In your long hiking or camping adventure, you can experience the scarcity of water! But what is the solution for this? The only solution is drinking water from the nearby water bodies! But is it safe? No, not at all! Drinking water from the water bodies is not healthy and hygienic, as it may contain many harmful viruses, bacteria, or parasites. So, you can’t just stop drinking water and die, can you? To solve this issue, what you can do is filter the water. See, how important it is to know how to filter water!
We will talk about 8 methods of filtering water in this article so that you can choose the easiest one for you.
Quick Overview
How to filter water while camping or hiking
Method 1: Drinking directly from the source:
Drinking from any water source is not safe. But, if your campsite has any mountain spring or waterfall, then it’s safe to drink from it.
Method 2: Boiling water:
One of the easiest methods being followed by different people over many years. This method can kill pathogens as the water boils for at least one minute.
Boil the water for at least three minutes to get effective results.
Method 3: Using a pump filter:
This filter is basically a pair of bags connected by a hose. Here the bag with the filter is filled with water and hung up in high place, like a tree, to let the water drain through the filter into the clean bag that is sitting in the ground.
Method 4: Chemical disinfection:
You can use different tablets to disinfect the water. Though they are slow but they are cheap and effective against some viruses and bacteria. You can two types of tablets:
1. Iodine tablet:
Left them for at least 30 minutes in the water.
2. Chlorine dioxide tablet:
Same way as iodine tablet, leave them for 30 minutes in the water.
Recommended: Portable sawyer mini water filter review.
Method 5: UV light treatment:
UV or ultraviolet light or lamp can kill bacteria and viruses. But it only works if the water is clear and light is applied for a long time. You can buy different UV lamps or light pens!
Method 6: Quick filtering using a cloth:
In this method, you can secure the mouth of a bottle or pot with a clean cloth and then pour water through that. This will remove visible debris from the water.
Method 7: Charcoal:
Charcoal makes an excellent filter. You can buy charcoal or make your own. Burn some wood completely and cover it with dirt and ashes and wait for a few hours. After a few hours, you will find some brand new DIY charcoal.
Process:
Keep two containers on top of one another. And make a small hole on the bottom of the top container to filter the water. Now take some charcoal and tightly pack them with a cloth. After that, put the charcoal packed cloth over the hole of the top container. Cover the charcoal with some pebbles, sand, and more cloth. And pour water on it and watch the water drip to the bottom container through the filter.
Method 8: Water filter:
You can also buy premade water filters specially made for camping, hiking, or backpacking. Among the water filter available in the market, LifeStraw and Sawyer are the best! They are very small, will easily fit in your palm, portable, and easy to use.
Did you find our article helpful? Let us know if we have missed anything! We love to hear from you!
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