Surviving on water from plants

golok

golok

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Oct 20, 2000
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I believe that there are various kinds of plants out in the wild which are life-saving in terms of water retention.

Just in case, a guy runs of water or has a leaking water bottle, what kinds of plants to look for.

I have seen documentaries where a jungle trekker or guide just chops off a branch of some kind of exotic tree or plant and out comes a tiny stream of water.

What if you don't know what to look for?

Any life-saving tips?
 
Golok,yes you can survive on plants for water.When I was in the amazon we drank from several water bearing vines.I cannot remember their name or species but would know them by sight.Very important to remember with amazon vines is to first test the vine's taste before ingesting,and test the color of the liquid.If it has a bitter taste do not drink.If it has a milky sap do NOT drink.The taste should be a sweet fruity taste.This is a good general guideline for any type plant anywhere.The bannanna tree is also a good source for water in the lower Americas.Simply cut the tree and hollow out the stump.In about an hour or more the stump will fill with a clear sweet water.Be careful to cover the stump to prevent ants and bugs from partaking.Here in the eastern US small maple sapling provide a good clear sweet water like sap that is good to drink and flows better in late fall.However any plant fluid drinking must be done moderately as it may cause diahhrea in large amounts.I also forgot to mention not to put your mouth to any vine you drink from in amazonia as it may cause an allergic reaction.In the western US I have heard certain types of cacti such as the barrel cactus provide a fair amount of water but have no direct experience in desert terrain.
 
Howdy!
Even if you are in a situation where you cannot derive water from the flora in ths fashion, you can still use the local plant life in the construction of a couple of solar stills.
I'm afraid I don't have a link to any info regarding how to do this, but if you would like, I can explain it in this thread or via email.
 
Golok,

My advice is to go on a hike where you live, take a machete and cut some vines and such. In my area of Brazil (Central Highlands)there are no water bearing vines that I have been able to find. We do have bamboo that is loaded with water. The thing of it is that it is only loaded with water where there is plenty of it in the ground and if that is the case you can just filter and purify and save yourself the trouble. The bamboo water is slightly bitter. I've tried it but I haven't used it to hydrate. I wonder what a few liters of it would do to you.

As far as solar stills go it is very doubtful that you will obtain a useful ammount of water from one, even under ideal conditions. To get any water at all you have to build them BIG and DEEP and in the SUN with STEEP angles on the plastic and SEAL THE EDGES. Even then if you create a half liter of water you are the new expert on solar stills.

I look at them as an end strategy if you ahve already been forced to dig a hole looking for ground water and it didn't pay off. Digging that hole in the sun will produce more sweat than you are likely to recover in the still.

You are better off using the plastic to bag branches. This takes no time or effort and you will produce more than you sweat in the process. Mac
 
solar still for getting water from a plant or tree involves putting a clear bag over a branch with lots of leaves. As the leaves naturally give off a fair amount of water, it will be trapped in the bag and condense on the plastic. Also the other water in the leaves will tend to steam off as the bag heats up. The water in the bag will probably need to be filtered. The branch will probably die if the bag is left on for any length of time.

This is not the classic solar still designed to move a small amount of water from the soil into a cup in the center of the clear plastic covered pit. The tree bag will usually give much more moisture, but a single one will still probably not support life for very long.
 
Couple of quick points on aspiration bags (Grommit's bag around a branch description):

1. It's important that the mouth of the bag be tightly closed to prevent loss of water vapor from inside the bag, which is what condenses on the inner surface of the bag.

2. The bag should be clear optimally or white as a second choice. The water vapor that the tree aspirates is a byproduct of the photosynthesis process, which requires light. Black bags (like most big yard leaf bags) block the light and stop the photosynthesis process.
 
You would be much better off attaching bandanas to your ankles and walk trough the grass in the morning when the dew has settled. You just keep ringing out your bandanas until you fill your drinking vessel. For something that will absorb more water, try the chamis that are made out of the soft material not the leather feeling ones. They also make great towels when camping.
Solar stills work best in humid enviroments. I live in Florida and have made a couple of solar stills and have never produced enough water to fill a 1 quart canteen.
Just my $0.02
 
I have used the dew collection to produce over a liter of water in an hour. If the dew is heavy enough you just have to swipe the clean rag back and forth in the grass to soak it well. Use the rag on a stick if possible, it eliminates the bending, tying, untying, etc. This was by far the best expedient method I have ever tried.

The water I collected was quite brown and nasty looking. There was a great deal of dust that had settled onthe grass during the day and was wet with heavy dew in the morning. I had to filter and treat the water to make it palatable, even then it was nasty. Mac
 
I have always got clear water when I have done it. I remember being told to to let the water settle to improve the taste. And you need to be careul not to do this in a feild that gets sprayed (ie...Farms).
I can see that you would get other results in more dusty inviroments.
 
Captn Ron,

Central Brazil is an incredibly dusty place. It defies description. You can wash your car daily and at the end of the day it looks dusty again. In the rainy season mud falls from the sky at times, no kidding. I have no doubt that back in the States that the dew is fresh and clean.

Be that as it may back in another life when I taught HS science we would make single celled organisms by leaving dry grass in water. It never failed to make quite a crop. I would treat dew water even there if I could. Mac
 
I am not saying muddy is always bad or that clear is always good.
When it is available, I think that water purification should always be used. I just don't always follow my own advice. LOL
U.S. water is as bad as anyother in the world. I think it is worse here than other places in the world.
 
cactus are over 85% water i believe..? you can just chew the leaves to hydrate. certain cacti will create its own "well" of water in the main stem, you can access it easily.
as far as jungles, the rest of the posts pretty much covered it.
 
WAIT!!! stop everything, chew on the leaves of a cactus?!?! How badly do you think your gonna hurt the tequila markets! EEEK! Price jump, dude goes an drinks cactus juice :D
 
Tequila is one of my favorite health foods. I prefer Don Luis white reposado....stright up. wonderfull drink.
 
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