Do you filter your water?

[backtrack213]

Going on a short section hike next week and I'm only bringing AM tablets. I wanna know how many people actually filter there water on trail and if its really that dangerous. I know there is always a risk i just wanna hear what other people do.

[Traveler]

A lot of people don't ever filter water and claim not to have ever had a problem. Having suffered with Giardia, I do not want to have to repeat that experience. I filter all my water I get from any source. It doesn't take much longer than fetching the water itself and a filter removes parasite cysts along with sediments. In winter I will keep the filter next to my body so it won't freeze. Its a choice, it depends on what level of risk you want to assume and what level of consequence of failure you can live with.

[illabelle]

We filter all water.

[Busky2]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ..... oh and ALWAYS Giardia, had it, done it, NEVER AGAIN!!!

[BobTheBuilder]

I filter every time, all the time. The Sawyer is even lighter and simpler than my previous pump filter.

[Trance]

I just use Aquamira, and have for years.

People would be crazy not to use something tho.... when I was section hiking through the Smokies, some idiot was telling me that he never treated or filtered his water and was fine.... however his Girlfriend was a little under the weather and sick to her stomach in their tent lol.

[Lone Wolf]

Going on a short section hike next week and I'm only bringing AM tablets. I wanna know how many people actually filter there water on trail and if its really that dangerous. I know there is always a risk i just wanna hear what other people do.

this is a can of worms question. me personally i have never filtered or treated any water in 16,000 miles walked on the AT. never been sick

[Slo-go'en]

It depends. If it's a spring and I see the water coming out of the ground, then no. If it's a small stream high up on the ridge, probably not. If it's beaver pond, definitely yes. Avoid larger streams near or along roads, no matter what.

Remember when using Aqua Mira tablets to wait sufficient time for them to work. If the water is real cold like it is this time of year, that would be 30 to 45 minutes. Long time to wait to get a drink, which is why so many use a filter instead. Of course, when it's real cold, keeping your filter from freezing can be a problem too.

[Pedaling Fool]

Non-filterer here, only been sick once, of course I don't know if it was from the water or something else, but regardless I'm a stronger person for it

[Kerosene]

Just Aqua Mira drops for me. I don't mind waiting the 30+ minutes for them to do their job.

The only time I wish I had a filter is when the spring is very shallow or filled with leaves. Even then, I typically have the time to clear out/dredge the puddle and wait for everything to settle.

Note that cross-contamination is a very likely possibility with your typical filter.

[smokey mtn hiker]

Always filter. Never been sick, hopefully won't ever be.

[nsherry61]

Never filtered for 40 years of backpacking. Never got sick. I now generally carry a filter or a steripen enabling me to carry less or no water while hiking and don't have to be as careful about my water sources. I still don't treat good looking water sources. But, I also don't have to wait to find a good looking water source before I drink up because I have the tools to sterilize my water. And, I do always carry a few Chlorinedioxide tablets as backup, that I have never actually had to use.

[LoneStranger]

Yes.

I've not only heard reports that animals poop in the woods, I've actually seen it. What's worse is that some of those animals used TP and left it on top of their scat. Combine that with the chance of something dead rotting just up stream out of sight and I filter even when I don't want to.

[Seatbelt]

Always from a stream or lake, never from a spring or spigot. JMO

[No Directions]

I always filter. I haven't seen any advantage in not filtering.

I wear a seat belt when in a car and look both ways before crossing the road too.


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[Mr. Bumpy]

During winter hikes I still carry a filter, but since my winter hikes are only 2-3 days long and I'm not worried about fuel, I boil using the MSR Reactor which brings a liter to a rolling boil in about two seconds.

During warm weather hikes, outside of a few trusted springs, then I always filter. Sawyer and a dromedary bag just make it too easy, so why skip it.

[cwinkle]

I started my thru with a gravity filter. It was a big bag that you would fill up, hang it up in a tree or something, then let the water flow down a filter tube into your bottle. I'm sure there are people out there with better success with that than I had, but on day three at Mountain Crossings I traded in for a pump filter. That worked great until I got to Derrik Knob shelter a couple of weeks later. By then the filter was so clogged that it was spewing more water out the release valve than was going through the filter. Went in to Gatlinburg and cleaned the inside with a toothbrush. It was really dirty and took forever until no more dirt was coming off onto the toothbrush.

So at Hot Springs I made a decision. I would keep the pump filter for obvious situations where the water source would be sketchy, but bought a little plastic bottle and eyedropper and started carrying Clorox bleach. Two drops in a Gatorade bottle, shake it for a bit and I was good to go. Apparently though you have to have the right kind of bottle to store bleach. It likes to escape the bottle and burn holes in your pack. I got one of those in Damascus and had no further trouble. I had read that bleach loses its power after a while so every so often I would refresh. You actually don't use that much when it's just two drops per 16 oz.

I never had any problems with giardia or beaver fever or the other bad one I can't remember the name of, but I did develop a kidney/bladder stone by the time I was in Massachusetts. I don't know if bleach can do that, but passing that stone was pretty intense and I hope I never have to experience that again. Haven't done real long distances since 2011, but I still carry my bleach/pump water treatment system for backcountry hikes and will again on any future long distance hikes.

[QiWiz]

I generally do not filter/treat water from a spring, but treat all water from creeks, rivers, and lakes. I use Aqua Mira drops in camp or when not in a hurry and a SteriPen or Sawyer Squeeze for on-trail quick treat and drink treatment.

[Old Hiker]

Filter AND chem treat with iodine after + neutralizer tabs.

[fiddlehead]

No filter for me.
Just drink it.
Got sick twice (6 thrus)
Have used chorine on occasion (rarely)
Guy above says 2 drops per 16 oz.
If I do use it, I say 1 to 2 drops per litre depending on quality of water. (mostly just one)
Wait according to temperature of water (colder it is, the longer you must wait)
(not just shake it and drink it)
20-30 minutes wait is what I did.
Perhaps 5 times per thru on the AT, 10 on the PCT and 10 on the CDT (mostly when cow **** is in the water out west) (mostly when too many hikers around in the east)