When in survival situations you must prioritize your needs. Food, water, shelter and weapon should be your top choices. Fire is also essential but it is only needed in certain situations. In general, an adult can survive 3 days without water. Don’t wait until you run out of it, you need to find a source of fresh running water as soon as possible. All water can be sterilized.
A 1 liter jug can be rationed to last 4 days in survival situations. The human body loses 2-3 liters of water each day. Loss of liquids through respiration and perspiration increase with work rate and temperature. Vomiting and diarrhea also increase fluid loss. You need to replace it with actual water or water contained in foods.
To keep fluid loss to a minimum, use these precautions.
- Avoid exertion. Just rest. Don’t smoke.
- Keep cool. Stay in shade. If there is none, erect a cover.
- Do not lie on hot ground or heated surfaces.
- Don’t eat, or eat as little as possible. Digestion uses up fluids, increasing dehydration. Fat is especially hard to digest.
- Never drink alcohol. This takes fluid from vital organs to break it down.
- Don’t talk. Breathe through the nose, not the mouth.
If you have to ration water, take it in small sips. After going without water for a long time, do not guzzle the water when you drink it. Large gulps will make a dehydrated person vomit, losing even more of the valuable liquid.
Be cautious of any pool of water with no green vegetation growing around it or animal bones present. It is likely to be polluted. Check edge for minerals which might indicate alkaline conditions. Always boil water from pools. In the desert, lakes with no outlets become salt lakes, their water must be distilled before drinking.
URINE AND SEA WATER
Never drink either, never. Both can produce drinking water if it is distilled. Sea water will provide you with a residue of salt.