Find &
Collect Water
In much of Australia, water is the first thing that runs out. Knowing where it hides, and how to catch it, buys you time. Treat all of it before you drink.
Lost or broken down? Stay with your vehicle. A car is far easier for searchers to find than a person on foot, and it gives you shade. Call Triple Zero (000), or use a PLB or satellite messenger if you carry one, before you go looking for water.
Save the Water You Have
You lose more water by sweating than you will find in most improvised catches.
Ration Sweat, Not Water
- Drink what you need. Rationing water in heat leads to heat illness
- Rest in shade in the heat of the day
- Move, dig and search in the cool of morning and evening
Cut Water Loss
- Keep covered: shirt, hat and long sleeves
- Breathe through your nose and talk less
- Do not eat much if you have little water. Digesting food uses it
Never Drink
- Seawater or salty bore water
- Urine
- Alcohol, or radiator coolant from a vehicle
Where to Look
Water runs downhill and pools in low, shaded places.
Low Ground
- Valley floors, gullies and the base of cliffs
- Dry creek beds: dig on the outside of bends and at the lowest point
- Rock holes and hollows in granite outcrops, which can hold rain for weeks
Green and Alive
- A line of greener trees or reeds, often river red gums, marks water underground
- Animal and bird tracks that converge
- Birds that flock and fly low at dawn and dusk are often heading to water
Built Water
- Farm dams, troughs, tanks and windmills
- Use them only in a genuine emergency. Leave gates as you found them
- Stock water is untreated. Boil or treat it
Collect Rain and Dew
The cleanest water you will find in the bush usually falls from the sky.
Rain Catch
- 1 Rig a tarp, poncho or plastic sheet with one low point
- 2 Put a clean container under it
- 3 Let the first rain rinse dust and bird droppings off, then start collecting
- 4 Also catch the run-off from rock slabs and vehicle roofs
Dew
- Before sunrise, tie a clean cloth or shirt around your ankles and walk through long grass
- Wring it into a container and repeat
- Wipe dew off car windows and metal with a clean cloth
- Stay out of grass sprayed with chemicals or near roads
Store It
- Keep collected water covered and in the shade
- Use a separate container for untreated water, and label it
- Collapsible bladders and jerry cans pack small until you need them
The Transpiration Bag
Trees pull water up from deep underground and breathe it out through their leaves. A clear bag catches it.
Set It Up
- 1 Choose a healthy, leafy, non-toxic tree or shrub in full sun
- 2 Slide a large, clear plastic bag over a leafy branch
- 3 Tie the opening tightly around the branch
- 4 Weigh the lowest corner down with a small stone so water pools there
- 5 Leave it for several hours, then pour the water out and move the bag to a fresh branch
What to Expect
- A cupful or two on a good day, from one bag
- Several bags on several branches add up
- Water can taste of the plant. If it tastes bitter or strange, do not drink it
Avoid
- Plants you cannot identify, and any with milky sap
- Known toxic plants such as oleander
- Branches sprayed with chemicals
What About a Solar Still?
The hole-in-the-ground still is famous, but in practice it usually costs more sweat to dig than it gives back.
How It Works
- A hole in damp ground, a container in the middle, and plastic sheeting over the top weighted with a stone in the centre
- The sun heats the soil, water evaporates, condenses on the plastic and drips into the container
The Catch
- Yields are often well under a litre a day, and sometimes nothing in dry soil
- Digging in the heat can lose you more water than it makes
- It only makes sense in damp soil, dug in the cool, with green plants added to the hole
Better Bets
- Signal for help and stay put
- Rain catch, dew and transpiration bags
- Carry more water than you think you need, every trip
Video Guides
An Australian transpiration bag in action, and a tarp rain catch.
Transpiration bag (Bushcraft Survival Australia)
How to collect rain water using a tarp (Primitive Lifeways)
Videos are from other creators on YouTube. Whatever a video shows, boil or treat water you collect before drinking it.
Treat Everything You Collect
Clear water can still carry germs. Make it safe first.
Boil
- A rolling boil kills germs
- Let it cool covered
Tablets
- EF-Chlor tablets weigh almost nothing
- Follow the packet dose and wait time
- For dam or stock water, boil or filter as well. Tablets do not reliably kill Cryptosporidium
Filter
- A portable filter or straw rated for bacteria and parasites
- Pre-filter muddy water through a cloth
Carry It, Catch It, Clean It
Collapsible water carriers, filters, tablets and tarps.
More How-To Guides
This guide is general information only. Water from any natural or improvised source can carry germs, chemicals and toxins you cannot see, smell or taste. Use safe drinking water whenever you have it, and follow your local water authority during boil-water or do-not-drink notices. Always follow the instructions that came with your filter or purification tablets. In a life-threatening emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
Photo: Kyle Szegedi on Unsplash