We may ridicule him for drinking insects and his urine and also we have seen him drink water that is not in a good state but its is clean and thought how Bear Grylls purify water?, but it may come in handy if we are stuck in the wild some day and need to survive. Remember, clear water isn’t necessarily clean water. But who needs electricity when the most popular water purifiers are using the widely abundant resource – gravity? So from the wilderness explorer himself, here are some tips on how to purify water in the wild. Who knows, they may save your life someday.
Boil it
One of the most ‘no-brainer’ tips to purify water is to simply boil it. Bear Grylls suggests boiling water for 1 minute before drinking to remove the biological contamination. Just bringing the water to a boil kills off the bacteria and other microorganisms along with filtering out some of the deadly water contaminants like chlorine.
DIY water filter
Not sure if boiling water is enough? Don’t worry. Create your own water filter. It’ll help filter out most of the pollutants and make the water potable. Does Bear Grylls purify water this way? Hell yes. Don’t believe us? Check out his Facebook post on purifying water.
- Stuff some sand and gravel at the bottom of a clean sock.
- Layer some grass above the sand and gravel
- Finally, cover the layers with some charcoal from your campfire.
- Now slowly pass some water through the layers for filtration.
- Collect the filtered water in a glass placed below the sock.
You can also use a plastic water bottle with a hole at the bottom.
Use purification drops and tablets
Another one of the most effective methods to purify water is to treat it with purification tablets or drops. The most commonly used chemical in such tablets is iodine. For how long does Bear Grylls purify water via this method? Allow the chemical to treat the water for at least 20 minutes. It won’t be the best tasting water, but it’ll do the trick.
Give your water some sunbathing
How does Bear Grylls purify water by sunbathing it? Well this method doesn’t work on severely contaminated water but should help a little when there’s nothing else you can do. On a sunny day, place the water in a container under direct sunlight. Experts say UV rays penetrate up to four inches through clear water and purify it.
Carry a portable water purifier
Bear Grylls says, “Hydration is the #1 priority when in the wild. I once drank what I thought was clean water because it was from a stream high up in the hills and I ended up sick for days”. So the safest option is to get a portable water filter when you go camping because let’s face it, no one wants a runny stomach when going hiking in the woods.