>>372926FOR THE LOVE OF EPONA, #2 IS FUCKING INCORRECT IN A HUNDRED DEGREES. USING THAT
WILL GET YOU KILLED!
#1: NO SAND, NO ROCKS, NO GRASS, NO OTHER NON-ACTUALLY-A-USEFUL-FILTER MATERIAL.
#2: USE ONLY CHARCOAL
#3: ONLY
#4: CHARCOAL
#5: look up ANY guide on how to create charcoal, ANY GUIDE WHATSOEVER, and produce a large amount
#6: CREATE a CHARCOAL BRICK that FITS A SPECIFIC BOTTLE or SPECIFIC CONTAINER
#7: how to create a charcoal brick? Simple: smash loose charcoal in PURE, CLEAN WATER, with a hammer, and mold that into the necessary shape, then SUN DRY or 2-3 FEET FROM A STOVE
#8: how do you make a mold from charcoal? Imagine using clay and forming a SPECIFIC shape that will FIT THE CONTAINER
#9: how many fucking TIMES does this need to be corrected, /k/?!
#10: one packed ounce of medium weight wood or hardwood charcoal has nearly the same surface area as a football field. In other words (and woods, HAH, punny): more surface area = more contaminants that are captured.
#11: create the LARGEST POSSIBLE charcoal brick possible to SLOWLY strain water with. Fast = bad. Slow = WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE.
HOWEVER, CERTAIN AREAS have extreme fluoride contamination in the ground water. Fluorides are (sometimes) naturally occurring compounds, ALL of which are highly neurotoxic, toxic, and mutagenic.
Bear in mind I am NOT an expert on which US states have safe ground water. This knowledge comes from the 1996ACE issue TRADOC survival guide for the US, which is earmarked on 200+ pages.
The FOLLOW regions are known to have significant fluoride contamination in all known groundwater regions:
#1: the southwestern section of Washington (possibly includes Snoqualmie Pass & elevation runoff into lower aquifers)
#2: the southwestern section of Oregon
#3: ALL of eastern & southern Idaho
#4: ALL of southern & central Montana (possibly eastern, but is not confirmed in the 1996 TRADOC survival guide)
#5: ALL of eastern North & South Dakota (mountain regions have EXTREMELY high levels, lowland runoff aquifers are speculative)
#6: ALL of Minnesota (particularly central & mountainous regions)
#7: central Illinois
#8: ALL of lowland and eastern California
#9: ALL of Arizona
#10: ALL of Colorado
#11: ALL of Nevada
#12: ALL of Texas
BONUS ROUND: ALL of Mexico. No, that's deadly fucking serious. Mexico, for some reason, has the highest fluoride and heavy metal concentration in aquifers, outside of NW Texas. DO. NOT. DRINK. THE. WATER. THERE.
If you are in those states, NEVER BOIL GROUND WATER BEFORE STRAINING THROUGH AT LEAST
TWO 1" THICK, EXTREMELY FINE, DENSELY COMPACTED CHARCOAL FILTER LAYERS! That is not a statement, that is a WARNING.
In an aquifer's preboiled state, fluorides are much easier to remove due to settling and natural bonding with other compounds, chemicals, minerals, 2 of those 3, or 3 of those 3. The reason for this is a somewhat middle-complex chemical process: naturally occurring groundwater fluorides are compounds that require small scale (micron filtration) to remove when in a settled state.
But, during the boiling process, fluorides WILL separate from compounds, chemicals, and minerals, which WILL THEN REQUIRE ultra fine (sub-micron) filtration to remove.
Straining TWICE through 2" of extremely fine (densely hammer-packed) charcoal filters is enough to remove >99% of fluorides, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, and most chemicals.
Please, for the love of Epona, do not drink just any water! And no, the Lifestraw brand and most similar pieces of kit WILL NOT PROTECT YOU without specifically being capable of removing 0.1 micron AND SMALLER compounds, chemicals, elements, and metals!
Most are quite good at removing bacteria, protozoa, parasites, and phages however, so READ THE FUCKING LABELS, AND RESEARCH WHAT YOUR WATER FILTRATION KIT CAN, AND CANNOT, REMOVE.