Amongst all the necessities for survival, purified drinking water is one of the most critical. You can only survive about three days without water, less if you are trying to survive in a hot climate. That makes water a very high priority.

When we’re talking about pure water, that’s not the same as clean water. You can find a lot of clean water around that’s not pure. The cleanliness of water usually refers to how clear it is. But when we’re talking about purified water, we’re talking about water that doesn’t have anything living in it.

Bacteria, protozoa and other microorganisms can cause serious health problems. Drinking impure water can literally be deadly. While drinking water that isn’t properly purified will usually only cause diarrhea and vomiting, even that can be enough to kill you if you get dehydrated. In a survival situation, all water is suspect; it must be properly purified to ensure that it doesn’t have any of those little critters living in it.

There are many ways to purify water. The majority of them break down into two basic categories: mechanical filtration and chemical purification. Both are effective for making sure that your drinking water is safe for you.