Boil your water, then after it cools run it through a charcoal and/or osmosis filter. Even then, it's still not great. Commercial/community water treatment isn't some silly little optional process.
this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2025
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Get a water filter that’s designed for camping. The two varieties I’ve seen are either a hand pump or using gravity to force the water through a ceramic filter. Try to pick water that is relatively clean looking (not obviously murky, and it helps to pick flowing water).
Best tasting water I’ve ever had and you won’t get giardia (the most common cause of diarrhea symptoms described above).
I tried a hand pump while camping and never used it again. The tannins in the water (decayed plant matter secretion) isn't captured by the filter and hit me pretty hard.
The biggest risk out in the woods is microorganisms. If you boil it or use a well designed filter you are likely going to be fine if you're drinking otherwise clear water.
I wouldn't just filter the water from the Hudson river and go to town, but if it's 10 miles to the nearest road I think you're probably doing better than your tap
Yet.
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I feel like boiling PLUS the Brita would be a pretty solid combo. Boil to kill everything then Brita to remove the remaining inert sediment. I can't think of any metals or anything that there would be enough of in river water to hurt you after you've killed anything that was alive.
I can't think of any metals or anything that there would be enough of in river water to hurt you
We're talking about rivers like the one in Cleveland that they caught on fire?
Twice?!
IDK what's in that but I'll leave my cup for you haha
It happened 13 times. But not since 1969. The Cuyahoga is now a shining example of environmental restoration with even the most polluted sections meeting the standards of the water quality act.
"we must make america great again. The woke mob has stolen our beautiful burning rivers. We aim to bring them back bigger and better!"
US right wingers when the invisible hand of the free markets somehow fails to un-pollute their rivers:
Cuyahoga is also a great track on REM’s album “Life’s Rich Pagent”
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everything has outliers
Yes, this is what I was told in a survival course (as a company team building). You have to filter out large particles, even a few layers of cloths is enough. Then you boil it to get rid of bacteria or other problematic stuff.
Wouldn't boiling first be better so you don't end up with a bacteria colony in your filter?
My mostly on my gut feeling based counter argument would be:
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So what? You are cooking the water afterwards cross-contamination between water samples isn't a huge deal. Additionally, Filters (especially things like cloth) are cleanable and potentially sterilisable via cooking.
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cooking is a violent process, grinding down particles, lessening the effectiveness of the filter. So you are potentially worse off, for no real gain.
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You can't always cook. Sometimes you have to sterilise water another way. E.g. via exposure to as much UV/Sunlight as possible. Particles in the water lessen the effect or prevent this from happening
Boiling isn't necessary. They make antimicrobial tablets you can add as well. We used them when I was on a 2 week backpacking trip and basically just used a bandana folded over 4 times for sediment, fill at the top of the water with the neck facing downstream, and then add a disinfectant tab and let it sit for however long it says. It tasted a bit like pool water if you drank it immediately, but if you filled all your bottles at once, they usually didn't taste very chlorinated and it was pretty amazing water.
I mean, everything that kills the bad stuff works. If you had a strong portable radioactivity source, that would probably work just fine, too. Sadly, the people at the airport don't like it when I bring my enriched uranium to the camping vacation.
Jokes aside, I would say that chlorine tabs are nice for an emergency, but for a planned trip I'd assume I'd have access to heat anyway. Or, just bring a filter.
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I had a similar experience at a pseudo pagan ritual/drum thing/moonlit naked dance thing. They'd stocked the sweat lodge with several bottles of water. Some for drinking and others full of river water for tossing on the stones. I failed to correctly identify them in the dark and was very sick as a result.
Editted for spelling
$ sudo pagan ritual
sudo: pagan: command not found
PS: I am appropriately sad that I am a person that knows linux and not a person that visits moonlit naked dancing rituals. Meh, you can't have it all.
You forgot the path "ritual/drum thing/moonlit".
You can. The group was a mix of crusties, hippies and nerds. Plenty of Linux users among them. Myself included.
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It's a common error. You have to spell it like daemon:
$ sudo paegan ritual
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Welcome to giardia or whatever other parasites and bacteria are in natural water sources.
Pretty much all natural surface water, no matter the source, is gonna have stuff in it that can make you sick. Maybe some cramps and diarrhea, some potentially lethal. Any time you drink untreated water it’s a risk no matter the “bro science” about how some is “safe”. Even glacial water has bacteria in it. Just some sources the concentration of bad stuff is going to be low enough that your body can hopefully deal with it without you becoming symptomatic.
Use proper filters and treatments designed for biologically contaminated water, or filter and boil your water before consuming. Stay safe out there!
IDK why, but your comment made me think of a really awful business idea... Immunity building microdose water. Basically you sell and advertise water that has a few parts per billion bacteria to build your immune system.
Will you get sick, maybe? Do we accept any liability... no it says so right on the bottle.
2% milk
Drink of that with a few bites of Crunchy Frog candy.
Delectable.
How come animals are fine drinking it? And what about pre industrial people? Was everyone just always sick?
Plenty of animals are riddled with parasites, and early humans absolutely got sick. Think of all the cholera epidemics even in recent history. I’m sure some animals get sick but I’d bet their stomachs are a far harsher environment for bacteria and parasites to survive so it’s less likely for them to be ill.
Honesty didn't expect the answer to be "yeah they are just sick all the time lmao"
If parasites weren't an effective life strategy, there wouldn't be parasites in the world
We went on a vacay when I was maybe twelve. Canada and Montana, saw a moose, hiked in the forest. My dad told me to drink from a stream. The water seemed super fresh and clean.
I puked my guts out at the airport and on the flight home. Other people were donating their barf bags on the plane because I was so sick. My mom was really pissed at my dad.
If you're going anywhere in the wilderness for an extended amount of time, it's best to have the person driving to bring a case of water in the trunk for this situation (and also first aid)
wilderness for an extended amount of time
person driving
Those don't seem to fit together quite right.
Anyway, bring a LifeStraw or the like. Saved my ass onetime.
The missed pro tip: don't believe everything you see on tv
Are you saying the media would LIE??? On TELEVISION??? Are you sure about this?
In my own home might I add!
At no point does Brita Water Filters claim to remove biological pathogens from the water.
Some filters can do that, not all. Gotta check what your filter is rated for!
The Brita would (should) pull out various carcinogens from the water since they will stick to the filter rather than the water. But it won't do anything for bacteria, viruses, amoeba or any other protists. Which would make you acutely sick.
Britta'd. I think a bottle with and ranging from very fine at the bottom to pebbles on top might be one of those survival things that actually work. Or just boil it. Or both.
Both is the answer. One is for reducing bigger impurities the other for killing any bacteria
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