>>794463So, what is dangerous in the water?
Mud: The only way to get it out of the water is to filter it, even a homemade filter made with sand/clay/tissue will do.
Small animals/parasites: Iodine and silver ion will kill it, they won't survive pasteurization, they will be filtered even by the cheapest/oldest filter.
Bacteria: Will be killed by all of the above, will be filtered by any good filter.
Virus: Will be killed by all of the above, will be partially filtered by the best filters. Ebola and E coli won't be filtered for instance.
Warning: killing them is a thing, but drinking their dead bodies can make you ill or more thirsty than if you don't drink the water.
Chemicals: Need a chemical treatment specially designed for this particular chemical. Even distillation may not work. If you don't have a PHD in chemistry and don't have a lab in your camping car, you can't deal with it. You can know very easily if there is a chemical pollution in the water by looking at the industrial activity upstream or by asking your forest service.
Purification tablets/iodine drops: kill every living things and do nothing else.
Lifestraw/mini Sawyer: remove all the mud, all the bacteria and parasites and most of the virus.
Pasteurization: Kill all living things. Need a fire.
Distillation: Turn any mud into H2O, may still have some chemical contamination, require a fire, time and heavy material.
I am not sure if active charcoal filter do a particular thing on the chemicals. Someone know how they work?
