Just an observation from the peanut gallery...the whole boiling water (how long / how hot etc.) has been discussed multiple times in various ETS Forum threads over the last several years. A forum search should reveal several threads. Additionally, check out the following:

1. Look in the top right corner of your screen and use the "Where do you want to go on ETS?" menu, then select "Skills & Technique" from the drop down menu. Then click on the "GO" button and scroll down the resulting menu to find "No substitute for water" and click on that link in which Doug mentions that a continuous rolling boil is not needed.

2. Also, do a googlesearch for "SODIS" and you will find an amazing amount of information (150k hits in my check moments ago) on the subject.

This is something that we should all consider when we are in need of water. Hope this helps out.


Regards, Comanche7

SODIS will only work at certain latitudes. From 15N to 15S is optimum, but 35N to 35S can work under certain conditions.

Sue

the best take i heard on this--from a Dr--was that the little
nastys in the water are "programed" to reproduce at our body
temp..at 98.6 they start to unzip their DNA..with nothing
around them except H2o they just keep unraveling into the
harmless base chemicals they are made from..the stuff that
survives in really hot water--like at Yellowstone Park--does
not have us on their food chain..

I disagree. Above 5000 feet, yes, boil for longer. But if you are below 2500 feet, don't waste the time of the fuel. Pretty much everything that can hurt you dies at 180F, you hit that before things boil at the altitudes most of us live at.

Special cases are just that, special. "Don't drink the water" is a special case that exists at sea. *shrugs* Keep the special cases in mind, but don't make them SOP.

No, you are being a multi-celled life form. If you are a single cell life form, if that one bursts, you are done. For us, it is "just" a burn, not insta-death.

LOL! For some reason I love that line.

-Blast

Having caught Giardia once, I will boil water at least a minute if I can't treat it or filter it before I drink it.

I don't recall their names, but I think there were a couple other nasties out there that required a rolling boil for a bit longer.

In most cases, if I have a source of heating the water, I can get it to a boil and keep it there long enough.

Y'all do what you think is best for you. I've learnt my lesson.

Watching Les, he always gets his raw water boiling for a while. That together with my own experiences is gospel to me.

Actually what happens is tha protiens break down at about 160 to 180 degrees. Fortunatelly this is juat about the boiling point of water on the top of Mt. Everest. So it is safe to bring the water to a full boil at any elevation and the water is safe. The ony eception to this is the thermophiles found in Yellowstone and some deep sea trenches but I do not think any of these are pathogens.
cheers

Protiens break down at about 160 degrees F which is just about the boiling point on top of Mt Everest. So you can boil an egg in theory, though I know of anyone that has tried this but I do know someone that has hit a golf ball off of the top of Everest.
cheers

Big bubbles = no troubles.