Finding Fresh Water
How to Find Fresh Water
Why We Need Water
Water is more important for your body's survival than food. You can live without water for about one week, but you can survive without food for more than a month. Dehydration reduces the amount of blood in your body, forcing your heart to pump harder in order to deliver oxygen-bearing cells to your muscles. At first when you don't have water, you get dizzy, irritable, and have headaches. Then, you become clumsy and very tired. Lastly, you vomit and feel nauseous. If you do not get water after that you enter a coma and die.
Different Places to Get Water
- Rain water
- Around the Island
- Solar water still
Rain Water
To get rain water you can either set out the containers you have when it rains or collect the rain with leaves.
Around the Island
A good way to find water is by exploring the island. The further in you go, the better your chances of finding water are. If it is a big island, there might be streams and waterfalls with fresh drinking water.
Creating a Solar Water Still
- Dig a hole in sand near the edge of trees. Make sure it is deep enough that the sand is damp.
- Place container in center of hole
- Put wet things such as wet leaves around the container.
- Place plastic sheet over hole and hold it in place with large rocks.
- Place one small rock over the container on the plastic.
- This will cause condensation and water will drip into the container.
Salt Water
Even if you are really thirsty, you should never drink salt water. Salt water causes dehydration because your body needs to urinate more to get rid of all the salt, making you more thirsty than you were before drinking.