Water Water Everywhere, Not a Drop to Drink: Dealing with Water as an Individual and Small Team – Part One, by GuerrillaLogistician

This is a photo of the USS Razorback with two saltwater purification systems that kept the engines running with fresh water, drinking water, and water for food preparation, but little else. Both couldn’t be run simultaneously without the heat becoming unbearable; this meant hygiene was limited at best.

NOTICE: You might be correct if you think I need to correct something or have a better method. I write this to further my studies and help new people, but time and innovations will change everything. This is a jumping point for research into your best plans for your region. You are more than welcome to comment below.

“Hey, the men are out of water, Shanks”, the young man said to his leader. The young guy clad in an old M81 surplus vest kneeled near his leader, looking at the hand-drawn map.

“Yeah, Murphy, I figured I am about out as well, and this fucking map is way off.”, Shanks replied. Dropping his pack, he pulled out a grey bag and handed it to his subordinate. “Take this over there to that puddle and fill what you can while I see if I can figure this out.”, he said with no need to command. His group was well disciplined and trained, which helped, and he knew the young man knew how to handle the very precious purifier.

While Shanks was cursing about a lack of real maps, he looked at his GPS and went about redrawing the map. Meanwhile, Murphy pulled out the red and grey MSR Guardian Purifier and undid the tubing. Placing the modified filter on the end of the hose into the still water, he started to fill canteens, Nalgene bottles, and other water containers. Finishing his work with the pump, he put it in its bag and walked back up to Shanks. “Do we need to use the H2Go as well?”, he asked, handing back the grey bag.

Shanks took the filter and shoved it back into his bag, “No, that filter is fine, but if you guys were using some other filter, you’d better use that or the tablets.” Shanks went back to the map, “This map had more water sources on it, but I am worried we’re going to run out before we can complete the patrol.” “We might need to pull out an OTP and let head shed know, or we may just have to return to base,” he added.

The young soldier frowned. He was on his 3^rd patrol with little more than recon under his belt and was itching to do something. “I mean, can’t we just fill up again?” “The guys can push it a bit without water, and you know they want this patrol completed.”, he offered as a counter to scrubbing the op.

Shanks shook his head, “You can go out on an ambush low on ammo and a magazine per person if your guys are trained, but don’t ever stay out without water or shelter.” Wiping the sweat off his head, he put the map back into his pocket. “Remember that because these guys will be all yours soon, and you don’t want to have a casualty out of combat.”

With that, the young man nodded and watched as Shanks raised his arm palm up as if lifting a weight on his palm and raising it to the sky. The young man mimicked the gesture, and the group rose from their positions of cover, getting back into the file they were initially in.

Why do I need to know about water?

The logistics of water for the individual is deceptively complicated. Many preppers and partisans in the US think of water as many of your neighbors think about ammo. If you ever had a conversation with someone who thought 100 rounds, much less a case of 1000 rounds, would last forever, water is probably more deceptive, especially for an individual, much less a group of people. The worst part is many people think they are set and don’t even realize how wrong they are. While ammo and supplies such as radios and the items needed to stay warm are always on our minds, water is among the least talked about items. With the invention of so many different water filtration and purification devices, many people believe they have a firm grasp of the issue. I have seen everything from Chinese reproduction filters, Berky filters, to the life straw. For this article, let’s talk about the stuff you can carry instead of the sustainment/camp/FOB/bug-out site water. I will save that for a later article along with the required engineering, but for now, let’s focus on gear for individual/small team stuff.

Per the US DOD, the average soldier requires 3.3gal per day in Tropical/Arid environments, Temperate 1.65gal, and 2.2gal in the cold. This doesn’t include the 0.43-1.93gal recommended for food preparation. If you carry freeze-dried or dehydrated foods, this may shift even higher. Not everyone will drink over 3 gallons of water daily; other times, it won’t be enough. This is a base model; use this as a guide more than a rule. More is better, but each individual will figure out their needs over time, and if your group works together well, they can take care of the fish and the camels, respectively.

Let’s discuss terms and acronyms. If I can help it, I will not use 5-dollar words (now 100$ due to inflation) unless necessary, and acronyms will be limited unless in very common use. The military also calls everything related to Individual Water Purification Devices as IWPD or IWP. Because I know some turd bird select probably wanted an increase in rank, he instituted that acronym; I am going to ignore it for the rest of the article.

The first idea everyone has is “I’ll just boil it,” which works well if you are sitting in one location and not worried about your thermal signature. You must stay in that position and have a rolling boil for at least 5 minutes, which isn’t always possible. Time and Temp can very but this is a good rule of thumb. It is a great way to purify water, but many people have no idea how to boil water effectively or how much fuel it takes; not only that, the smell of wood fire travels for miles on end, and that can be a bad idea. Beyond that, you have three common ways to purify water that can be quickly taken with you. Chemically, ultraviolet and Filtration are some of your best and most common options, but not all are safe and as effective as people think. Let’s start with the easiest and most foolproof way to get water. Before that, some administrative notes need to be covered.

We will not be discussing the removal of chemicals, fuels, etc., that can contaminate water. That whole other process isn’t very easy for individuals and small groups.

L = Liters
gal = Gallon
mg/L = milligram to Liter
1 gal of water weighs about 8.34 lbs

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

For the sake of brevity of an already long post, I want to give credit to GearSkeptic, who has some amazing, detailed information in video format. I also found this and other posts on the subject after I had written all this on American Partisan, and I want to reintroduce you guys to some previous posts on the subject. I feel I have a bit of a different take than they do,