How To Make Water Tastier

Supposing you have found water and know how you'll make it drinkable but can't get rid of the stench if the water has some smell?

An easy way to make the water less smelly is by adding charcoal to it when you boil it. And it does help with filtration too. And as charcoal is easily obtainable [you'll be lighting fires] that shouldn't be too hard.

 

I have heard that charcoal is good for the digestive system also, this may be a good idea when you are dealing with water supplies that might be less than crystal clear! Good tip, and a good point about reusing the charcoal from your fire. Since you are presumably going to clean your fire pit up when you are done, you definitely want to save some of the very useful charcoal!

 

If the water has an unpleasant odor, I guess it is not fit to drink. Even if I am dry and the water is like that, I don't think I can drink it. One of the best remedy is boiling because the germs are eradicated by 5 minutes of continuous boiling. But with the taste, I cannot guarantee because even pure water has an aftertaste. And if that taste is the only problem then you can add any citrus like lemon drops to neutralize the tangy taste of the water.

The germs in the water is a big health issue in the rural areas here. Unlike in the olden days when a mountain spring is guaranteed to be clean, now you cannot be too sure because even people inhabiting the mountains are careless with their trash.

 

If the taste is really bad you could try and distill it. Simply boil the water and try to collect the condensed vapor by putting a plate or a lid on top of the boiling pot. There will be a lot of water loss but at least the collected water should be odorless.

 

I haven't tried the charcoal method. In my traveling, majority of my water was bought from the store and stored in my backpack. I have never been in a situation where I have had to boil my own water in order to rid of bacteria. This is something that I would like to try, now that I'm no longer traveling. It'd be interesting to see if I could successfully filter my own water, though I'd fear doing something wrong and harming myself. Would you filter the charcoal out of the water once it's done boiling?

 

I've heard charcoal might be really good for you like @QtheMyst but that it is yet to be proven whether it carries any risks if used regularly. I suppose it would be up to your own judgement to decide whether you would rather risk the charcoal or the putrid water taste. I prefer the idea of boiling it and collecting the condensation, to be honest. Maybe I'll have to try some charcoal in some boiled tap water to see though.

 

From what I recall, if anything smells bad that is a red flag that it has unhealthy bacteria in it. If you are throwing muddy water into a pot to boil, I would hope that you will try to remove any particulates as humanly possible first before attempting to boil it. Using a piece of bamboo with a fully open end and a small hole in the other can make as a good container for filtering. First you add charcoal to the very bottom, and the rest can by filled with small rocks and sand. That should be drinkable, but if you have time, why not boil it as well.

 

Boiling is the best method of removing odour from water. Addition of charcoal is something I have just learnt and will definitely try it to make my water tastier. Another way is to keep it in an earthen or clay pot after boiling. Passing the water through clean sand and gravel and then through a fine cotton cloth will yield dividends before boiling then add some cement to give a characteristic earthy taste.

 

That's pretty cool, but to be honest, if you're out in the wilderness and haven't drank anything in days, you won't be picky when you find a water source. Just drink it in, hydrate yourself, and maybe brace yourself for the effects, like an upset stomach or something. But all in all, water is basically that, something that would make you survive another day if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere. I have heard stories about people actually drinking their own urine in worst case scenarios, so having "smelly water" isn't as bad as that, wouldn't you agree?

 

Actually, there are bacteria out there that will kill you in no time if you drink it. You are better off working through it for 3 days. If you drink contaminated water you will vomiting on both ends and will not be able to walk. Drinking contaminated water will render you helpless. Human can last 72 hours before your body starts shutting down. So it's best you come up with a filtering or boiling method to clean out your water.

 

Adding charcoal to water to get rid of the smell? That's interesting, I never even considered doing that and it would've been useful because I can't even count the amount of times I found water that was undrinkable because of the smell. I usually just carry a water filter that you can find in a supermarket with 2 additional filters in case the one in use stops working, it gets the job done.

 

Most of my waterbottles are stainless steel and you can boil in them!

 

I don't know if you have asked about the water in the context of a survival situation. But in a normal scenario, you have smart UV purifiers that also come with TDS(Total dissolved salts) control. Your water tastes good if the TDS is less than 300 ppm. In a survival situation, you should always boil the water to remove odor causing bacteria and pathogens.

 

One of the traditional was of drinking water that doesn't taste that good was making a tea. It won't get rid of the taste completely but it will make it at least drinkable.

 

I remember that when going to Asia, you'd find different water taste. And there are some specific purifiers that are known to change the taste of water. Those purifiers last for 1 gallon of water capacity. And after that you have to change it. So that can be one option. They cost around 40$ or so over there. Costly but gets work done in some cases.

 

I read about a survival story where a man who was dying of dehydration found a rather dirty source of water (muddy, contaminated, etc) and he couldn't risk puking it and wasting water, but with the current state of it, his stomach would probably throw it out without having rehydrated his body first. So he made a sort of enema out of it; used a hose and took in the water the other way, and directly into the intestines. It worked, and he got enough nourishment to actually find rescue.

 

Nice one. I remember when we use to ground charcoal and use it to clean our teeth.

 

Nice one. I remember when we use to ground charcoal and use it to clean our teeth.