Eli5 How did travelers/crusaders in medieval times get a clean and consistent source of water

Question

Eli5 How did travelers/crusaders in medieval times get a clean and consistent source of water

In: 4489

Answer 1

It would depend on where you were, but generally, anywhere you want to go will already have water: large armies would have found it difficult to carry more than 5 days of food, so an army would either need to split up enough to forage, or create depots along planned routes to hold supplies.

Either way, an army will have access to water, but that water could easily be tainted in unfamiliar regions.