Bacteria and other unwanted organisms can wreak havoc on your body, and drinking untreated water in the wilderness is a sure fire way to get sick. Boiling water is one of the best ways to make sure that your water is free of dangerous bacteria and pathogens, but there’s a lot of confusion out there to how long it actually needs to boil for.
One of the most common questions we receive is, “how long does water need to boil in order for it to be safe to drink?”
Did you know that once your water temperature reaches 185° F (well below 212°F, the actual boiling point of water) that almost all disease causing organisms have already been destroyed? That means once your water hits that boiling point, it’s already safe to drink.
So do you really need to boil water to make it safe?
Well, to be safe I would boil any wilderness source of water for at least 1 minute. The main reason I say that is most of us don’t carry a thermometer into the wild. Boiling your water is the best way to make sure your water has hit that 185° F safety point. When the water has been boiling for about a minute, you can be pretty sure that all the disease causing organisms have been killed.
what are the pros and cons of a water filtration system. I am thinking of purchasing one but it almost seems that I would be just hauling another piece of gear.
im thinking any water filtration system would be better then boiling water alone. if u wanna boil water u have to take the time to sit down, gather supplies, rub sticks together etc.etc. by the time the waters boiling you’ve used up at least a couple of hours. instead tablets or a katadyn filter will be quick and u dont have to spend all day getting it. if u’ve already set up camp & all that then boil it, its probably better to do that when you can in order to extend the life of ur filter or tablets as long as possible
This in no way will clean your water enough to drink it without boiling or using a water filtration system but something i do is Carry a small pack of coffee filters in my bag. its great to run the water threw before you purify or pump it threw the filter. it will filter out and stop any small debree. Then you can extend the life of your filter on your water system and just make it cleaner in general. i use 2 filters and run my water threw. they weigh next to nothing and you can carry 30-40 of them without even feeling the need to add the weight to your total.