiasts and survival experts. These products provide reliable solutions for clean drinking water in any wilderness situation, just as demonstrated in the series.