There are no handy kitchen faucets in the wilds except in the larger campgrounds with their trailers & recreation vehicles bumper to bumper, & six-man tents guy line to guy line.

If you're not in one of these, and don't happen to be hiking along the course of a river or canoeing over chains of lakes, where do you find water?

Your map will help if it's detailed enough. Almost any water source of any size, including annual spring freshet, will be marked on a geodesic map.

Even so, it's a good idea to be aware of where water is most likely to be found, just in case you left the map at the last log rest stop.

Besides, knowing nature, being familiar with its habits, gives you a real sense of understanding & accomplishment that is very much a part of the joy of camping.

In mountainous and forest regions such as Eastern and Western Canada, & the USA and most of Northern Europe, water rarely presents a problem.

Almost any downhill country, be it a long slow valley or a deep gorge, will lead to it. These natural formations developed through water erosion, and the sculpture tells the tale.

As you walk, keep your eyes open for a change not only in terrain but in vegetation as well.

If you see a crooked line of willows or willow like trees in the distance :
"It's Almost A Sure Bet You Will Find A Stream When You Get There ."

The mountain ahead is bare, with no water or greenery in sight. One side comes down steeply to a heavy rock formation; the other side slopes gently down to a valley and gently up to another mountain.

Head for the sloping side rather than the steep escarpment. It has a much slower run off larger surface area, and thus a greater likelihood of retained water.

Cottonwoods in arid country serve much the same purpose as willows in country more hospitable.

A chain of cottonwood in the distance indicates a river bed. Whether that bed turns out to be wet or dry is another question.

But if it's dry, examine the ground by one of the largest and most ancient of the cottonwoods, on the inside bank of the old river's curve; you will usually fund a small pool of water.

At least there should be enough ground moisture so that if you really need water you can dig down a foot or so and find seepage.

With the amount of energy used the moisture lost in sweat usually far exceeds that gained from the hole you have dug.

Any lush vegetation in arid terrain indicates water in one form or another.

Birds, such as Doves or Blackbirds, in flock on the ground, quail in any quantity, are other signs of a water source nearby.

You will need 2 quarts a day under average conditions but in the desert or during periods of heavy activity this rises to 4 quarts or more per person per day.

Once you have found a water source, you have 2 old drinking rules to choose from, depending on how healthy you are, how cautious you are and where you are.

The first is, when doubt about water, purify it. The second is, a lively bubbling stream cleans itself in 30 feet of flowing over rocks and sands.

Or as one old codger I know, referring to the same quality of stream bed, puts it succinctly, "If the cow's around the bend, the water's fit to drink."

Which rule you follow is up to you. We tend to use the second when in mountainous, wooded country.

Our stomachs might not be cast iron, but they are pretty resistant to Montezuma's Revenge and La Turista. Yet as pollution increases we lean more and more to the first rule.

Boiling takes a lot of fuel and a lot of time to cool off but in dangerous regions it is better to drink a lot of tea rather than wait for the water to cool off. Halazone 1 tablet per pint of water or 2 if in ANY doubt.

You MUST still let it stand 1/2 hour or more to be safe to drink but taste funny like a swimming pool.

Yet aerating the water by pouring it back and forth between two containers several times will eliminate most of the chlorine taste.

This chemical is quite volatile and if you hold your breath while drinking it, you will hardly taste a thing.