Because water is vital to anyone’s survival, learning how to filter your water in emergency situations is crucial.  There are many different methods out there but we are going to focus on three of them, water purifiers, outdoor water filters, and water bottles with filters.

Water purifiers come in different varieties.  There are UV wands that emit UV light to kill the micro organisms, but this does not get rid of the grit and grim that you could also have in your water.  There are also tablets that you can use to kill the microorganisms but these have a shelf life and once they have been opened they must be used quickly.  The tablets usually use iodine or chlorine to kill the organisms but check into both before you choose one because some people may be allergic to iodine.

Outdoor water filters are usually water pumps that will pump your water through a filter to remove all sediment and debris you might have in your water.  Some water filters will also filter for microorganisms.  These water pumps don’t always catch all the smaller organisms so check to see what the filter on the pump is good for, and know what organisms are common in your area so you can treat your water accordingly.

Water bottles with filters are easy to carry and fairly light weight; with this option you are just carrying your water bottle and do not need anything else to purify the water.  These water bottles have filters inside them to remove microorganisms and sediment.  Make sure that the water bottle you choose protects from the different microorganisms in your area.  This is a great option to reduce equipment and weight and most of these water bottles can filter up to 50 gallons of water.

Make sure you always have back up options to clean your water like boiling it in case your other methods don’t work.  It is always better to make sure your drinking water is safe to drink even if that means purifying it more than once.