Drinking dam water

I'm trying to plan for worst case scenario while camping/backpacking in the Goldfields.

I can carry a limited amount of water but when that runs out can I drink filtered/sterilised dam water?

Or would there be stuff in the dam water that can't be filtered out?

Things I'm concerned about are arsenic and cyanide ect.

What are your thoughts cause I can't find anything related to goldfield dam water specifically.

Buy your self a Life Straw.

Yes they do work far from another useless gadget, iv never been sick once from the many places iv drank from.

Life straws are great.

You can also:

buy sterylising tablets ( sorry for spelling on that one ) from a chemist

distill dirty water using two metal containers and a hose / tube.

I carry a small amount of alum and bleach sometimes if I feel. Alum is banned in aus as a cooking ingredient and as a carcinogen, but it settles and coagulates particles into solids. Bleach then adds chlorine to the water to kill bacteria. If you were going to do this id highly reccomend reading a lot more on it.

taking a piece of glad wrap or plastic and you will always be able to catch morning dew in a cup in a hole and a rock in the middle of the plastic.

you can leech or filter water using a container with certain grades of grass, rock and sand. This one takes a long time.

also dont forget cetain plants have high water content, if in dry areas, mostly root plants hold the water.

..and then theres fire to heat the water, what if you have no source of flame?:

quartz will spark like flint when smashed into itself. its possible to make a fire from this with patience.

glad wrap again, urinate into it and make a urine ball by twisting the gladwrap keeping urine within. usine is great at refracting light and will work like a magnifying glass in the sun to light fire.

fire pistons also work very well, one hit and you will have a burning ember to light your fire with. make or order one for those survival moments

Dead animals in dams. YUK

Fish pi$$ in water catchments' oh yeah!

Thanks for the replies.

I usually carry 3 litres with me but have ran out a few times.
Last summer I spent quite a lot of time out in 35+ heat and it made me wonder what I could drink in a desperate situation.

I just purchased a canteen kit so I can at least do some cooking and boil water.

But I'm still unsure about gold processing chemicals that still might be in the water.

Yes, that would be a worry out there. Even boiling the water won't get rid of the chemicals will it!!?
Jaros

Nah, need to distil for that.

Not sure a lifestraw would either, but if you Really need water a few chem aren't going to kill you.

Even when I just go camping overnight I keep a 20 litre container of water in my 4wd. Never know when you might need it.
Also have first aid kit and water sterilization tablets.
Bottle of fire lighter liquid or solid firelighters and matches are always handy.

Terry

Those Lifestraw products look awesome i think ill have to get one.
Though im still concerned about arsenic....should i be?

I wouldnt be in a survival situation. whats important is getting back to civilisation and help first. Its very small exposure compared to directly being in contact with anything.

AtomRat said:

I wouldnt be in a survival situation.

Click to expand...

Not sure what to say that...Do you really believe that?
I think anything could happen while in the bush prospecting and i would prefer to be at least mostly ready for most situations.

Anyway hate to be a pain but the question kinda still stands.....Would it be safe to drink filtered water from dams in the goldfields?
Or would the arsenic cyanide ect be an issue even after all these years?

Edit: Actually TheSilentBugler did answer that sorry.

With the amount of chemicals in our local tap water im sure a little gold mining history won't affect us considering most the water catchments flow through old mining areas anyway'

That is a very nice quality water canteen, cup and hex stove attachment set you have there. Where did you buy it, and how much did it cost? Thanks.

gedanate said:

That is a very nice quality water canteen, cup and hex stove attachment set you have there. Where did you buy it, and how much did it cost? Thanks.

Click to expand...

http://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/products/camp-fire-cooking-kit.php

Yeah i love this canteen kit so far,well worth the money.

Fish and others also fornicate in most water places. Source of protein, so don't filter out the good stuff.

Carbide works well and then strong red cordials.

It sounds just like the famous quote from that old alcoholic actor, W.C. Fields. He said, "Water? I never drink the stuff. Fish f*ck in it!"

Short and to the point, eh?

Id suggest that you do a bit of survival reading and youtube watching on survival skills and the many way to do things with absolute minimal. Theres many, many ways to get out of a tacky situation and I wouldnt feel comfortable out in the bush without knowing the info.

My biggest concern is I lack the info on plants, berries and roots, so I stay well away from then until I know more and ill stick to the bugs ( if I had to ). Ive gotta buy this little handbook that teaches you how to cook and prepare most australian plants.

In order my concerns are:

mineshafts
snakes
exaustion
misdirection
water
food
shelter

Hi all,

Have been doing a bit of research on this topic and would like to offer the following little bits of info:

Apart from possibly mining scenarios, arsenic is more likely found in groundwater than in rivers and lakes http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/arsenic/upload/2005_11_10_arsenic_treatments_and_costs.pdf also http://www.pure-earth.com/arsenic-water-filter.htm

Arsenic is found in two forms - organic and inorganic.

Common treatment methods for removal of arsenic from drinking water include filtration and chemical treatments on a large scale.

In developing countries some smaller scale filtration methods have been used with success although these aren't suitable necessarily for survival situations. See: https://www.koshland-science-museum.org/water/html/en/Treatment/Household-Arsenic-Filter.html

most sources recommend reverse osmosis as the most effective filtration system for the removal of arsenic from drinking water.
There appear to be a number of "portable reverse osmosis water filters" available and these are commonly used for caravans and camping. Some examples can be found here: http://www.waterfilterworld.com.au/index.php?cPath=268 and
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HPRO-5-N...Osmosis-Water-Filters-RO-Filter-/111025549784
And http://www.water2water.com.au/product-category/holiday/
I don't necessarily recommend any or all but I thought I'd post this info for others to use as a starting point.

Terry

If it is about living or dying - I would be happy to drink any water...

If it is a long term situation, then the concerns of Arsnic etc comes into play.

As a kid with my old man, when out droving; I often had to get a billy of water from a soak. Yep a muddy water spot full of cow shit and piss and who knows what else.

A drop of carbide would settle the muck ( when we had it) and then pour off the clean stuff, boil and strong tea to kill the taste. A second billy would sit over night and the muck would settle without the carbide (Love that stuff but hate the taste), and the morning tea was black and strong with some suggar to get you started.

Only so much stuff you can carry on a pack horse when working in the bush.

You an go overboard with lots of teck stuff; but if you are in that much strife that you are about to die of thirst and there is no water about. Then that tecnical gear is all wasted.

KISS = Do your planning and manage your water in teh first place. If it is running short, then lots of basic tricks to keep you going and to allow you to get back.

If your planning always for the extreme, then your basic planning may need looking at.

I like the water straws and some of the small hand de salination pumps, when doing any long kayak trips, as you do not always have space. But it can be hard work to get more than what is required for a good drink.