Myth: Boiled Water Is Safe To Drink
- Survival Situation: Water-Based Illnesses
We want to make this very clear: you should boil most water that you collect, even if you assume it might be okay. Boiling it really does help to remove several harmful substances, such as bacteria that could give you things like cholera and dysentery. Even Typhoid can spread in a lot of water territories. However, boiling your water does not automatically make it “completely” safe to drink. Rather, it makes it “safer” to drink. There could likely still be a lot of issues with the water. Remember when we referenced how rain and snow could possibly be contaminated due to the environment they are in?
While some of this can be removed by boiling the two, it might not completely remove everything within the chemical listing inside the liquid. It should be noted that if water is contaminated with things like oil or radioactive material, boiling it will not make it safe. These two things will remain in the water, and could potentially cause some interesting interactions with your fire. On top of this, several other toxic chemicals will not go away from boiling either. This is why you should always try to avoid using water from areas anywhere close to waste or chemical run-offs. As that water will most certainly be unsafe to drink.