More specifically, does almost boiling water have the same effect? Or is there something particularly special about boiling water that kills germs/bacteria? – if so what is it, and why is it special?
In: Chemistry
It isn’t that the water *has* to be boiling to kill bacteria; according to the World Health Organization, 70 degrees celsius is actually enough to kill most pathogens (viruses, bacteria, etc.) given a pretty short amount of time (less than a matter of minutes). This is because the bacteria just can’t handle that high of a temperature.
But if you’re out in the woods and need to purify some water, you might not have a thermometer and you probably don’t want to risk getting a stomach virus. So boiling the water is a very simple way of making sure it has reached a temperature high enough to kill the bacteria (even though they probably died long before it started boiling).
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