Water Stop: 3rd Litre
A small garden scene at the water source is like an oasis in the mountains. When it is difficult to find water, the challenge is economical. How much water will it cost to find more? How much water will I get in return and what quality?
Aldo Leopold Wilderness, New Mexico.
Ways of Finding Water in Arid Country
1. Local Knowledge
The easiest way is to consult with experts or having experience in the area. You need a manner of getting there (e.g. map, compass/GPS or memory).
2. Read The Landscape
Both visually and with the map, check for major drainages on North slopes. Usually intermittent streams and springs are more reliable in these areas. If out of the mountains look for depressions, fissures, wet sand. Look for vegetation, especially for types that like water.
3. Bare Rock
Water and hard rock tend to form pools over time due to erosion patterns. On watertight rock these pools will not drain. Water source can be intermittent stream or rainwater, collected into the pools.
4. Vegetable Tubers
Many tubers are edible and they usually contain a lot of water. You'll want to find significant tubers to make it worth the digging. Fern is often used as an example. Fore more plants, see section "Edible Tubers Bulbs or Roots": www.swsbm.com/ManualsOther/UsefulPlants/Useful_Wild_Plant...
5. Collecting Dew
Walk through plants wet with dew or rain while wearing some clean absorbent cloth. If you're in grassy or leafy area you can very quickly soak the material. Wring it out into collection. Repeat.
5. Solar Still - cavity type
(emergency measure only)
Requiring some clear plastic sheeting and at least 1 m of tubing. Dig a wide shallow hole in the proportions of 1-2 meter diameter to wrist-elbow depth. Arrange a lot of water-bearing material (e.g. crushed vegetation) at the bottom, spread evenly around up to hand depth. Snuggle into the center a collection container facing upward to catch drops of condensation. Run the tubing from the collection to outside the hole and secure it. Cover hole with plastic sheeting to create a greenhouse. Secure the sheeting. Place a stone in the middle of the sheeting so that it depresses into the shape of a cone, with the tip facing inward toward the collection container in the hole. Condensation will collect on the inner side of the sheeting and drip into collection. The tubing allows for sipping from collection without opening the greenhouse (try not to disturb the plastic sheeting). This solar still can be reliable, but is not very productive. A human would need perhaps up to a dozen of them going every day to survive by that water alone. So it is good for supplement, but not sustainable unless you're carrying a lot of plastic sheeting and tubing.
6. Solar Still - transpiration type
(emergency measure only)
Find a tree or bush of non-toxic nature and put a bunch of a leafy branch into a large plastic bag and tie it off. Essentially it's like giving one branch of the tree a plastic glove. Except the glove doesn't breathe. It needs to be a greenhouse so the moisture evaporating from the live leaves will be trapped in the bag and collect at the bottom. Arrange the bag so that one corner is lower than than the rest. This makes for easy tap of the bag to pull water out whilst not disturbing the greenhouse. Depending on the vegetation this type of solar still may be more effective than the cavity type noted above in #5. But sustaining on this alone would require at least several stills if not many.
7. Tree Seep
(emergency measure only)
Also known as wetwood, it usually can be spotted as a dark spot up in a tree, perhaps at a major crotch or at a wound in the trunk. By tapping the seep some water can be obtained. But it requires some effort and damage to the tree. Also the water can be rich in micro-organisms that could cause sickness if not treated.
Video demonstrating and explaining some of the practices in this order: tree seep, solar still (cavity type), solar still (transpiration type), tubers, dew collection
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIOCPzn38vo
More General Methods
www.americansnetworkingtosurvive.org/Find_Water_In_The_Wi...
Water Stop: 3rd Litre
A small garden scene at the water source is like an oasis in the mountains. When it is difficult to find water, the challenge is economical. How much water will it cost to find more? How much water will I get in return and what quality?
Aldo Leopold Wilderness, New Mexico.
Ways of Finding Water in Arid Country
1. Local Knowledge
The easiest way is to consult with experts or having experience in the area. You need a manner of getting there (e.g. map, compass/GPS or memory).
2. Read The Landscape
Both visually and with the map, check for major drainages on North slopes. Usually intermittent streams and springs are more reliable in these areas. If out of the mountains look for depressions, fissures, wet sand. Look for vegetation, especially for types that like water.
3. Bare Rock
Water and hard rock tend to form pools over time due to erosion patterns. On watertight rock these pools will not drain. Water source can be intermittent stream or rainwater, collected into the pools.
4. Vegetable Tubers
Many tubers are edible and they usually contain a lot of water. You'll want to find significant tubers to make it worth the digging. Fern is often used as an example. Fore more plants, see section "Edible Tubers Bulbs or Roots": www.swsbm.com/ManualsOther/UsefulPlants/Useful_Wild_Plant...
5. Collecting Dew
Walk through plants wet with dew or rain while wearing some clean absorbent cloth. If you're in grassy or leafy area you can very quickly soak the material. Wring it out into collection. Repeat.
5. Solar Still - cavity type
(emergency measure only)
Requiring some clear plastic sheeting and at least 1 m of tubing. Dig a wide shallow hole in the proportions of 1-2 meter diameter to wrist-elbow depth. Arrange a lot of water-bearing material (e.g. crushed vegetation) at the bottom, spread evenly around up to hand depth. Snuggle into the center a collection container facing upward to catch drops of condensation. Run the tubing from the collection to outside the hole and secure it. Cover hole with plastic sheeting to create a greenhouse. Secure the sheeting. Place a stone in the middle of the sheeting so that it depresses into the shape of a cone, with the tip facing inward toward the collection container in the hole. Condensation will collect on the inner side of the sheeting and drip into collection. The tubing allows for sipping from collection without opening the greenhouse (try not to disturb the plastic sheeting). This solar still can be reliable, but is not very productive. A human would need perhaps up to a dozen of them going every day to survive by that water alone. So it is good for supplement, but not sustainable unless you're carrying a lot of plastic sheeting and tubing.
6. Solar Still - transpiration type
(emergency measure only)
Find a tree or bush of non-toxic nature and put a bunch of a leafy branch into a large plastic bag and tie it off. Essentially it's like giving one branch of the tree a plastic glove. Except the glove doesn't breathe. It needs to be a greenhouse so the moisture evaporating from the live leaves will be trapped in the bag and collect at the bottom. Arrange the bag so that one corner is lower than than the rest. This makes for easy tap of the bag to pull water out whilst not disturbing the greenhouse. Depending on the vegetation this type of solar still may be more effective than the cavity type noted above in #5. But sustaining on this alone would require at least several stills if not many.
7. Tree Seep
(emergency measure only)
Also known as wetwood, it usually can be spotted as a dark spot up in a tree, perhaps at a major crotch or at a wound in the trunk. By tapping the seep some water can be obtained. But it requires some effort and damage to the tree. Also the water can be rich in micro-organisms that could cause sickness if not treated.
Video demonstrating and explaining some of the practices in this order: tree seep, solar still (cavity type), solar still (transpiration type), tubers, dew collection
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIOCPzn38vo
More General Methods
www.americansnetworkingtosurvive.org/Find_Water_In_The_Wi...