Remember water by melting snow or collecting rain are possibilities.
Water coming from tapped trees like maple and birch is safe to drink and abundant in late winter and spring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS5M803Y44c Find a river birch or maple tree. Gently peal away some trunk. With a knife tip gently cut an opening. Water should start dripping. Insert a small twig that has both ends cut into a point. Water will drip down the twig. Prop your water bottle under the twig end and collect water.
Dew Precipitation and collection: Every morning there is dew precipitation on trees, grass and bushes. These websites tell us https://www.neonscience.org/impact/observatory-blog/whats-all-dew-doing-maybe-more-you-think “In natural environments, dew typically forms on grass and leaves overnight, often when days are warm and nights are cool. When the sun goes down, air and surfaces heated up by solar radiation during the day begin to cool. Cooler air can't hold as much water vapor as warmer air; as the temperature drops, the rate of condensation exceeds the rate of evaporation and water droplets form. The temperature at which this occurs is known as the dew point. Dew (or frost, if temperatures are below freezing) forms on surfaces that are cooler than the surrounding air." http://tacticalintelligence.net/blog/dew-collection.htm. Wipe a clean cloth over lawn, wring the dew water in a glass.
To collect this water tie a clean food grade plastic bag around several branches of a tree or bush with large leaves and let stand overnight (it is cooler in the nighttime). In the morning (when the sun warms the air) water should be collected in the bag by the dew on the branches. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the bag and drain into your cup.
Solar stills and solar pits: You can easily build a dew collecting pit or solar still. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5qA0TF-FUA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10k-DPcLrHU show you how. Dig a pit about 3’ in diameter and 18” deep first thing in the morning. You can add salt water, dirty water or any vegetation to the pit or leave empty and the water in the soil will provide some clean drinking water. Place a bottle or container to catch the water in the bottom of the pit. Cover the whole pit with plastic securing all the edges with dirt or rocks. Place a rock on the plastic over your container in the pit making the center lower than the sides. Leave overnight. When the sun shines on the plastic, water gets collect on the underside and drips down into your container. Allow some time for collection. If you need water several times, put a long tube into your cup string it under the plastic and out one side so you can use it as a straw to drink the water and not disturb your still.
Stone boil water: For extreme purifying situations, this video shows some helpful techniques. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyC8yqYj3_M&feature=emb_err_woyt Place golf sized stones into the coals of an active fire until they are very hot. Place them into a container of non-purified water until the water boils rapidly. Let boil for 5 minutes. You can drink this safely.
As you may have heard before, if you are in a dire situation, you should drink whatever water you can and hope you don’t become sick. The alternative is not good as you must have some hydration in about 4 days.
Next week I will show you how to build rocket stoves which are very energy efficient.