Sign into an existing account

Please note that this is all untested on my part and I dont claim to know your circumstance or unexpected variables.

Boiling:
- Boil water vigorously for at least five minutes to kill germs.
Water can be treated by heating rocks in a fire and dropping them into a suitable water filled container or by placing a suitable container filled with water over a fire.
This will give the water a flat taste which can be somewhat offset by pouring water back and forth between two containers. Making tea with the water is also an option. You can also cook meat with the water to get broth to drink.

Treat with chlorine or iodine:
Chemically treated water should be left to sit for half an hour.

- Chlorine tablets can be bought and the pill number used per gallon of water ratio should be on the bottle.

- Determine if your household product containing chlorine is safe for treating water. I hear you should only use regular unscented chlorine bleach products that are suitable for disinfection and sanitization as indicated on the label. The label may say that the active ingredient contains 6 or 8.25% of sodium hypochlorite.
The ratio of household bleach drops per gallon is eight drops per gallon of water and twelve drops per gallon if the water is colored or turbid.

- The iodine drops per gallon ratio is sixteen drops per gallon.

You should have about four liters of water per person each day.

Topographical and aerial maps can be used to help find water.
Canyons, low valleys, and gorge bottoms are the most likely places to find water in mountainous countries.
If melting snow for drinking dig beneath the surface layer and use the whitest and purest snow available.

There is no way I know of to visually determine if a spring or mountain creek ect... is contaminated. The only sure way is to make a chemical analysis of the water.
In many of the more widely traveled outdoor areas such as national parks there will be a sign stating if the water is fit for drinking.
Water that has an unusual odor should not be drunk until tested.