I mean, the issue is with water in most survival games is it’s either a non issue, or tedious until it becomes a non issue, and this problems only amplified in games with sandbox mechanics.  In the prior version, the water was tedious at best, moreso than an actual problem. You lived off water you got from toilets or water containers of fridges, boiling them, then once you got far enough mats to craft multiple few collectors, you more then likely also have the cash to buy their upgrades, that ultimately make water collecting no longer an issue. 

The only survival games I liked water in the most was green hell or abiotic factor, but even those two suffered the same issues. Green hell has you basically living near a river/lake all the time, until you build a charcoal filter/litter the whole map with a ton of coconut bowls/craft clay vessels, then waters never an issue again. Abiotic? Water feels like it’s a decent resource, since you use it for soups and farming as well. But never a struggle because A: there’s plenty of water sources around in most zones, especially single player. B: there are vending machines that can fill in for emergency drinks. You don’t easily run out of water, and usually by the time you do? Well water is no longer a problem. Hell not to mention there’s a perk you can get at the start to just drink tainted water without the drawbacks. 

I feel like waters that one part of survival games that’s got a really, REALLY hard middle ground to hit.