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View Full Version : Sawyer mini filter + Aqua Mira = the best combo for thru hike water treatment?



Goji
12-20-2013, 18:45
Don't need anything else like a steripen, correct? Thanks


Goji

CalebJ
12-20-2013, 18:45
Why are you carrying both?

Goji
12-20-2013, 18:49
Thought filter it first and then chemical treat it


Goji

CalebJ
12-20-2013, 18:51
If you like, but it's not necessary. You can strain it through something if the water is murky, but otherwise just chemical treatment is perfectly adequate.

10-K
12-20-2013, 18:56
......................

Nick P
12-20-2013, 19:04
I like the idea of both, but will sub bleach for Aqua Mira.

CalebJ
12-20-2013, 19:06
Blech. Bleach makes me a lot more uncomfortable than chlorine dioxide.

Odd Man Out
12-20-2013, 21:21
Filter removes all protozoans and bacteria. It will not remove viruses, but could possibly improve the taste of water from some sources.
The chemical treatment kills protozoans, bacteria, and viruses.

Both are not necessary. You can always boil water as an emergency backup, if necessary.

Mags
12-20-2013, 21:31
Take one or the other. Otherwise you are in a belt and suspenders situation. :)

bfayer
12-20-2013, 22:58
Filter removes all protozoans and bacteria. It will not remove viruses, but could possibly improve the taste of water from some sources.
The chemical treatment kills protozoans, bacteria, and viruses.

Both are not necessary. You can always boil water as an emergency backup, if necessary.

+1 on this, except where certain type of cysts are a problem, but this is not an issue on the AT. Viruses are not an issue in normal AT water supplies. Anything that will kill or remove bacteria and giardia will work fine for the AT (crypto is generally not an issue either, but chemicals take hours to kill them if you are worried).

Chemical treatments take time to work, filters are not much good if they freeze. Pick one based on your needs. You can always keep a few Aquamira tabs in your first-aid kit for an emergency if you use a filter and are worried about a particular water supply, or like said above, you can just boil it since you will most likely have a stove anyway.

I am uber cautious about water, and I only take one or the other (or more likely my Steripen if I know it is going below freezing).

CarlZ993
12-20-2013, 23:36
When I've taken a filter, I've always taken chemical backup (me or someone in my party). I've had a filter crap out on me a couple of times over the years. If I take Aguamira only, I pay attention to how tightly the tops are screwed on. They will leak on you if you're not careful.

On my AT hike, I used Aguamira exclusively for the entire hike. Worked. Occasionally had some 'tinted' water. If I were to do the AT again, I'd use Aguamira again but possible take a few chemical tablets as a backup for a couple of days. Murphy's Law.

squeezebox
12-21-2013, 00:32
How many people got sick from a norovirus last year?? Sound like doubling up just might be so stupid !!
Yea and wash your hands !!

Turk6177
12-21-2013, 09:34
I read (sorry I can't remember where) that the Sawyer filter will clean everything out of the water except for viruses. In the same article, it mentioned most of our water sources in the US do not have viruses. Viruses are more of a concern in a third world country. I am certainly not a scientist, but I would assume if you are choosing good water sources, a Sawyer filter would be enough to keep you safe. I also agree with everyone else regarding hand washing. Dirty hands have to be a much larger cause of illness than water sources.

squeezebox
12-21-2013, 10:37
Both have their pros and cons. If you need water right now a filter, but it takes a certain amount of labor to fill & squeeze, fill & squeeze, and keeping it from freezing takes a certain amount of constant attention. and if it does freeze it's ruined. Aqua mira takes time of sitting around. But if you pull into camp fill you bottles etc. tab them let them sit while you set up you tent etc., when finished your water will be ready to cook with, less labor time . same thing for morning A few things are so important that a backup is reasonable, clean water is one of those.

Malto
12-21-2013, 10:41
Carrying both is the worst of both worlds. Heavy finicky filter plus you have to wait to drink. Pick one and go.

CalebJ
12-21-2013, 10:44
I don't really see the issue with the treatment time for Aqua Mira. You give it 5 minutes for the chemicals to react (skipped if you premix), and the remaining time can pass while you walk. Drink as you hike once the time has passed, and finish any water you have as you come up to the water source. There's far -less- time involved than if you were filtering.

Colter
12-21-2013, 13:36
In general I'm not in favor of redundancy in backpacking gear, but I think some redundancy in water treatment may not be a bad idea.

Filters break, Aqua Mira bottles leak and it can be hard to know if you've got enough Aqua Mira to make it to your next resupply (I've run into all three problems.) A Sawyer mini weighs about 2 oz, as does the two Aqua Mira bottles. I carry two mini lighters because they are very light and very important. I like the idea of carrying both the Sawyer mini and Aqua Mira for the same reasons. 2 oz worth of insurance is well worth it to me. In practice I'd use only one or the other unless I had reason to believe the water was particularly nasty.

RangerZ
06-22-2015, 12:10
Take one or the other. Otherwise you are in a belt and suspenders situation. :)

Agree that its belt and suspenders ...

I've been filtering and treating, and have been wondering if treating then filtering is any different. Just wondering.

Coffee
06-22-2015, 12:34
If using aquamira as a backup, consider the tablets. They weigh very little and can't spill. Yes they cost more per treatment but as a backup, this isn't such a big deal. I use the full size Sawyer with aquamira tablets as a backup when I expect temps above freezing. For below freezing temps, I use aquamira drops.

Another Kevin
06-22-2015, 14:11
I've been filtering and treating, and have been wondering if treating then filtering is any different. Just wondering.

Certainly all the vendors of chemical treatments recommend higher concentrations and/or longer contact times for turbid water, so prefiltering to remove turbidity would probably make your chemical treatment more effective.

I don't go to that great an extent, despite being a 'belt and suspenders' kind of guy. I carry a Sawyer Mini, and Aqua Mira in case the Mini cracks or freezes. Sometimes I use the Aqua Mira because I don't mind waiting for it to work but don't feel like sitting around squeezing at a water bag. I like to make sure I treat with it at least every few days so that the inside of my water bladder or soft-sided bottles gets a good exposure to the chlorine.

Jake2c
06-25-2015, 12:05
I have hiked the AT with a sawyer and have not gotten sick. I take a chemical backup just in case the filter breaks (I did blow out a squeeze bag once. I have picked up another filter though, it is a Life Straw Mission. I got the one with a 5L bag. It is a gravity drain system that is a little slow and is the heaviest option but it is a .02 micron filter (not a mistake, it is .02). The sawyer was a .1 which did fine but on the odd chance of a virus, .02 takes care of that. I drink a lot of water and just don't want to put bleach/iodine/chlorine in my water on a routine basis. Just a personal preference, not for any known health reason. In actuality I don't really worry that much about it so I am not sure which filter I will take on my thru hike this coming spring but I will most likely stick with a larger bag gravity drain system using either the sawyer or the life straw.

Starchild
06-25-2015, 12:43
You should have some sort of a coarse screening first, then have the water enter a settling tank where smaller solids will fall to the bottom, and anything that floats can be skimmed off. After that a charcoal filter would take care of most other solids and turbidity, followed by hollow fiber filtering. Water can now be treated with UV then chemical treatment for lasting residual protection.

Wülfgang
06-25-2015, 14:01
Aqua Mira is a biocide. It kills all life (at the right concentration). Unless the water is especially turbid you wont need a filter.

Additionally, filters don't work against viruses, which are uncommon (but not unheard of) in US rivers and streams.

Most hiking-related GI illnesses come from poor hand sanitation and food sharing.

Colter
06-25-2015, 14:30
...Most hiking-related GI illnesses come from poor hand sanitation and food sharing.

Undoubtedly SOME do, but "most" is a speculative statement unsupported by data.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12681456

RESULTS:

Of the 280 backpackers who responded (a combined 38,940 days of wilderness exposure), 69% (n = 192) achieved their goal. The most important reasons for ending a hike prematurely were injury, time limitation, and psychosocial reasons. The most common medical complaints were feet blisters (64%; n = 180), diarrhea (56%, n = 156), skin irritation (51%, n = 143), and acute joint pain (36%, n = 102). The incidence of vector-borne disease was 4% (n = 11); physician-diagnosed Lyme disease was the most common, and 24% of hikers (n = 68) reported tick bites. The risk of diarrhea was greater among those who frequently drank untreated water from streams or ponds (odds ratio [OR] = 7.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.7 to 23; P <0.0001), whereas practicing "good hygiene" (defined as routine cleaning of cooking utensils and cleaning hands after bowel movements) was associated with a decreased risk (OR = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.22 to 0.97; P =0.04).
CONCLUSION:

Diarrhea is the most common illness limiting long-distance hikers. Hikers should purify water routinely, avoiding using untreated surface water. The risk of gastrointestinal illness can also be reduced by maintaining personal hygiene practices and cleaning cookware.

Wülfgang
06-25-2015, 17:00
Splitting hairs here, but I think you misread that study.

You could say that your odds of getting diarrhea (a symptom) are higher when routinely drinking untreated water. "Good hygiene" decreases the risk but not so much as treating your water according to this data, which is the only study of it's kind that I'm aware of.

The study never differentiates causes of diarrhea (which would be impractical), and it doesn't tell us (at least in the abstract) what percentage of those with diarrhea didn't treat their water. In other words, maybe only 15 of those 156 people routinely didn't treat their water, whereas the rest of that cohort did. Furthermore, I'd venture to say most people these days purify their water either by filtration or chemical disinfection. So the remaining cases of diarrhea would have to be due to food-borne causes, poor hand/cooking sanitation, or careless purification methods.

The AT norovirus outbreak last year was attributed primarily to person-to-person contact; in other words, food-sharing, latrine visits, and insufficient hand-washing. (Hand sanitizer is ineffective against noro).

Colter
06-25-2015, 17:39
..."Good hygiene" decreases the risk but not so much as treating your water according to this data, which is the only study of it's kind that I'm aware of...

That's what I'm saying. The only similar peer-reviewed study is done by the same author with the same group of hikers.

putts
06-25-2015, 17:44
I don't really see the issue with the treatment time for Aqua Mira. You give it 5 minutes for the chemicals to react (skipped if you premix),

Can you premix? Obviously you can, but should you? Why would they package it in two separate containers instead of a premixed solution? Would premixing make it less effective over time? I honestly don't know and probably won't take the time to research it..but if somebody does know..

Colter
06-25-2015, 20:48
Can you premix? Obviously you can, but should you? Why would they package it in two separate containers instead of a premixed solution? Would premixing make it less effective over time? I honestly don't know and probably won't take the time to research it..but if somebody does know..

I don't premix because Aquamira specifically recommends against it. There will always be some potency lost between premixing and usage. At some point it becomes useless.

Additionally, it will only save me a maximum of five minutes. It just doesn't make sense to me.

putts
06-25-2015, 21:14
I don't premix because Aquamira specifically recommends against it. There will always be some potency lost between premixing and usage. At some point it becomes useless.

Additionally, it will only save me a maximum of five minutes. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I figured that was the case. Thanks for the confirmation of the recommendation.

Jake2c
06-26-2015, 01:40
Filters can remove viruses if they are fine enough. I think the smallest human virus is .028 microns but not certain about that.

CalebJ
06-26-2015, 08:36
Can you premix? Obviously you can, but should you? Why would they package it in two separate containers instead of a premixed solution? Would premixing make it less effective over time? I honestly don't know and probably won't take the time to research it..but if somebody does know..
Mixing when you need it eliminates any potential concern about lost effectiveness, and encouraging that protects AquaMira against liability. I'd provide the same warning. However, if you take reasonable precautions (only doing so in cooler weather, using a dark bottle that doesn't transmit UV light, and only premixing what you'll need for the next treatment), there's nothing to worry about.