Boiling purification?

[norrpan42]

Hiya, long time lurker, first time poster in this nice part of BF that is W&SS.

My question to you fine folks is how clean does water get when you boil it? is there any bacteria or virus or other nasty stuff that survives the process of boiling?

I have been hearing diffrent things for years and i really dont have a clue.

 

[Woods Walker]

Hiya, long time lurker, first time poster in this nice part of BF that is W&SS.

My question to you fine folks is how clean does water get when you boil it? is there any bacteria or virus or other nasty stuff that survives the process of boiling?

I have been hearing diffrent things for years and i really dont have a clue.

I think it is one of the best methods going for killing nasty stuff. As for getting water clean well that is another matter.

 

[dasilvakev]

Boiling it is most effective in my mind. I usually filter the water into the pot with a bandanna.

Here is a great article that talks about this exact topic.

 

[DWK2]

I sometimes carry a few coffee filters to get the larger particulate matter out. Although boiling is highly effective, I have heard that some cryptosporidium cysts are hard to kill by boiling [but don't have any scientific research to cite either way]. And of course boiling won't abate contaminants like arsenic or heavy metals.

DancesWithKnives

 

[Hawkings]

I sometimes carry a few coffee filters to get the larger particulate matter out. Although boiling is highly effective, I have heard that some cryptosporidium cysts are hard to kill by boiling [but don't have any scientific research to cite either way]. And of course boiling won't abate contaminants like arsenic or heavy metals.
DancesWithKnives

That is 1 thing that is often left out of survival discussion, when talking about cleaning water.

 

[norrpan42]

Thanks everyone for all the fast answers!

I filter all my gathered water thru some type of cloth before drinking in the woods, i usually make it all into wintergreen tea i think its called? so getting them pineneedles out is allways a plus

Boiling it is most effective in my mind. I usually filter the water into the pot with a bandanna.

Here is a great article that talks about this exact topic.

In the article they make a good point to not waste fuel on just purifying water and i agree with that.

 

[chopchop]

I sometimes carry a few coffee filters to get the larger particulate matter out. Although boiling is highly effective, I have heard that some cryptosporidium cysts are hard to kill by boiling [but don't have any scientific research to cite either way]. And of course boiling won't abate contaminants like arsenic or heavy metals.

DancesWithKnives

If you boil water, then catch and condense the steam, you can deal with a lot of these issues. This will leave non-volatile compounds like metals and arsenic in the pot, and the condensed steam will be clean and pure. Another bonus is that any Crypto cysts that are not inactivated will also be left in the pot and not in the steam. This is not the easiest thing to do in the field, though.

You could potentially have volatile organic compounds (gasoline, some pesticides, etc.) go with the steam when you boil the water, so even condensation is not 100% effective at removing chemical contaminants.


That said, boiling your water will kill most pathogens and is one of the best things you can do if the source is questionable. If you can filter it first, you're even better off.


One thing to be careful of is to keep any untreated water (anything that hasn't passed through your filter, or any drops left on the outside of your water carrying gear) away from the treated water. Anything you're going to drink or eat with be sure to clean and rinse with treated water. Keep the hoses/containers you collect water with separate from the hoses/containers you keep treated water in unless you treat the container as well. Crypto is very potent, and it only takes a few cysts to develop an infection.

 

[chopchop]

I remembered reading something about boiling times for different pathogens, but had to look it up.

1 minute rolling boil; 3 minutes if above 6,500 ft.

See this document for more info. Here's a quote:

Variations in recommendations regarding the duration of boiling during boil water advisories have reflected uncertainty about how long some organisms can survive. On the basis of a recent literature review, CDC and EPA recommend that water be rendered microbiologically safe for drinking
by bringing it to a rolling boil for 1 minute; this will inactivate all major waterborne bacterial pathogens (i.e., Vibrio cholerae, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella sonnei, Campylobacter jejuni, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Legionella pneumophila) and waterborne protozoa (e.g., Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, and Entamoeba histolytica [4 - 7]).

Although information about thermal inactivation is incomplete for waterborne viral pathogens, hepatitis A virus - considered one of the more heat resistant waterborne viruses (8) - also is rendered noninfectious by boiling for 1 minute (9). If viral pathogens are suspected in drinking water in communities at elevations above 6562 ft (2 km), the boiling time should be extended to 3 minutes.

Another document from the CDC recommends either distillation or the same boiling times for Crypto treatment.


I saw other documents that suggested 5 minutes at higher elevations.

 

[norrpan42]

As far as all the tips regarding the time of the boiling i will never have an issue with that since i make it a point to never be in a hurry to get water.

I never light a fire unless i need for cooking or warmth etc, and as i mentioned before i allmost allways make my gathered water into wintergreen tea(again, not sure if this is the right word) wich means that i boil it for 10 minutes or more.

As far as condensation goes, unless im completely misstaken that leaves salt behind, and thats a big plus for me since i live and camp mostly along brackish bodies of water and the sea.

Brackish water isnt that much of a problem unless you have kidney issues, but for extended periods of time it could be problem. Or so ive been taught.

I think il be able to make a contraption that condensates the water and gets it into another container, might even get it to fit nicely into one of those alcohol burner stove kits.

Thanks again for all the great and detailed answers you guys have given me, its really is very helpfull