...No soldier should Drink any water without it Being Boiled...©

 

Pots and pans to boil your drinking water in, which might have been found in a late 18th or early 19th century kitchen, photograph by the Author.

 

Throughout all of human history and in fact, until as recently as the very end of the 19^th and the beginning of 20^th century, with the acceptance of the Germ Theory and the establishment of municipal water facilities and the mass disinfection of water, water borne diseases such as dysentery or diarrhea, (diseases which were known as “bloody flux” or “quickstep”), cholera and typhoid fever (or “camp fever”), killed thousands¹. 

 

For example, during the American Civil War, twice as many soldiers died from illness, as died of battle wounds.  Of the illnesses, dysentery and diarrhea were the leading cause of death, killing 45,000 out of the 2 million soldiers serving in the Civil War, followed by typhoid fever and malaria². 

 

Dysentery...Bloody Flux...Cholera...Typhoid Fever...Bad Water!

 

An illustration from the Field Artillery Manual, 1928, page XXX, 4-5.

Bacterial dysentery and diarrhea are caused by shigella, campylobacter, or salmonella³ bacteria, and all of these can be found in wells, rivers and other water sources that have been polluted with human feces.  The symptoms of diarrhea are frequent and watery stools which can cause shock and death if the body’s fluids and electrolytes are not replaced, dysentery has the same symptoms, except with bloody stools.  It not just bad water, house flies also can also spread these bacteria when the hairs on their legs encounter bacteria and later, human food.  Flies also spread this disease by feeding on infected human feces and then vomiting or defecating on human food stuffs.  Amoebic dysentery is caused by the parasitic protozoa, entamoeba histolytica, which can be found in polluted water, and has the same symptoms as bacterial dysentery and diarrhea.

 

“Young man suffering from dysentery”, by Baumgartner, Abb 35, 1929, page 128, from Wikimedia, HERE.

Cholera is an acute diarrhea with a high mortality and is caused by the bacteria vibrato cholera, which can be found in contaminated water.  Cholera spread worldwide after 1817, due to its accidental transport in the bilge water of ships involved in trade with the Indian subcontinent.

 

Typhoid fever is caused by the salmonella typhi bacteria, and the symptoms of this disease include a fever, headache, either constipation or diarrhea, chills and sometimes a skin rash.  It is caused by consuming food or water that has been contaminated with feces that have been infected with salmonella typhi bacteria.  During the American Civil War if you developed typhoid fever, you had a one in three chance of dying, and over 30,000 soldiers in both the Union and Confederate Armies died of it during the American Civil War⁴. 

 

What has happened thousands of times from drinking bad water, “The Dance of Death”, 1493, by Michael Wolgemut, from the Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel, HERE.

To make it pure and wholesome...by boiling

 

A Spanish proverb from A New Dictionary, Spanish and English, and English and Spanish, by Captain John Stevens, 1726, page AGU to AGU.

As the Spanish proverb “água mala hervída y coláda” or “bad water must be boil’d and strain’d” from a 1726 dictionary shows, it has been known for a long time that letting drinking water settle or straining it and then boiling would make it wholesome or in modern terms, disinfect it.  In fact, it was known as far back as Hippocrates⁵, a physician who lived in Ancient Greece from 460 BCE to 370 BCE, and who recommended boiling and then straining water through a cloth filter.

 

An excerpt from Hippocrates Upon Air, Water and Situation, Francis Clifton, M.D., page 13.

Even though Hippocrates, whose four humors theory was influential in the development of western medicine, recommended boiling and then straining water to disinfect it, disinfecting water by boiling was virtually ignored by most people prior the 18th and 19^th centuries.  However, by the late 18th century, with the development of the microscope and the discovery of “animalcules” by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s⁶ and particularly with the research into scurvy by James Lind, boiling water to disinfect it became more and more accepted, with various authorities beginning to recommend it.

 

An excerpt from A treatise on the Scurvy, John Hayman, 1791, page 18.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, boiling drinking water was the only effective way our ancestors had of disinfecting it, although other methods were tried... 

 

But what about ginger...?

 

Historically, ginger root, zingiber officinale, was thought to disinfect water, as shown by Samuel Warner’s 1759 journal entry “...No soldier should Drink any water without it Being Boild, Except he had ginger in it”.  This was perhaps due to ginger’s pungent taste and smell, which would have covered the taste and smell of bad water, however, the active ingredients in ginger, when mixed with water do not kill dangerous pathogens⁷.

 

Vinegar perhaps...

 

An excerpt from A Mental Museum, for the Rising Generation, by Jesse Torrey, Jun.; 1829, page 199-200.

During the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries it was thought that by adding a little vinegar to bad water it would make it fit for drinking.  Today however, the United States Environmental Protection Agency does not list vinegar as a water treatment that they consider acceptable⁸.  Vinegar is a solution of between 5-8% acetic acid by volume, and is mostly water, with some trace elements.  While it is true that acetic acid, in the concentrations equal to that found in vinegar, can inhibit bacterial growth, by adding it to your drinking water and diluting it even more, it would become ineffective.

 

Adding spirits or wine to it?

 

An excerpt from Counsel for Emigrants, and Interesting Information from Numerous Sources, 1834, pages 79-80.

While it is true that alcohol will kill bacteria and other pathogens, according to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to kill viruses and bacteria, the concentration of ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, the type of alcohol that we drink, must be between 60% to 90%, which leaves very little room for the water⁹.

 

So just to be safe...

 

An excerpt from the Field Artillery Manual, 1928, page XXXIII, 16-18.

Today, unlike the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, there are several ways, which actually work, to filter or disinfect water: chemicals, UV light, filtration or boiling.  So, in the wilderness, if you are not positive that your water is pure, and who can be 100% positive, and you can filter it or disinfect it, then filter it or disinfect it¹⁰!  The CDC considers boiling water to be the best way to disinfect it.  For more on water disinfection and boiling read “Water Disinfection: When is boiled, boiled enough…? ©”, HERE, “True or False, You Should Drink Water From The Spring Where Horses Drink?©”, HERE, and “Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble...The 5 Stages of Boiling©”, HERE.

 

An excerpt from the Field Artillery Manual, 1928, page XXX, 6-7.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skills...Number Seven©”, where we will talk about signaling for help!

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ The first use of chlorine to disinfect water in a municipal facility was in England in 1897, followed in the United States in Jersey City, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois in 1915.  The filtration and disinfection of water during the 20^th century is responsible for an almost 50% reduction in overall mortality, a 75% reduction in infant mortality and a nearly 67% reduction in child mortality due to water borne pathogens and illnesses.

 

From “John Snow, Cholera, the Broad Street Pump; Waterborne Diseases Then and Now”, by Theodore H. Tulchinsky, MD MPH.

 

² From “Nor Any Drop To Drink”, by Ann Chandonnet.

 

³ Not the salmonella that causes Typhoid Fever, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that is caused by caused by salmonella typhi bacteria.

 

⁴ From “American Civil War Disease Facts”, American Civil War Facts.

 

⁵ Hippocrates is also known as Hippocrates of Kos or Hippocrates II.

 

⁶ Animalcules is the Latin word for “little animals”.  The word was invented by Leeuwenhoek and is an old term for microscopic organisms that included bacteria, protozoans, and very small animals and refers to the microorganisms he observed in rainwater.

 

⁷ “Antibacterial activity and medicinal properties of Ginger (Zingiber officinale)”, by Samuel Malu, et al.

 

⁸ “Can Vinegar Sterilize, Disinfect, Or Purify Water?”, by Russell Singleton,

 

⁹ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Chemical Disinfectants”

 

¹⁰ “A doctor can fix giardia, but he can’t fix dead”, or “doctors can cure a lot of things, but they can’t cure dead” is a survival refrain that Peter Kummerfeldt teaches, and I have echoed since I first read it in 2005.  When worst comes to worst, and you are facing dehydration, drinking actually or potentially infected water is better than not drinking any water at all. 

 

This might seem like common sense, however as my daughter says, “what is common sense to one person, isn’t common sense to another; common sense only exists in the context of your environment”.  In the 1990’s two hikers in the Grand Canyon, ran out of water and didn’t want to refill their water bottles at a late season creek-bed pothole, teeming with tadpoles and other life: one of the hikers later died of dehydration and the other barely survived.

 

Peter Kummerfeldt is a 71 year old survival expert who graduated from the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and later was an instructor at the Basic Survival School, in Spokane, Washington, in the Arctic Survival School, in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, in the Republic of the Philippines.  Also, Peter was the Survival Training Director for the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, for twelve years (from Peter Kummerfeldt’s biography at “OutdoorSafe with Peter Kummerfeldt”, found HERE)

 

“Canyon Missteps, Lesson: Respect For Danger” Popular Mechanics, Volume 182, Number 8, August 2005, page 67,

 

 

Sources

 

American Academy of Medicine; Bulletin of the American Academy of Medicine, Volume 7, No. 1, June 1905, [Eschenbach Printing Company, Easton PA], page 733-734, https://books.google.com/books?id=jF49AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA734&dq=soldier+%22without+it+being+boiled%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihoKTCiof1AhUMn-AKHXJmDEMQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=soldier%20%22without%20it%20being%20boiled%22&f=false, accessed December 28, 2021

 

American Civil War Facts, “American Civil War Disease Facts”, http://www.civil-war-facts.com/Interesting-Civil-War-Facts/American-Civil-War-Diseases-Facts.html, accessed January 1, 2022

 

Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Chemical Disinfectants”, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/disinfection-methods/chemical.html, accessed August 27, 2020

 

Chandonnet, Ann; “Nor Any Drop To Drink: The Problem of Drinking Water in the Civil War”, https://www.bethelhistorical.org/legacy-site/Drinking_Water_in_the_Civil_War.html, accessed January 5, 2022

 

Clifton, Francis, M.D.; Hippocrates Upon Air, Water and Situation, [Printed by J. Watts, London, 1734], page 13, https://books.google.com/books?id=a2-XlKZAIU8C&pg=PA13&dq=hippocrates+boiling+water&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpipCY0efrAhUShHIEHZfSAws49AMQ6AEwBnoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=hippocrates%20boiling%20water&f=false, accessed September 14, 2020

 

Counsel for Emigrants, and Interesting Information from Numerous Sources, [John Mathison, Aberdeen, Scotland, 1834], page 79-80, https://books.google.com/books?id=o64NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA79&dq=drinking+bad+water&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlxsKbxLvrAhVNmuAKHeEsB9Y4sgUQ6AEwB3oECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=drinking%20bad%20water&f=false, accessed August 27, 2020

 

Dorwart, Dr. Bonnie Brice; “Disease in the Civil War”, [© 2010-2022, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech], https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/disease-in-the-civil-war.html, accessed January 1, 2022

 

Hayman, John; A treatise on the Scurvy, [London, 1791] page 18, https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadcfAbo9dRjlTPPY0n37ixcoFhRFv5kh2AWuYVVW7EccT6Xe44-tWAanYVFq0bARZyTg18ZknMnCI-wSYJ4UN5Hp8lPw4snv_zl3xraoTivPBIhs16BvgWM-7HF6a_E5YGEUivYDWhrJ3sTt_6rvorxMqsFj025ittlh0x-6yOg_WicIO3LpNOYOHevkSBBguTX7VVmzKNAVmYlVhL-_eZf0UcujmqozNQNhTTR-9LpgFNAkl_3tfeto9ZLUBd6mExfpG_pAgw5uTrNBbiNT4YjXXqGqDRP_9SiiGG29n3Z9nR0iCY, accessed December 26, 2021

 

Healthline, “What Is Dysentery and How Is It Treated?”, https://www.healthline.com/health/digestive-health/dysentery, accessed January 1, 2022

 

Malu, Samuel; Obochi, G; Tawo, E; and Nyong, Bassey; “Antibacterial activity and medicinal properties of Ginger (Zingiber officinale)”, December 2009, Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, 15, pages 3 to 4, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267779045_Antibacterial_activity_and_medicinal_properties_of_Ginger_Zingiber_officinale, October 22, 2019

 

Stebbins, Rufus Phineas; An Historical Address: Delivered at the Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Wilbraham, June 15, 1863, [George C. Rand & Avery, Boston], page 209, https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafSgltTMA_HVaYqJftE0oeb4EQ7tQfqoLAmTrt1v7HLmgG09VFzWS0lNhk0Cjhl5xJw3jHLv3gHXxrKHD-9rzUe_NGxkupsLyRSR3uXSuqN9OlYaKUK_J3LSIiK7_ZAD5tk5lmQJqBuDoZEtxiq2FbkvDr3BKiPBS8ewn7biGBbbVExrBf9mJIhPGTEPublWGqvyLJG6sD6LWxSLHhiRCPy6CbzXlEk-t7t6LX4668qe-9UMu5xyQF0W_lObGlDGJYUeGsk, accessed January 5, 2022

 

Stevens, Captain John; A New Dictionary, Spanish and English, and English and Spanish, [Printed by J. Darby, London, 1726], page AGU to AGU, https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QaegNfY8DOLRG_V635YDkCd5kevs-mGAc2qpTp423U13bzrVr7JeGLJyguYwR9ig1z32S1_9V8yZzyttL8DcggNaptWNtmUb0lKq-DA7kq3VgdNW58gsZTDHNuKU3P2jEBm84INm1rFEDmHIsBUUkeBgf08ji8RuQBAjRX8E-bUcPVjhiNjz6gxDVFqhMBP_oTi0oO9CwzlaRKgkcbJD_jojzeG2fzfg4RBAraXhvez8EC03Kncc61lZrl-e2E1pXEE7p_sVdeUQxnm7aKEzvQNam2f17Q, accessed December 26, 2021

 

Singleton, Russell; “Can Vinegar Sterilize, Disinfect, Or Purify Water?”, [© 2022 Copyright Water Purification Guide], https://waterpurificationguide.com/why-you-should-never-trust-vinegar-to-sterilize-water/, accessed January 4, 2022

 

Tulchinsky, Theodore H., MD MPH; “John Snow, Cholera, the Broad Street Pump; Waterborne Diseases Then and Now”, Case Studies in Public Health, 2018, [Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection], pages 77–99, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7150208/pdf/main.pdf, accessed January 1, 2022

 

Wikimedia, The Dance of Death, 1493, by Michael Wolgemut, (from the Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre#/media/File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Dance_of_Death_(CCLXIIIIv).jpg, accessed January 3, 2022

 

Wikimedia, “Young man suffering from dysentery”, by Baumgartner, Abb 35, 1929, page 128, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Young_man_suffering_from_dysentery._Baumgartner,_1929_Wellcome_L0074305.jpg, accessed January 3, 2022

 

Wilson, Arthur R., Captain, Field Artillery, U.S. Army; Field Artillery Manual, Volume One, Third Revised Edition, [George Banta Publishing Company, Menasha, Wisconsin, 1928]

 

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble...The 5 Stages of Boiling©

 

 

Boiling water, video by the Author.

For more on water disinfection and boiling read “Water Disinfection: When is boiled, boiled enough…? ©”, HERE and  “True or False, You Should Drink Water From The Spring Where Horses Drink?©”, HERE – Author’s note.

 

The five stages of boiling...

 

Recently I was chatting with my daughter, when she asked at what temperature do the first bubbles appear in boiling water.  This is important question because, raw water should always be disinfected or pasteurized before you drink it, and most, but not all pathogens are killed before the water is at a full boil.  I didn’t know, so, I did what I always do, and I did some research and found the answers. 

 

Graphic by the Author.

In undisinfected water there can be three different kinds of pathogens that are harmful to humans: protozoa, bacteria, and viruses.  Protozoa that commonly found in water, and that are harmful to humans, are cryptosporidium and giardia intestinalis (also called giardia lamblia), while commonly occurring, harmful bacteria are campylobacter, salmonella, shigella and escherichia coli, and harmful viruses often found in water are enterovirus, hepatitis A, norovirus, and rotavirus.  This is why raw water should always be disinfected or pasteurized¹and made potable before you drink it.

 

Per the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), boiling water is the best method to disinfect water² by destroying dangerous pathogens and making it safe to drink, even when it is turbid or cloudy, or you are at a high altitude. 

 

Without using a thermometer, a rolling boil is the only absolute, easily recognizable, visual clue to the temperature of water.  However, as you are heating water there are some other visual clues to the temperature of the water as it is heating.  This is important because, while most pathogens in water are killed at temperatures well below the boiling point of water, the hepatitis A virus is heat resistant and can only be destroyed by water heated to a rolling or full boil.

 

Water less than 160^o F (72^o C), photograph by the Author.

Bubble do not begin to appear at the bottom of the pan until the water reaches about162^o F (72^o C).  If you heat water and keep it at 145^o F (63^o C) for thirty minutes “the enteric pathogens will be significantly reduced, likely to potable levels”¹, by what is called “vat pasteurization”.  However, the problem with “vat pasteurization” in the field, is that there are no visual clues to the water’s temperature and without a thermometer you won’t know what the temperature of the water is.

 

Stage One...Shrimp Eyes

 

Stage one of boiling, tiny bubbles appear at the bottom of the pan, photograph by the Author.

In stage one of boiling, tiny bubbles begin to appear at the bottom of the pan.  At this point the water about 160^o to 162^o F (71^o to 72^o C) and if the water is kept at this temperature for 15 seconds it will be pasteurized, and the enteric pathogens will be reduced to potable levels.

 

Stage Two...Crab Eyes

 

Stage two of boiling, the bubbles become slightly larger, photograph by the Author.

At stage two of boiling, the water is about 175^o F (80^o C), and the bubbles are lightly larger, also wisps of steam begin to rise.

 

Stage Three ... Fisheyes

 

Stage three of boiling, the bubbles at the bottom of the pan are about the size of fisheyes or small pearls, photograph by the Author.

At stage three of boiling, the water has reached the temperature of about 180^o F (82^o C) and the bubbles at the bottom of the pan are about the size of fisheyes or small pearls.  Also, there is more rising steam.

 

Stage Four ... Ropes of Pearls

 

Stage four of boiling, the bubbles stream to the surface like a rope of pearls, photograph by the Author.

In stage four of boiling, the bubbles stream to the surface like a rope of pearls and the temperature of the water is between 200^o to 205^o F (93^o to 96^o C).  At these temperatures it will take between .1 and .05 seconds for the enteric pathogens to be reduced to potable levels and the water to be disinfected.

 

Stage Five ... Raging Torrent

 

Stage five of boiling, a raging torrent or a rolling boil, photograph by the Author.

At stage five of boiling, the water is a raging torrent, a rolling or a fast boil and has reached the full boiling temperature of 212^o

F (100^o C).  At this temperature it will take between .01 seconds for the enteric pathogens to be reduced to potable levels and the water to be disinfected.

 

Boiling, “100% effective in removing all pathogens”

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

 

The CDC states that “Except for boiling, few of the water treatment methods are 100% effective in removing all pathogens”.  The CDC also suggests that prior to boiling, cloudy water should be filtered through clean clothes, or left to settle, before drawing off the clear water for boiling.

 

Research by Howard D. Backer, MD in 1996, the CDC in 2009 and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011 has shown that pathogens are killed rapidly by water hotter than 140^o F (60^o C).  In fact, the research shows that the time it takes to heat water on a stove or over a fire, from 131^o F (55^o C) to a rolling boil of 212° F (100° C) at sea level, will kill all disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, and therefore disinfect the water and make it potable.  According to the CDC, heating water to rolling boil water for just one minute is “high effectiveness in killing” protozoa such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia intestinalis (also called Giardia lamblia), bacteria like Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella and E. coli, and viruses such as enterovirus, hepatitis A, norovirus, or rotavirus. 

 

So, just to be safe...

 

Graphic by the Author, from Water Disinfection for International and Wilderness Travelers, by Howard D. Backer, MD, pages 357 to 358.

Because of the heat resistance of the Hepatitis A virus, however, the CDC recommends heating water to a rolling boil for one minute, and for an additional three minutes at elevations above 2,000 meters (6,562 feet), to ensure that the water has remained hot enough, for long enough, to destroy any dangerous pathogens³.  So, even if the enteric pathogens are destroyed at temperatures below 212^o F (100^o C), just to be safe always bring your water to a rolling boil before you drink or rehydrate food with it. 

 

For more on what to do with that nice pot of boiled, and now disinfected, water, read “Drinking Black Tea to Stay Hydrated...Say What?! ©”, HERE, “Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part One ©”, HERE; “Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Two ©”, HERE; “Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Three ©”, HERE; or “Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Four ©”, HERE.

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “...no soldier should drink any water without it being boiled...©”, where we will talk about water disinfection during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries.

 

Photograph by the Author.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

 

¹ What is disinfection, is it the same thing as sterilization or pasteurization?  And what exactly does potable mean?  Disinfection means the removal or destruction of harmful pathogens and is the desired result of water treatment in the field, where it is typically accomplished by boiling.  Pasteurization is like disinfection but involves lower temperatures over a longer time than disinfection.  The goal of both disinfection and pasteurization is to create potable water, which means that the water has a minimal microbial hazard.  Sterilization is the destruction or removal of all life forms and is required for surgical purposes.  Sterilization for surgical purposes requires that the water and the items to be sterilized, be brought to a rolling boil for 15 to 20 minutes.

 

² “Effect of Heat on the Sterilization of Artificially Contaminated Water”, by Howard D. Backer, page three

 

³ An excerpt from “Water Disinfection: When is boiled, boiled enough…? ©”,  HERE.

 

Graphic by the Author

The CDC recommends the additional three minutes of boiling time because, at sea level the boiling point of water is 212^o F (100^o C), however, as elevation increases, atmospheric pressure decreases and water boils at lower temperatures.  For every 500-foot (153 meter) increase in elevation, the boiling point of water decreases by just under 1^o F (approximately .5^o C).  For this reason, the CDC recommends boiling water to a rolling boil for an additional three minutes at altitudes greater than 2,000 meters (6,562 feet).  These additional minutes of rolling boiling time at higher altitudes are intended to ensure that even at these higher elevations, enough boiling time is achieved to ensure the destruction of any pathogenic organisms in the water. 

 

Similarly, the National Wilderness Conference advocates bringing water to a rolling boil for one minute at sea level and boiling it for an additional one minute for every 1,000 feet (305 meters) above sea level, to ensure that dangerous pathogens are destroyed.  It will be noticed that the National Wilderness Conference is more cautious than the CDC, as it advocates bringing water to a rolling boil for an additional minute for each 1,000-foot (305 meters) increase in elevation above sea level. 

 

These additional minutes of rolling boiling time at higher altitudes are intended to ensure that even at these higher elevations, enough boiling time is achieved to ensure the destruction of any pathogenic organisms in the water. 

 

The CDC and the WHO, now agree that boiling water for drinking purposes for ten minutes is unnecessary; and in fact, it is a waste of time, fuel, and water since, water cannot become any hotter than 212°F (100°C) and remain in a liquid state.  To continue to heat water once it has reached the boiling point, more than one minute at low elevations and an additional three to six minutes at elevations above 2,000 meters (6,562 feet), merely wastes fuel, water, and time; all of which might be in short supply in a survival situation.  So, boil your water only as long as the CDC recommends or if you prefer to be extra cautious, use the National Wilderness Conference’s recommendation, and then your water will be boiled enough.

 

Sources

 

Backer, Howard D.; “Effect of Heat on the Sterilization of Artificially Contaminated Water”, [Journal of Travel Medicine; 1996] p. 3:1-4 https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/3/1/1/1804390, accessed December 22, 2021

 

Backer, Howard D.; “Field Water Disinfection”, https://aneskey.com/field-water-disinfection/, accessed April 23, 2019

 

CDC, “A Guide to Drinking Water Treatment and Sanitation for Backcountry & Travel Use”, [2009] http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html, accessed August 31, 2015

 

Curtis, Rick; The Backpacker’s Field Manual, http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml, accessed August 31, 2015

 

Howard, “Boiling Water Verses Pasteurization to Make Safe Drinking Water”, March 19, 2015, [© 2021 Preparedness Advice], https://preparednessadvice.com/boiling-water-verses-pasteurization-make-safe-drinking-water/, accessed December 20, 2021

 

Green-Golden, Sharon; “Boiling: The Answer to High-level Disinfecting of Surgical Instrumentation in a Village of a Third World Country”, [2009] https://www.iahcsmm.org/images/News/Fellow_Papers/FellowshipPaper_SharonGrGolden__2009.pdf, Accessed May 3, 2019

 

The Engineering Toolbox, “Pasteurization Times and Temperatures”, https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pasteurization-methods-temperatures-d_1642.html, accessed December 20, 2021

 

“The 5 Different Stages of Boiling Water and How the Chinese Use Them for Tea”, [© 2021 Golden Moon Tea], https://www.goldenmoontea.com/blogs/tea/106687623-the-5-different-stages-of-boiling-water-and-how-the-chinese-use-them-for-tea, accessed December 20, 2021

 

Wood, T. D.; “Water Treatment for International Travel”, http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/water-treatment-international.html#Boiling, accessed September 30, 2015