View Full Version : Does anyone just drink their boiling water?
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-23-2010, 11:47
I'm trying to decide how to purify water for my hikes.
There are filters, tablets, electronig gizmos with nuclear light and there is boiling water.
I'm thinking boiling my water would work but am concerned that while letting it cool down it could become re-infected.
Why not just drink it while it is boiling?
Can anyone think of any downsides to this?
BL
Bare Bear
08-23-2010, 11:57
Oh mght burn yur moff and nott bable to talk!
Boiled water tastes pretty bad.
take a lot of fuel - aquamira, cheaper and light
Since even boiling doesn't remove any contaminants and only kills the biological; you are still left with chemical and mineral pollutants. Go a step further and let the water boil off, collect the steam and condense it. Voila... distilled water as pure as you can get it! Use the same contraption to distill spirits as you hike too. I bet you could put together an entire distillation set for under 5 lbs. :)
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-23-2010, 13:08
Since even boiling doesn't remove any contaminants and only kills the biological; you are still left with chemical and mineral pollutants. Go a step further and let the water boil off, collect the steam and condense it. Voila... distilled water as pure as you can get it! Use the same contraption to distill spirits as you hike too. I bet you could put together an entire distillation set for under 5 lbs. :)
Great idea. I like it! Looks like someone has already came up with one. It will save me time building it.
9144
Now all I need is a good recipe!
BL
In the summer you might need to drink up to a gallon of water in a day. Boiling that much water would be impractical.
Panzer
If your water is contaminated with ethanol, boiling and distilling it will only concentrate the contaminant. Consult any standard reference for the dangers of consuming ethanol.
If your water is contaminated with ethanol, boiling and distilling it will only concentrate the contaminant. Consult any standard reference for the dangers of consuming ethanol.
To anyone that hasn't taken chemistry, don't believe ki0eh. Ethanol has a boiling point that's about 50 degrees fahrenheit lower than water. It will evaporate and blow away long before the water starts boiling. The only way you could extract the ethanol is with some fancy laboratory glassware and precise temperature control. Even if you had the glassware, you could easily get rid of ethanol by discarding the first few drops of distillation, and then discard the last few drops to eliminate most of the other contaminants.
Oh dammit, I missed that this was in the humor forum. That's what I get for using the "new" button.
I do... it's called "coffee". ;p
Old Hiker
08-24-2010, 07:41
To anyone that hasn't taken chemistry, don't believe ki0eh. Ethanol has a boiling point that's about 50 degrees fahrenheit lower than water. It will evaporate and blow away long before the water starts boiling. The only way you could extract the ethanol is with some fancy laboratory glassware and precise temperature control. Even if you had the glassware, you could easily get rid of ethanol by discarding the first few drops of distillation, and then discard the last few drops to eliminate most of the other contaminants.
Not to argue, but it's not as hard as you think. I have a meter long copper tube enclosed in a water jacket that I used to attach to the top of a pressure cooker filled with a concoction of yeast, water and alcohol. Low to medium heat on the stove top was all I needed to extract the alcohol. If any water boiled through at the end of the run, I would distill again.
Design from Possum Living by Dolly Freed
Totally illegal, so obviously, I'm lying.
Not to argue, but it's not as hard as you think.
Same idea, different materials. Both have condensers. I haven't tried distillation with copper, but I imagine glassware is easier in that you have more visual indicators.
Doc Mike
08-24-2010, 09:11
Might try adding purified ice cubes prior to drinking. Of course then there is the burden of carrying the fridge with you and figuring where to get electricity from.
Just a thought
Doc Mike
I've been thinking about trying this but can't see that it has any advantages over gargling with Clorox - my preferred method of water purification.
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-24-2010, 12:55
Might try adding purified ice cubes prior to drinking. Of course then there is the burden of carrying the fridge with you and figuring where to get electricity from.
Just a thought
Doc Mike
Well you know, there IS such a thing as a propane powered refrigerator. I could use the waste distillate from the water still as a power source for the fridge! Ah yes, and go green too!
BL
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-24-2010, 12:56
I've been thinking about trying this but can't see that it has any advantages over gargling with Clorox - my preferred method of water purification.
You drink the water first then gargle, right?
You drink the water first then gargle, right?
Of course - before I drink I stick a Steripen down my throat for 90 seconds.
Surplusman
08-24-2010, 16:00
My preferred sterilization method for water is to first fill my mouth with water, then lean way back so none of the water spills, then stick a propane torch in my mouth. Not only is the water boiled, but the inside of my mouth is so desensitized that I can chug-a-lug large bottles of Dave's Insanity Sauce and eat habanero peppers like candy mints. Yummy. :D
Doc Mike
08-24-2010, 16:29
I think drinking the water straight from the source then the appropriate amount of bleach as a chaser should work. Then it could be sterilized while in your belly and you don't need a water container. Oh wait I bet some gram weenie is already doing this to save weight.
you know .5 ounces saved is a good thing.
The gram weenie way to save weight is to down a bunch of bleach at home. A LOT. Make sure it's enough so that it's there when you need it. It's like carbing up before strenuous activity, except with bleach.
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-25-2010, 13:13
Of course - before I drink I stick a Steripen down my throat for 90 seconds.
You know, you might be on something there. But wouldn't it work better to stick the steripen down your throat AFTER you drink?
You know, you might be on something there. But wouldn't it work better to stick the steripen down your throat AFTER you drink?
or pop a chlorine dioxide pill when you drink. like aspirin, only better. :)
You know, you might be on something there. But wouldn't it work better to stick the steripen down your throat AFTER you drink?
Let's just say it works better than where I was sticking the Steripen BEFORE..... :)
Let's just say it works better than where I was sticking the Steripen BEFORE..... :)
Please tell me you washed it between methods..
Doc Mike
08-25-2010, 22:29
If not giardia is probably the least of his worries......just sayin
Doc Mike
OnlyJohn
08-26-2010, 09:23
My great grandpa used to boil water that was contaminated with sugar and spoiled corn. He did not have to carry his contraption, however. People came to him and actually bought what he had boiled.
Only John
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-26-2010, 12:46
Please tell me you washed it between methods..
Sounds like the ultimate in recycling.
Graywolf
08-27-2010, 20:18
Na, na, na, you folks have it all wrong.. Drink your water first, piss in a pot, place it under a plastic tarp, like an uoside down pyramid. Let it evaporate so the impurities will come out.. You then drink again.
This comes from a documentary called "Water World"..:sun
gunner76
08-27-2010, 20:31
or just drink beer and avoid that nasty water
Buzz_Lightfoot
08-31-2010, 12:48
or just drink beer and avoid that nasty water
Boiled beer?
Doc Mike
08-31-2010, 13:36
boiling beer is bad the alcohol will come off first, then all you have left is flavored water. At least it would not be contaminated at that point.
So let me see if this is the correct way
1. boil water (rolling boil of course)
2. put steripen in mouth and turn on
3. drink boiling water
4. drink bleach to purify any contaminants not already dead.
5. put steripen in exit hole to purify your urine
6. let this evaporate and driink the distillate
7. rinse and repeat
Buzz_Lightfoot
09-01-2010, 12:55
boiling beer is bad the alcohol will come off first, then all you have left is flavored water. At least it would not be contaminated at that point.
So let me see if this is the correct way
1. boil water (rolling boil of course)
2. put steripen in mouth and turn on
3. drink boiling water
4. drink bleach to purify any contaminants not already dead.
5. put steripen in exit hole to purify your urine
6. let this evaporate and driink the distillate
7. rinse and repeat
I think 6 is wrong. You'ld lose all the water and just leave contaminents.
Also, I think that there are a lot of beer brands that are nothing more than flavored water so what would be the difference pray-tell?
BL
Hikes in Rain
09-01-2010, 20:16
I think 6 is wrong. You'ld lose all the water and just leave contaminents.
Also, I think that there are a lot of beer brands that are nothing more than flavored water so what would be the difference pray-tell?
BL
One's free. And tastes good. The other is expensive, comes in cans, and tastes like someone already drank it.
Buzz_Lightfoot
09-02-2010, 12:42
One's free. And tastes good. The other is expensive, comes in cans, and tastes like someone already drank it.
Of course! Thanks for clearing that up.
sir limpsalot
09-10-2010, 16:15
funny stuff! Just to keep everyone informed, though, I have learned the proper way to treat water from the sign at Hudson Trail Outfitters. "first filter water, then treat it with chemicals and wait the designated time, then UV it with a steripen." ...they could probably boost stove sales too if they added "boiling" as the final step!