How long to boil water from river to drink?

[Marion Carter]

How long do you need to boil water you gathered in order to kill off bacteria and other unwanteds?

 

[RoarinDave]

15 minutes

 

[Mark & Silvia]

But if water is boiling at 5 minutes from a Jetboil wouldn't that still purify it?

 

[Mike Clark]

Not something to mess with, 15 minutes and make sure it's been boiling.

 

[Ken S]

You can filter the water first through t-shirt, then boil 15 minutes

 

[RiverRat]

If it's mountain cold water, and clear, do you need to boil it still?

 

[Tripping4x4]

Are many of you actually drinking water from streams and lakes vs bringing your own? I have never drank from anything but bottled water. But I guess it's good to know what to do in case of emergency.

 

[Derek Roberts]

Yeah same here, I just bring water. But if I needed to drink water from river or lake, heck yeah I’m going to boil the hell out of it.

 

[Scott Macon]

You know there is that blue filter straw thing, which you don't need to boil the water.

 

[smritte]

If you want actual time/temp, its actually based on altitude.
The general rule as was stated earlier, 15 mins
Water temperatures above 160 degrees Fahrenheit kill virtually all pathogens within 30 minutes.
At 185 degrees Fahrenheit, they’re dead in just a few minutes

Approximate water boiling temp at altitude
200 degrees F @6300 feet
195 degrees F @9,000 feet
190 degrees F @12,000 feet
Even at 12000 foot its hot enough to kill everything in a few minutes.

Personally, I use water filters. My main is solid block carbon and if I need more I have a ceramic that pulls most chemicals. I even filter the tap water here.

 

[RoarinDave]

If you want actual time/temp, its actually based on altitude.
The general rule as was stated earlier, 15 mins
Water temperatures above 160 degrees Fahrenheit kill virtually all pathogens within 30 minutes.
At 185 degrees Fahrenheit, they’re dead in just a few minutes

Approximate water boiling temp at altitude
200 degrees F @6300 feet
195 degrees F @9,000 feet
190 degrees F @12,000 feet
Even at 12000 foot its hot enough to kill everything in a few minutes.

Personally, I use water filters. My main is solid block carbon and if I need more I have a ceramic that pulls most chemicals. I even filter the tap water here.

Had no idea altitude made a difference. Great post!

 

[smritte]

Had no idea altitude made a difference. Great post!

You would be surprised how many people dont know that or don't realize altitude effects pressure. The higher you go, the less air pressure. Sea Level is (depending on who you talk to) is 14.7 psi. Water boils at 212 @ sea level which means it boils at 212 with 14.7 psi on it. As you decrease pressure it boils at a lower temperature. In one of my classes, I boil water at 80 degrees buy putting a vacuum on it.

food for thought. "If" a rouge asteroid flew by and ripped off our atmosphere, we would all die of thirst because the water boiling point with no pressure is about -40 degrees. All the water on the planet would flash boil off.