Random Desert Question

[subzero0174]

Ok, me and my friend have a bet going about a certain situation. Say that somehow you got stuck in the desert. You start to become extremely dehydrated. You then find a tub of distilled water just big enough to get into. Now obviously if you drink it you will become hydrated. We are wondering what would happen if you were somehow only allowed to put your body in, from like your neck down. No drinking allowed. Would you somehow absorb the water through your skin? I mean if you are hyperosmotic assuming it is pure water, shouldnt you somehow osmose it through your skin? In other words, would you still die of dehydration even while standing in a tank of water?

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[Daichi Katase]

i am not sure if the skin is that porous?

I would put my money on dying because of dehydration.

 

[MoosePilot]

Ok, me and my friend have a bet going about a certain situation. Say that somehow you got stuck in the desert. You start to become extremely dehydrated. You then find a tub of distilled water just big enough to get into. Now obviously if you drink it you will become hydrated. We are wondering what would happen if you were somehow only allowed to put your body in, from like your neck down. No drinking allowed. Would you somehow absorb the water through your skin? I mean if you are hyperosmotic assuming it is pure water, shouldnt you somehow osmose it through your skin? In other words, would you still die of dehydration even while standing in a tank of water?

Well, skin is somewhat waterproof. I don't know if you get your intake to exceed your output with each breath and sweating through whatever is exposed. You'd think the water would cool you, but it will heat to ambient temperature.

 

[Parscope]

I'd put my money on passing out from dehydration and then drowning in the pool.

 

[Medikit]

I'd put my money on passing out from dehydration and then drowning in the pool.

I think distilled water is perfectly safe, the problem is deionized water.

I think your problem could be solved by grabbing a bunch of sand and placing it in the water. Let the sand sink to the bottom and then decant and drink up your reionized water. An idea I like better involves cutting open a cactus and letting its inards soak in the water before you drink it. This way has less chance of getting sand in your mouth.

 

[firebird69guy]

Will drinking your own urine prolong the time it takes to die from dehydration?


Or is too osmotic and will just pull water from your system once you imbibe it (like salt water)..





I guess you could distill it if you were stuck in a desert..

 

[rn2md10]

Interesting but chances are that the water will stay in the tub as you die in the tub...

When one is dehydrated you loose isotonic solution, , the renin- angiotensin- aldosterone mechanism then kicks in to retain the fluid that you do have. Potent vasoconstricition takes place less volume to the kidneys results in oliguria as seen in prerenal acute failure. This leads to oliguria, then azotemia, (waste products in the blood increase, explains why drinking urine would not help) and finally potassium levels reach a level>6.5. This K level leads to dysthrythmias and soon death.

So to correct this one either drinks water, or is infused through IV a isotonic solution. IF given a hypotonic solution like distilled water, the cells would swell because the problem is an isotonic loss in the vascular space.

Water is retreived by the body via drinking , eating , and through the biochemical reactions that occur inside the body. Skin can not absorb enough water to correct the deficit. We lose water through urine, feces and sensible loss ie breathing out and sweat.

So after all this I would say that the only benifit of bathing in the tub would be to die a clean death.

 

[Topper Harley]

Its obvious to me (as it should be to everyone reading this thread) That speculating over such things is not nessessary, when it is clearly easier to just get someone (preferabley not a loved one). Dehydrate them, and stick them in a tub. If he/she dies then it would be conclusive evidence, in my mind, to say that the person in the hypothetical situation such as the man in the desert would also die.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

The survival trick for drinking your urine for survival in the desert goes like this:

put a countainer in the sand with mouth exposed.
put some type of nonporous material over it like plastic
urinate on this plastic
put some shade on your project
As day turns to night and night turns to day water will condense on the underside of the plastic and collect in your container.

 

[MoosePilot]

The survival trick for drinking your urine for survival in the desert goes like this:

put a countainer in the sand with mouth exposed.
put some type of nonporous material over it like plastic
urinate on this plastic
put some shade on your project
As day turns to night and night turns to day water will condense on the underside of the plastic and collect in your container.

It's a solar still. I think your description is slightly off. You don't urinate on the plastic. The underside of the plastic needs to be clean, because that's where the potable water is going to collect. You could put a container of urine in the hole under the plastic, to the side or you could just pee in the hole. You can also put plant material in there to pull the water out and into your catch.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

I'm not going to argue about urinating in the desert.

It's a solar still. I think your description is slightly off. You don't urinate on the plastic. The underside of the plastic needs to be clean, because that's where the potable water is going to collect. You could put a container of urine in the hole under the plastic, to the side or you could just pee in the hole. You can also put plant material in there to pull the water out and into your catch.

 

[fun8stuff]

Actually, you would lose water. Take a look at your shrivled hands after staying in the bathtub too long. You can lose water through skin, but you cannot absorb it.

In high school a friend of mine on the wrestling team once got in trouble for taking a bath the night before the morning that he weighed in. Evidently, he had gained a pound or two. He had not eaten or drank anything the whole day before. He weighed himself right before the warm bath and then the very next morningso the bath was the likely explanation.. We were also always told not to take baths before weighing in because you could gain weight from it.

 

[fun8stuff]

Will drinking your own urine prolong the time it takes to die from dehydration?


Or is too osmotic and will just pull water from your system once you imbibe it (like salt water)..





I guess you could distill it if you were stuck in a desert..

There are a couple urine rumors. I think drinking your own urine could prolong your life if, for example, right before you are stranded in the desert you drank a lot of water or injested a diuretic. In these conditions, your body would be excreting a lot of water in the urine. I think it would be of benefit in this case. Once you are dehydrated, your rate of urination will be extremly diminished. Have you ever notice if you work out all day, you don't urinate?

The second rumor is that if you have a flesh wound you can urinate on it to clean the wound. Newly excreted urine is essentially sterile and the ammonia will kill the bacteria.

Whoever posted that thing about making urinating on the bag must be nuts. What use would that do? lol.... what you stated will work, but there is no reason to urinate on the plastic sheet.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

Damn it! Now I feel compelled to post about urinating in the desert:
ummm...so it is called a solar still. I think you pee in the sand around the cup though but this is optional. Condensation is what produces the water, but peeing does help.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/dec/stories/water.html

 

[Parscope]

Whoever posted that thing about making urinating on the bag must be nuts. What use would that do? lol.... what you stated will work, but there is no reason to urinate on the plastic sheet.

He didn't describe it quite right, but the idea is correct. The purpose of a solar still is to use the sun to evaporate the water out of the urine, let the water condense on the plastic, then collect in another container. The urea and other delicious chemicals will be left behind in the original container.