# Boiling water ?



## Grinch (Jan 3, 2016)

Hey everyone I just got a little question, maybe it's stupid I don't know, but how long should you boil water for to make sure it's safe ? I've heard that as soon as it starts to boil it's good, I've also heard that for every 32 fluid ounces you should boil it an extra two minutes ? And if you're dealing with very dirty water would it be best to boil strain and reboil ? I have a Life straw, but after a while that goes to shit.


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## OctopusPrime (Dec 2, 2014)

I boil water from a flowing water source for 5 minutes. Be aware of the potential quality of the water too...some water filters do not filter out pollutants.


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## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

Make your filter last longer by using inexpensive coffee filters first ,kind of a pre filter , lets your expensive filter last twice as long


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

With questionable water 10 minutes and you should be good. May not taste the best but you should be safe.


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## jdbushcraft (Mar 26, 2015)

If you are only concerned with biologicals, bringing to a full boil is all you need. If it is dirty you should prefilter or let it settle until clear, then pour off the cleared water to boil. If there is a chance of chemical contamination you need to filter through an activated carbon filter. Simple distilling can also remove particulates but does nothing more than boiling does as far as chemical contamination. Ditch the lifestraw. Get a Sawyer and a couple of platypus in line carbon filters and you are good.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

To kill off hazardous organic life, a 2 minute *rolling* boil is sufficient. The quantity of water is irrelevant, as you have to bring the whole thing to temp to get it to boil.
At higher elevations, this may not be sufficient, as water boils at less than 100 degrees.

If boiling is not an option, you can filter the water through cloth and pour it into a small clear plastic or glass container, and leave it out in the sun for 3 hours, full exposure. The UV will completely destroy all bio life.


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

Most health organizations, including the Center for Disease Control, recommend that you boil water vigorously for 1 minute up to elevations of 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) and 3 minutes at elevations higher than that.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

According to the CDC, water should be brought to a ROLLING boil for one full minute. If you are above 6,500 feet then you need to let it boil for three minutes (because water boils at a lower temp the higher the elevation).

Personally, I say once you got it rolling, let it stay on there for a good five minutes just to be sure. But I think the important distinction here is a thorough rolling boil, not just air beads forming on the bottom.

*Edited: Well damnit! Just saw HR beat me to it. Good job!*


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

I heard 15 min.


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

txmarine6531 said:


> I heard 15 min.


If you try to boil a cup of water for 15 minutes you will be looking for another cup of water.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Remember, do not watch it or it will not boil


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## SecretPrepper (Mar 25, 2014)

Bear Grylls says you can take rancid water up the A$$ un filtered. :Yikes: He even did it on tv.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

On a related but different topic.

I once had a wound that had to be packed with gauze while it healed. The doc showed me how so she would let me do it at home. But because of the open wound, I had to sterilize my equipment - tongs, tweezers, scissors, a little metal spatula thing. She had me put on a big pot of water - not big like a crawfish boil but like a three quart pot. Then dump in the equipment. Bring the water to a rolling boil for 30 minutes.

While the water was boiling, I wiped off the kitchen island with with bleach and then several passes with isopropyl alcohol.

When the water had boiled for 30, I turned it off, used the sterile tongs to lay the equipment out on the sterile counter and washed my hands really good with Hibi-cleanse and got to work pulling out the old gauze and putting the new in.

So 1 to 3 minutes kills the stuff in a small volume of water, but apparently 30 minutes sterilizes surgical tools in a 3 quart bath.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

SecretPrepper said:


> Bear Grylls says you can take rancid water up the A$$ un filtered. :Yikes: He even did it on tv.


I'm pretty sure that's not the only thing he's taken up the @$$ while he was sleeping at the Four Seasons.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

GTGallop said:


> On a related but different topic.
> 
> I once had a wound that had to be packed with gauze while it healed. The doc showed me how so she would let me do it at home. But because of the open wound, I had to sterilize my equipment - tongs, tweezers, scissors, a little metal spatula thing. She had me put on a big pot of water - not big like a crawfish boil but like a three quart pot. Then dump in the equipment. Bring the water to a rolling boil for 30 minutes.
> 
> ...


Boiling 30 minutes might kill most pathogens that would cause a wound infection, but it won't be completely sterile. That is why dentists and hospitals use an autoclave (pressure cooker) and why you need a pressure cooker to can some foods.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Mad Trapper said:


> Boiling 30 minutes might kill most pathogens that would cause a wound infection, but it won't be completely sterile. That is why dentists and hospitals use an autoclave (pressure cooker) and why you need a pressure cooker to can some foods.


That's why I don't understand this whole discussion about lengths of time.
Perhaps someone can clarify this for me...
If water boils at 100C at 1 atmosphere of pressure, and 1-5 minutes is sufficient to kill off the baddies in drinking water, why would that time need to be increased to 30+ minutes just because there is more water? The water still has to reach 100C to boil. What good does it do to maintain 100C for 30 minutes, as opposed to 5? Can certain infectious microbes survive a 5 minute bath in 100C, but not survive at a longer time period with the same temp?

The mention of the autoclave would seem to indicate that a higher temperature is preferred, over just boiling for longer.
Is the only benefit of the autoclave to reduce sterilization time, or to actually kill off things that can survive 100C?


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Kauboy said:


> To kill off hazardous organic life, a 2 minute *rolling* boil is sufficient. The quantity of water is irrelevant, as you have to bring the whole thing to temp to get it to boil.
> At higher elevations, this may not be sufficient, as water boils at less than 100 degrees.
> 
> If boiling is not an option, you can filter the water through cloth and pour it into a small clear plastic or glass container, and leave it out in the sun for 3 hours, full exposure. The UV will completely destroy all bio life.


While I agree with 98% of Kauboy's info, In service I was taught extra 30 seconds for each 1000 ft of altitude. Uv does not kill bacteria, etc. It damages their DNA so they can not reproduce. The new "thoughts" on UV is that organism's DNA "deactivated" by the UV will "heal" or rebuild itself in less than 24 hours (I think it is 24) and can then be able to reproduce. The author of the article said to drink the water within 24 hours.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

GTGallop said:


> On a related but different topic.
> 
> I once had a wound that had to be packed with gauze while it healed. The doc showed me how so she would let me do it at home. But because of the open wound, I had to sterilize my equipment - tongs, tweezers, scissors, a little metal spatula thing. She had me put on a big pot of water - not big like a crawfish boil but like a three quart pot. Then dump in the equipment. Bring the water to a rolling boil for 30 minutes.
> 
> ...


The long boil is because tools have nooks and crannies that might not allow the boiling water to get into them, so you are bringing the temp of the tools up to 212F long enough to kill off most bugs.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> That's why I don't understand this whole discussion about lengths of time.
> Perhaps someone can clarify this for me...
> If water boils at 100C at 1 atmosphere of pressure, and 1-5 minutes is sufficient to kill off the baddies in drinking water, why would that time need to be increased to 30+ minutes just because there is more water? The water still has to reach 100C to boil. What good does it do to maintain 100C for 30 minutes, as opposed to 5? Can certain infectious microbes survive a 5 minute bath in 100C, but not survive at a longer time period with the same temp?
> 
> ...


It is to kill things that 100 oC won't. As you increase the pressure the boiling point goes up.

Ever do any pressure canning?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Mad Trapper said:


> It is to kill things that 100 oC won't. As you increase the pressure the boiling point goes up.
> 
> Ever do any pressure canning?


I'm familiar with the pressure change in boiling with a pressure cooker. That just didn't explain away the length of time issue.
Para's explanation did, however.


paraquack said:


> The long boil is because tools have nooks and crannies that might not allow the boiling water to get into them, so you are bringing the temp of the tools up to 212F long enough to kill off most bugs.


Thank you sir!


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

paraquack said:


> While I agree with 98% of Kauboy's info, In service I was taught extra 30 seconds for each 1000 ft of altitude. Uv does not kill bacteria, etc. It damages their DNA so they can not reproduce. The new "thoughts" on UV is that organism's DNA "deactivated" by the UV will "heal" or rebuild itself in less than 24 hours (I think it is 24) and can then be able to reproduce. The author of the article said to drink the water within 24 hours.


That's very interesting.
I did some reading, and found this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_germicidal_irradiation#Effectiveness
According to that section, using UV does not fully "sterilize" water, but rather "disinfects" it with a very high effectiveness. It does indeed kill most bacteria, as well as virii, but because of the mentioned "DNA repair" phenomenon, they can't claim 100% sterilization since a small percentage of the organisms can fix themselves.
With that in mind, it should certainly be a consideration when trusting non-concentrated UV from the sun to disinfect water.
Boiling does seem to be superior when discussing medical equipment sterilization.
For drinking? The 24 hour rule sounds like good advice, just to be safe.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

I've been waiting for them to put little UV LED's inside dishwashers for YEARS now. The idea being that if the hot water and detergent didn't get the germies, then the UV lights would. At the very least it would help keep the dish washer clean.


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

I first filter my water through cheese cloth...
I boil all my water in an evaporative still... 
then I pour the distilled water into the Big Berky...
Then I leave the water in the sun for three weeks....
Then I pour into a clean glass and drink through a lifestraw.

Now that's what I call mighty fine H2O!


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

whoppo said:


> I first filter my water through cheese cloth...
> I boil all my water in an evaporative still...
> then I pour the distilled water into the Big Berky...
> Then I leave the water in the sun for three weeks....
> ...


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