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Water Purification & Resupply Planner

Plan total water needs, daily filter cycles, and how much to carry on each leg between sources.

Trip-wide totals

Total water needed = days × hikers × liters per person per day. Total purification time simply multiplies that volume by your treatment time per liter, giving a rough sense of how much time you'll spend filtering or treating water across the whole trip.

Planning by leg, not just by day

On routes with known water sources, the useful number usually isn't your daily total — it's how much you need to carry between each source. Enter the distances between sources, your pace, and your hourly consumption rate to see exactly how many liters to fill up with before setting out on each stretch.

Frequently asked questions

How much water do I actually need per day?

About 2–3 liters per person per day covers mild conditions with moderate exertion. Hot weather, high altitude, or a heavy hiking pace can push that to 4–6 liters per person per day — adjust the input for your specific trip conditions.

What does "treatment cycles per day" mean?

It's how many times you'll need to fill and run your filter or purification method through your container in a day to cover the whole group's water needs, based on your container's capacity. A smaller container or bigger group means more cycles.

How is the per-leg water estimate calculated?

For each distance you enter between water sources, the tool estimates hiking time (distance ÷ pace), then multiplies that time by your hourly consumption rate to get liters needed per person, and by the number of hikers for the group total on that stretch.

Should I carry the exact amount calculated per leg?

Add a safety margin, especially on hot days or longer legs — most experienced hikers carry at least 20–30% more than the bare calculated minimum in case a planned water source is dry, contaminated, or harder to reach than expected.

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