Hi! Snow.

[Stinky socks]

Why is it not safe to drink and always needs to be boiled while toilet water is fine? I've done some clean googling and found snow to be safe to consume moderately. It does collect contaminants, such as car exhaust and other pollutants, but given the area TLD takes place in, it should be safely assumed that snow if fairly clean from most contaminants, especially after blizzard.

 

I'd argue that water from the toilets is not very safe because areas we explore are mostly in the neck of woods and if anyone took a trip cross country, have you seen what condition(cleanness) toilets in stores or gas stations are?!??!?? Gross!!!!!

 

One other thing, how do you use water purification tablets? More of a question, how do you gather snow water? Is only possible way to start a fire and immediately remove water can from fire?

Thank you.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Stinky socks

[Sarnian]

Just select the purification tablets and click "use". Each tablet will disinfect half a litre of water.

I end up with unpotable (unsafe) water if my fire only lasts long enough to melt snow, but not to complete the boiling.

It's a shame that if boiling stops a minute early, the water's still unsafe. It would be better to have the chance of contacting dysentery reduced by each minute of boiling time, until it's completely safe, so you could take a chance on water that's fairly-well boiled.

I agree with you that snow should be clean in the Canadian wilds, but it's another mechanic to keep things interesting. I've yet to see my first toilet in the game (so far, I've not left Mystery Lake).

[stratvox]

Animals defecate too.

[Stinky socks]

In the long dark, that would be..."mouldy chocolate bar"?

[s7mar7in]

5 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

Why is it not safe to drink and always needs to be boiled while toilet water is fine?

This is a fair question. To feel better about this I imagine that the tankless type toilets allow draining a small fraction of a gallon from the water supply pipe and then nearly half a gallon from the tank of tank-type toilets. Thus none from the bowl.

The other item on this topic, at least to my mind, why the 40 gallon hot water tank with a drain, found in many basements not able to provide water.

Stay safe my friends.

Edited January 28, 2021 by s7mar7in

[Glflegolas]

On the topic of boiling water to purify it: Boiled water is not always safe to drink.

The only thing boiling water will consistently do is kill most microbes, if there are any present to begin with. Microbes grow faster when it's warm, so if you can't boil water, getting water from a small, cold stream will minimize the risk.

Boiling water may remove some contaminants via steam distillation, if they are volatile (think of polychlorinated biphenyls from electrical equipment, polyaromatic hydrocarbons from car exhaust). Here, longer boiling times would be better, but, fortunately, toxic organic chemicals are unlikely to be present in high concentration in the wilderness, unless there was an algal bloom (unlikely in the winter).

If there are dangerous inorganic salts present in the water, boiling is going to do very little good as these are generally not volatile. In fact, if you boil the water too long, it'll concentrate these inorganic compounds, and make the water more dangerous than it was to begin with. These come from the bedrock, usually, so it helps to know the geology of the area you're in. If you're in an area where there are lots of toxic metals underground, surface water is safest, for it will have fewer of these than groundwater.

 

[UpUpAway95]

!) Toilet water is only safe to drink in this game.  Why?  Likely to give a guaranteed water source for players without matches in their inventories (such as Interloper players who start the game without matches).  IMO, Hinterland should make toilet water unpotable since most Interloper players have noted where they can quickly obtain matches on each map and don't really need this concession.

2) Snow is not really a good source of water even when it is clean.  Why?  It actually provides very little water... that is, you'd have to eat a lot of snow to get enough to hydrate you.  Snow in my area often has a snow/water ratio of about 10:1 (That is, you'd have to melt 10 inches of snow to get 1 inch of water).  The game, for convenience, is not realistic in presenting that part... allowing us instead to appear to melt snow into water at a 1:1 ratio.

3)  It takes your body heat energy in order to warm snow inside you.  If you're out in the cold, this can accelerate your journey towards hypothermia.

4)  Also, even at high altitudes, snow can contain contaminants.  As stated above... animals defecate.  Even mountain streams in my area have been known to carry large amounts of giardia bacteria.

5) Even snow that looks freshly fallen, may not be.  During blizzards, snow gets blown about and old falls of snow can get "scoured" from certain mountain faces and mixed in with the freshly falling stuff.

Edited January 28, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[Stinky socks]

So I guess I should discard these then..

[mfuegemann]

13 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

So I guess I should discard these then..

But keep the empty cans for water cooking. . .

[UpUpAway95]

14 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

So I guess I should discard these then..

Sliced beets and pinto beans should be thrown away before opening (joking).  Backwoods campers should always carry water purification tablets and/or a filtering device/straw (one brand name is, I believe, Lifestraw).  Snow should be melted (and preferably boiled) before ingesting it.  Boiling and then filtering will provide the safest water overall.

[s7mar7in]

2 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Sliced beets and pinto beans should be thrown away before opening (joking).

I had the same thought.

[Stinky socks]

Hey now hold on a moment there, those beats and beans are for red borscht I've been cooking on gray mother's stove. Got all wolves lining up at the door from the delicious smell!!