Fill an empty jar at any lake, river or pond with the secondary action, then boil it on a campfire fitted with a cooking pot. That turns Murky Water, which restores 10 water, costs 5 health and carries a 12% chance of dysentery, into Water, which restores 20 with no risk. Every trader sells empty jars and cooking pots, and later a dew collector fills jars for you. All values on this page are read from the V3.3.0 game files, build 25661908, the stable build since 5 October 2026.
TL;DR
Jar, water, campfire, cooking pot: Murky Water (+10) becomes Water (+20).
Drinking straight from a lake with empty hands gives +10 and the same 5 health cost and 12% dysentery roll as Murky Water.
All five traders stock 5 to 10 empty jars and several cooking pots on every restock.
Drinking from a jar gives the jar back 60% of the time at the default Jar Refund setting.
Dew collector: one jar of water every 6 to 10 in-game hours; the Water Filter mod makes it clean Water.
The cooking pot is the step people miss. Without it the campfire has no water recipe. Cooking pots turn up in kitchen loot (cupboards, sinks, dishwashers and ovens) and in camping tents, but the reliable source is a trader: every one of the five stocks 2 to 4 quality 1 pots plus 2 to 4 more of mixed quality each restock. You can also make one at a forge from iron and clay.
With empty hands you can drink straight from water with the secondary action. It restores 10 water, takes 5 health and rolls the same 12% base chance of dysentery as a jar of Murky Water. Two things remove that risk:
Water restored per item, read from the effect each item actually applies rather than its tooltip. The cooked drinks all start from a jar of boiled Water.
| Item | Water | Also | How you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murky Water | +10 | -5 health, 12% dysentery chance | Fill an empty jar at any water |
| Water | +20 | Safe | Boil Murky Water (campfire and cooking pot), traders, water coolers |
| Red Tea | +24 | Stamina regen; regaining stamina costs 15% less food and water | Chrysanthemum and Water |
| Goldenrod Tea | +24 | Cures 20% of dysentery | Goldenrod and Water |
| Honey Tea | +24 | Cures 20% of dysentery and 5% of infection | Goldenrod, honey and Water |
| Coffee, Blackstrap Coffee | +24 | Stamina regen, cold resistance | Coffee beans and Water |
| Yucca Juice | +34 | Yucca fruit and Water | |
| Pure Mineral Water | +60 | Cures 20% of dysentery | Water, coal, goldenrod and chrysanthemum; recipe from the Wasteland Treasures book series |
| Mega Crush | +60 | Run speed | Loot and traders |
| Yucca Juice Smoothie | +78 | Heat resistance | Yucca fruit, blueberries, a snowball and an empty jar |
Food helps too. Meat Stew, Vegetable Stew, Hobo Stew, Gumbo Stew, Ash Chicken Stew and Scorcher Stew each restore 20 water, Sunstroke Tonic 30, and Boiled Meat, Sham Chowder and canned soup, stock and miso 10 each.
Jar Refund. Drinking from a jar returns the empty jar on a roll. The Jar Refund sandbox option sets the chance, from 0% to 100% in steps, and its default is 60%. On a 0% server every jar you drink is gone, so jars become the real limit on water.
A dew collector is a workbench recipe of 200 Scrap Polymers, 30 Metal Pipes and 8 Duct Tape, unlocked at level 16 of the Workstations crafting skill, which Forge Ahead magazines raise. It needs empty jars to work: each jar it fills uses one. Every cycle takes a random 6 to 10 in-game hours, and the game's own description says it works best outdoors or with 6 air blocks above it.
| Mod | Effect | Workbench recipe | Workstations level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatherer | Doubles collection speed (3 to 5 hours a cycle) | 20 Forged Iron, 1 Radiator, 5 Glue, 5 Metal Pipes | 26 |
| Tarp | Doubles the water per cycle (two jars at a time) | 200 Scrap Polymers, 10 Sewing Kits, 5 Duct Tape | 32 |
| Water Filter | Output is clean Water instead of Murky Water | 200 Scrap Polymers, 100 Coal, 100 Crushed Sand, 10 Cotton, 2 Metal Pipes | 48 |
Without the filter the collector gives Murky Water, which you still have to boil. All five traders stock the Gatherer, Tarp and Water Filter, 1 to 3 of each per restock, so you can skip the crafting levels if you have the Dukes.
Dysentery is what the 12% roll gives you. Each catch adds 18 minutes of it, stacking up to an hour, and its in-game description spells out the cost: diarrhea periodically takes 7.5% of your water and 2.5% of your food, and anything you eat or drink beyond the normal cap is lost over time. Raw meat and Old Sham Sandwiches carry the same 12% roll as Murky Water, and rotting flesh a 15% roll, although its item card says 12%.
Goldenrod Tea, Honey Tea and Pure Mineral Water each add a 20% cure, and while a cure is running the illness wears off twice as fast. Vitamins stop you catching it in the first place.
| Sandbox option | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jar Refund | 0% to 100% | 60% | Chance of getting the empty jar back after drinking |
| Drink Abundance | 0% to 500% | 100% | Amount of drinks found in containers |
| Dew Collector Time | Speed steps | 100% | How long a collector takes to produce water |
| Dew Collector Yield | 100% to 500% | 100% | Water produced per cycle |
| Dew Collector Input | 0%, 100%, 200%, 300% | 100% | Jars needed to start collecting; at 0% no jars are needed |
If a server feels short of water, check Jar Refund first: a low setting makes every drink cost a jar.
Fill an empty jar at any water, then boil it on a campfire with a cooking pot. The result, Water, restores 20 and is safe.
The campfire needs a cooking pot in its tool slot. Every trader sells them.
It restores 10 water but costs 5 health and has a 12% chance of dysentery, unless you wear the Water Purifier helmet mod or have Vitamins active.
Yes, at the default settings. Each jar of water uses one empty jar. A server can set Dew Collector Input to 0% to remove the need.
From any trader (5 to 10 per restock), from fridges, coolers, carts, shelves, dumpsters and liquor piles, by crafting them at a forge, and back from the drinks you finish at the Jar Refund chance.
items.xml (water values, dysentery rolls, Water Purifier effects), recipes.xml, blocks.xml (dew collector), loot.xml, traders.xml, buffs.xml (dysentery), progression.xml (Workstations unlock levels) and Localization.csv, plus the sandbox option defaults in the server's game code.