How Long Do You Need To Boil Water?

[Skvez]

I disagree (with Wet and Cold).

Boling water will kill nearly all microorganisms but won't filter out toxins, filters can.
There are some very poor filters our there but the best filters are better than boiling, the finer the element the more things are filtered out. (One micron is the sort of high quality filter you need).

"At altitude" water boils at lower temperature due to the lower atmospheric pressure.
At 4000 ft it boils at 96°C
At 15000 ft it boils at 84°C
So if it takes "a few minutes" at 85°C to kill most pathogens then 0 minutes at boiling at 15000 ft isn't enough.
Fortunately the UK is all at low enough altitude that the effects of high altitude can be ignored (but for those in other areas of the world it *is* a consideration)

Take a big hunk of dog poo, dissolve it in litre of water for two days. Now drink the water. Your choice you can either boil it or filter it.
Personally I'm filtering it!