How to boil water

The basics of survival after a natural or man-made catastrophe

by Richard L. Thornton, Architect & Thornton

Above is a photo of my rental cabin near Amicalola Falls, Georgia after a F-1 tornado came by to visit me on the night of March 21, 2017. It was the kick-off of one of three periods there, where I had no water, electricity, telephone or internet for over two weeks. The same thing happened at this house (except for no water) that I live in now because of Hurricane Zeta during November 2020 and in my former house in Jasper, GA when a tornado hit it on Good Friday, 2009.

Unless you live in the urban part of a very large city here in the Eastern United States, there is no excuse for not having potable water. That is the biggest crisis right for people in western North Carolina, even though the region abounds in sparkling mountain streams. That sparkling clear water still may contain pathogenic bacteria or parasitic organisms, however, so if possible, you should still sterilize the water.

Ironically, the most important classes that I had at Georgia Tech were taught by the United States Navy, because they prepared me for the unexpected, life-threatening events of life. We had the standard survival training, but I especially benefited from personal lessons taught me at the US Navy’s Recreation Area at Lake Allatoona by a Marine Colonel and Navy Lieutenant – both of whom had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. They knew that I would be traveling alone in the jungles of Guatemala and mountains of Chiapas & Michoacan, so wanted me to be able to stay alive in Marxist guerilla territory and respond instantly to medical emergencies with the same skills as a Navy Corpsman.

Other than coming down with the most lethal type of salmonella food poisoning the first night in Mexico, I had never had a medical emergency in Mexico or Guatemala. However, the following summer, two Georgia Tech friends and I were stranded on an uninhabited island for two weeks that had no potable water. The survival training enabled me to harvest rain water and capture morning dew, plus obtain adequate food, until we were able to flag down a passing boat.

Water source

Ideally, you should obtain your drinking water from a spring or fast moving small stream. In forests, this water is usually safe to drink . . . but don’t take chances, if you don’t have to. In urban areas obtain the water above the elevations of septic tanks and sewer pipes, if possible. However, it is always better to thoroughly purify river or lake water rather than die from dehydration!

Also, if possible, avoid water that contains colonies of algae. Several species of algae in the Americas are toxic or else emit toxins when dying. There are even some freshwater algae that can kill a dog in three minutes! Use cloth or coffee filters to remove algae from questionable water sources.

Easiest way to be prepared

The smartest way to be prepared for Natural Disasters like Hurricane Helene, is to keep everything you need for survival in waterproof plastic containers. That includes water filtering and sterilization equipment. You can purchase them from a camping store or Amazon.com. They are not expensive.

Also, be sure to include in your survival containers at least a small propane stove, bottles of propane, newspaper, wood-shavings and several propane lighters . . . for boiling water. Boiling water is the only certain way to kill “stomach” parasites. Chemicals that kill bacteria do not necessarily prevent amoebic dysentery or hook worms! For the boiling procedure, see below.

When caught with your pants down

Keep propane lighters in your car and close by your bed. They are the essential tools for survival. You may be awakened by a tornado destroying your survival containers or driving somewhere, when a flash flood begins. If you are able to quickly start a fire, the threat of pathogens and parasites in water can be eliminated.

• First filter the raw water with clean cloth, a coffee filter or porous type of foam plastic.

• Find a metal container that has never held paint, fertilizers, medicine, chemicals or a petroleum products. Rust may give the water a metallic taste, but is not toxic.

• Heat the water until it has boiled for at least a minute.

• Pour the hot water in clean containers that can be sealed. If going into a plastic container, let the water cool sufficiently to the point, where it won’t melt the plastic. Even 16°0 F. for several minutes will kill most pathogens.

• Keep containers of sterilized water sealed, except while pouring. It is quite easy for pathogens, fungi spores, bird poop and mosquitoes to contaminate open containers of water.