Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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“
'I called as I approached, asking if she was okay,' wrote Ranger Amber Nattrass in a park report.
'She was waving frantically and screaming, “My baby is dead, my baby is dead.”' In the SUV, Nattrass
found Sanchez's lifeless 6-year-old son Carlos on the front seat. 'She told me they walked 10 miles
but couldn't find any help (and)… had run out of water and had been drinking their own urine,' Nat-
trass wrote. 'She turned down a wrong road,' Nattrass said in a recent interview. 'She said she was
following her GPS unit.'
”
—Tom Knudson, “Death by GPS in the Desert,”
Sacramento Bee
, January
30, 2011
Water Requirements
Water is absolutely essential for human survival; it plays a part in all of the body's biochemical
reactions. Most of us could survive for several weeks without food, but in average conditions
we would only last three to four days without water, and we would be very miserable for all but
the first of those days.
Water requirements vary depending on activity level and temperature. When you eat de-
hydrated foods, you will require more water under any set of conditions. The absolute minim-
um for survival is about one quart of drinking water per day, with little or no activity and cool
conditions. Two quarts of water per day will usually sustain moderate activity at an acceptable
level of comfort, under moderate conditions with minimal urination (you will feel somewhat
dehydrated). In fact, the standard hospital maintenance level for adults is 2.5 liters (roughly 2.6
quarts) of intravenous fluids per day to maintain comfort and good kidney function, without
any physical activity.
More than 1 quart of water every hour can be required to perform heavy physical labor un-
der extremely hot conditions. When I was working on a construction site in Hawaii, I drank
over 1 gallon of water for every eight-hour shift, and that was barely enough! In general, 1 gal-
lon of water per adult per day is enough for drinking and some limited washing (sponge-bath
style). This is a good figure to use when calculating water for storage.
