Water is one of the most important things that we need to survive. It ranks up near the top because without water, we are not going to make it very long. Of course, there is a big difference between dirty water and clean water, and we always want the latter.
When you are in a survival situation, however, you don’t always have the option of having boiled water or picking up water at a store. Sometimes, you just need to filter the water on your own and this little trick will help you to do so.
It starts out with some type of hollow branch about 12 inches long. Although you can use any type of tree branch for this as long as it is hollow, the best option is to use a piece of bamboo. It is also lightweight and travels well.
After cutting both ends of the bamboo, you will find some clean moss and fill about 2 inches of the bamboo, using the smaller branch to pack it in tightly. Use as much moss as is necessary to pack that and of the tube.
Next, you will need to use some charcoal from a previous fire. It’s a good idea to collect this charcoal, not only for this use but for other uses as well. Pound it on some rocks and grind it up as fine as possible. Fill the tube with the fine charcoal and some larger pieces as well.
Now that the tube is about 10 inches filled, the last 2 inches should be filled with some more of the clean moss. It should be packed in as tightly as possible and you should go find some more moss if necessary to ensure that water will not flow through it too quickly.
The next step is to cut a large plastic bottle to act as a funnel. You should make it so that the tube fits nicely inside of the funnel at the cap. If it doesn’t fit tightly, you will have to use some tar to seal it so that dirty water is not running around it and contaminating the clean water.
That’s really all there is to it. Rig things up so that the bottle is suspended above your container for drinking. Pour the water into the funnel and allow it to slowly drip through the charcoal to clean the water.
Admittedly, this isn’t going to be ideal but when you are in a survival situation, you need to do whatever is necessary to have the clean water that you and your family need to make it through.
Watch it being made for yourself in this video: