There are 3 things that are vital to life on earth: air, water and food. They say you can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Given the first one should be relatively straightforward to take care of on this expedition (it is above ground at least!), my mind turns to the second.
Access to water shouldn’t be too hard given that I’ll be travelling through a country with over one billion people, however it’s the quality I worry about. Many people in rural areas drink from stand pumps or streams, while those in the cities have access to tap water but the quality is still questionable. You can read more about India’s water quality issues here. Buying bottled water is expensive, wasteful on the environment and is unrealistic on an expedition of this nature. But given the hot and humid conditions I will be travelling through for the most part, it’s important that I drink at least 4 litres a day.
I'll be taking Water-to-Go bottles with me on my journey
Fortunately Water-to-Go have offered me some of their water bottles and clever little filters. They use three different types of filtration to ensure 99.9% of contaminants are caught including most parasites, viruses and bacteria as well as some metal and chemical contaminants. This will not only ensure the water I drink is safe, but actually taste good too. What’s even better is that they are so simple to use; I just have to fill up my bottle from wherever I like and I can start drinking immediately! Each lightweight filter should last me up to 2 months meaning I can carry a few spares to cover me for the whole expedition, and if I do find that I need to re-stock with filters, Water-to-Go are now available in many Indian cities. So, thankfully I no longer need to worry about access to clean water.