Ever watch Naked and Afraid? Ever notice they just get dirty water from a source, boil it and drink it? That can work 90% of the time, but our bodies are so used to filtered water in the US, that the smallest little bugger inside of that murky water can still get you sick. Here are some natural materials that you can use to filter water.
- Cat tail – You can use a cat tail plant (the top of it that looks like a hot dog) and filter water. If you find 2 empty plastic water bottles, you can cut the bottom of one end, put the cat tail on the opening end, and begin pouring the dirty water on the bottom end. Slowly, the water will filter through the cat tail and get cleaner water on the other water bottle. This takes some time, so if you can hang the dirty water bottle and let it drip onto the clean water bottle, you can go do other tasks while the water is filtering. Take the clean water and put it in a pot. Continue this process until you have ample water to hydrate. Boil the water (rolling boil) for at least 1 min (3 minutes at elevation) and then let it cool a bit to drink.
- Bamboo with cloth, charcoal (crushed from campfire), dirt, sand, grass or green moss (sphagnum or peat moss), and cloth (this is from the bottom up, and this is the order you fill it. Take a section of a large bamboo. Where there is a knot, that will have a bottom. Punch a small hole on the bottom (no more than a quarter inch or less than 7mm). Now add the items into the bamboo in the order listed. Pour the dirty water on the open end of the bamboo. This will filter most of the murky water and you will get clean water in the pot or a secondary bamboo section. Boil the water (rolling boil) for at least 1 min (3 min at elevation) and then let it cool to drink. If bamboo is not readily available, halved coconut shells cascaded per layer is another option.
- Coconut shells with cloth, gravel, sand, charcoal, and cloth is another option. You take 6 halves of coconut shells with hole on the bottom of the half section. Paracord or cordage is required to make a cascading coconut filter. First one will have cloth on the bottom. Second will have gravel. Third will have fine sand. Fourth will have charcoal. Fifth will have another cloth laid inside, and the sixth will be the filtered water. You are going to make small holes to cascade the coconut haves together with knots on both the inside and outside of the shell on both sides. The other option is to make a resting loop on each of the coconut sections. The sixth coconut shell on the bottom will not be connected to a string so you can use that to pour the clean water into a pot. Boil the water (rolling boil) for at least 1 min (3 min at elevation) and then let it cool to drink.
- If you can’t find bamboo or coconuts, the other way is to use a large enough log (thicker than your arm) and make cups. This takes a while. If the cup is at least 8 inches or 20 cm deep, you can follow the bamboo method, but each layer will be about an inch with 2 or more inches left to pour the murky water into it. The bottom of the cup has a small pin hole, and you can let it filter right into the pot. Boil the water (rolling boil) for at least 1 min (3 min at elevation) and then let it cool to drink.
There are other methods to filter water, but these are ways to be able to do it most anywhere in the world. As I encounter new natural methods, I will add to this post or write another one.
