Water is the most essential need your body requires, and after only three days without drinking your body will start to shut down, minimising your chances of survival drastically.

Your body is made up of around 60% water, with the brain, heart and lungs comprising of more than 70% water, so keeping them hydrated to maintain your overall health by finding water should be high on your list of priorities.

Finding water and purifying water is therefore one skill any survivalist or prepper cannot afford to do without, and you should make every effort to learn the techniques beforehand, and buy the necessary equipment as it may not be so readily available once the SHTF.

Even if you have litres of water stored at your bugout location or at home, it will not last indefinitely, so having the knowledge of where to find water and then how to make it safe to drink is absolutely essential for survival. When it comes to sourcing and purifying water, preppers should aim to have a backup of their backup so they’ll never go thirsty.

You may be set up in a place where a well can be dug down, or you may be lucky enough to have your survival base next to a river or stream with fresh flowing water, however there are likely to be many situations where you have to find water from sources around you in order to survive.

Knowing how and where to find water where there seems to be none will serve you well and your very survival could one day depend on it.

Finding water in an urban environment requires a different set of survival skills to sourcing water in the wilderness, so it’s a good idea to get acquainted with practicing a variety of water collection, filtration and purification methods.

Below you’ll find lots of useful resources when it comes to finding water and purifying water, such as how long bottled water really lasts for, where to find water sources and how to make any kind of water safe for consumption.