View Full Version : Question about water
David@whiteblaze
07-18-2009, 20:56
I am planning for a thru-hike (duh.) and i was wondering if anyone knows about how much water you would consume in a day on the AT (gallons prefered unit of measure) so that I can estimate filter replacements. Thanks for responding.
Max2mus
El Toro '94
07-19-2009, 12:32
1/2-1 quart for cooking breakfast, and tea or coffee, another quart to hydrate b4 hiking, + brushing teef. Same for the evening, so that's 3/4-1 gallon for meals, anywhere from 1-2 gallons during the day for drinking, depending on how far & fast you walk and how hot it is. Figure on a couple/2.5 gallons a day for the AT.
El Toro '94
07-19-2009, 12:42
Go with chemicals for purification, aqua mira or polar pure. Faster, lighter and cheaper. One bottle of polar pure is about $12, weighs a couple of ounces and should last the whole trip. Aqua mira @$15, also a couple of ounces, but need to replinish once or twice a month.
Or take your chances and don't purify (ultimate weight and money saver).
Or purify some(standing or surface water) and don't bother purifying others (spring water).
Up to you.
David@whiteblaze
07-19-2009, 13:28
The Katadyn Pocket water filter will filter 13,000 gallons of water w/o replacement, so you that voted and responded have helped me greatly.
Max2mus
Crawbear
07-19-2009, 13:57
Fill up a small bottle with household bleach and take a small dropper. Use 2 drops per liter. You won't notice the taste and it's safe. So much easier than a pump and cheaper than purification tablets. Plus iodine is not healthy for extended periods of time.
I consumed about 5-6 liters when water was plentiful (Maine) and about a gallon per day in the South during extreme drought conditions.
Did you mean galons or litres on the poll?? Anyone drinking 4+ gallons of water (7-8ltrs) is going to explode, even in hot weather :-)
I drank about 2ltrs on the cooler days and when it started getting hot it could be at most 4-6ltrs (less than 2 gallons).
I would also put in a word for Aqua Mira. I started with a Katadyn Hiker Pro and it broke down in the middle of the Smokies. I also know of 2 others who switched out to other systems (one to Miox and one to Aqua Mira) because of the same issue. Aqua Mira is cheap, light and failsafe.
David@whiteblaze
07-19-2009, 18:43
well, i guess that i got a little carried away. :rolleyes: I aqsked my parents and they said something like 7 a day or something.and i was just thinking :-? so i posted a poll to see wat u thought. ty for noticing, but it was intended to be gallons, (originally at least).
Max2mus
If you haven't bought your filter yet I would look for other options.
I am a filter user myself and there are lighter and less expensive options out there.
If you haven't bought your filter yet I would look for other options.
I am a filter user myself and there are lighter and less expensive options out there.
Personally, I was going to get away from filters a while back because I hated the effort of pumping water. I learned about the ULA Amigo Pro (http://www.ula-equipment.com/amigopro.asp) gravity filter and have been using it since. If you're a DIY type of person, there is a DIY gravity filter on Just Jeff's (http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearGravityFilter.html) page as well. MSR (http://cascadedesigns.com/MSR/Water-Treatment-And-Hydration/Basecamp-Water-Treatment-And-Hydration/AutoFlow-Gravity-Filter/product) makes one also, just in case you're interested in buying from a cold, faceless corporation that makes a lot of their gear overseas instead of keeping jobs at home in the States.
Homer&Marje
07-19-2009, 19:54
Bought a Katahdin Vario and it's fantastic...5 days without being maintained if your using clear streams that move well...and pumps faster than any filter I have had.
Pumps a liter in under 30 seconds easily. Whole kit weighs about 1 lb
I've got the Vario too and haven't had any problems with it so far. I did have to pop the ceramic filter out and clean it after filtering water out of a pond a few weekends back, but I think that was my fault because I forgot to put the float on the intake line before I left the house and sucked up a bunch of silt.
Anyway, it was just a quick rub with a scotch brite pad and I was back in business. During the rest of the weekend I put a coffee filter with a hair elastic over the end of the intake tube and didn't have any further problems.
This pump is super-fast! I can fill a nalgene faster than the time it took me to get the pump and nalgene out of my pack.
http://www.backcountry.com/store/EXT0059/Katadyn-Vario-Dual-Technology-MicroFilter.html (http://www.backcountry.com/store/EXT0059/Katadyn-Vario-Dual-Technology-MicroFilter.html)
CrumbSnatcher
07-19-2009, 23:06
i can pump a qt. in 30 seconds with my pur hikerpro! worst pump i ever owned sweetwater.(to be fair i've only ever owned 2 pumps) slowest pump i ever saw being used mini-works!
CrumbSnatcher
07-19-2009, 23:09
Personally, I was going to get away from filters a while back because I hated the effort of pumping water. I learned about the ULA Amigo Pro (http://www.ula-equipment.com/amigopro.asp) gravity filter and have been using it since. If you're a DIY type of person, there is a DIY gravity filter on Just Jeff's (http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearGravityFilter.html) page as well. MSR (http://cascadedesigns.com/MSR/Water-Treatment-And-Hydration/Basecamp-Water-Treatment-And-Hydration/AutoFlow-Gravity-Filter/product) makes one also, just in case you're interested in buying from a cold, faceless corporation that makes a lot of their gear overseas instead of keeping jobs at home in the States.
hooch, hows that amigo pro been working for you, how much did it run$. i fly to maine in 3 weeks. not alot of funds this time out. probably just use my old pur pump?
CrumbSnatcher
07-19-2009, 23:27
Bought a Katahdin Vario and it's fantastic...5 days without being maintained if your using clear streams that move well...and pumps faster than any filter I have had.
Pumps a liter in under 30 seconds easily. Whole kit weighs about 1 lb
i have been away too long,i have never heard of it.(the vario) will check it out thanks for the info!
i've heard a liter for every 5miles, if your sweat doesn't have a saltyness to it, then you are drinking too much water, which can be very dangerous
River Runner
07-20-2009, 02:05
I wouldn't stock up on filters. It is very likely you will change your water purification method over the course of a thru hike.
Maybe just have one replacement in a bounce box, with chemicals for back-up.
I would not recommend the Katadyn Vario. I have had a lot of trouble with mine clogging the ceramic filter & spurting water from the sides of the housing. I think part of the problem is that it has such a robust pumping system that it pulls up a lot of silt from the bottom (it will also move around a lot on the top of the water, moving itself into shallower areas or against rocks covered in algae or silt). It might help if the water were placed in a bucket first and allowed to settle, and then the pump was carefully used making sure to keep the float at the top. That's a lot of bother for a thru hike. It's also a rather heavy filter for only one person. I think it's a filter best suited for a small group willing to carry something to pump out of (like a collapsible bucket) in addition to the filter.
Homer&Marje
07-20-2009, 08:07
The Vario runs on a ceramic top filter and an inside paper filter filled with charcoal....I believe the inside filter is cheap and easy to replace, I'd probably put 1 or 2 like someone said in a mail drop or a bounce box.
I also keep a hair elastic around my filter and a few coffee filters in it's bag in case of ponds...the silt collector that's standard on it is very nice already though. (comparatively to other filters)
trippclark
07-20-2009, 11:07
I consume about 1 gallon in a typical day, and very rarely more than 1.5 gallons. This includes water for cooking.
I can't believe people complain about pumping water...I didn't realize it was so much effort.
leeki pole
07-20-2009, 11:26
i've heard a liter for every 5miles, if your sweat doesn't have a saltyness to it, then you are drinking too much water, which can be very dangerous
Sorry but you can't drink too much water, urban myth. Your body will dispose it for you, fact.
http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Katadyn-Vario-Dual-Technology-MicroFilter/EXT0059M.html
I have it's cheaper Brother and it filters just fine also Katadyn Hiker Water Microfilter
David@whiteblaze
07-20-2009, 12:12
ok, thank you guys (and quite possibly gals too) for responding, but i said the katadyn pocket, not vario, why did you start talking about vario all of the sudden?
ChinMusic
07-20-2009, 12:21
Max2mus - barring damage your filter will make it through a thru with no trouble. The water on the AT is mostly clear with very little clogging of the filter elements. You won't be thinking in "gallons" on the AT but rather "liters". This ain't a desert. You will learn to carry very little water during the day (1-2 liters most of the time).
David@whiteblaze
07-20-2009, 14:28
i figured that out, but i was just asking in terms i am used to, btw, max2mus, is only my nickname because i always thought that "DAVID" on my start menu was lame, because i already know what my name is (most of the time anyways) so, somewhere between the movie Gladiator, and how many different sites "Maximus" is taken, i came somewhere between "Max2mus" and "M4x2m0s" I prefer max2mus over the latter, so whenever possible, i use maxmus. my whole point in this is that my name isnt max
Hoop Time
07-22-2009, 11:17
Sorry but you can't drink too much water, urban myth. Your body will dispose it for you, fact.
Not an urban myth. Too much water can cause "Hyponatremia" (water intoxication) Basically the excess water consumption results in too low a concentration of sodium. It is increasingly common due to the increased popularity of endurance sports, especially among novices.
Heavy sweating is a contributing factor. You sweat out sodium and replace it with plain water, reducing the concentration of sodium in your body. Not sure how many hikers sweat that much on routine days, but def. could be a consideration in extreme temps.
One factor that might mitigate that for hikers would be the high sodium content of many popular pack foods, like ramens, instant taters, noodle dishes. The extra sodium in prepared foods that makes them unhealthy for most people might actually be beneficial to hikers.
Plodderman
07-22-2009, 13:42
Right around two gallons.
David@whiteblaze
07-28-2009, 16:04
i figured that out, but i was just asking in terms i am used to, btw, max2mus, is only my nickname because i always thought that "DAVID" on my start menu was lame, because i already know what my name is (most of the time anyways) so, somewhere between the movie Gladiator, and how many different sites "Maximus" is taken, i came somewhere between "Max2mus" and "M4x2m0s" I prefer max2mus over the latter, so whenever possible, i use maxmus. my whole point in this is that my name isnt max
That's really funny, i happened to come across a very helpful server admin. who helped me change my user name, anyways, thank "Alligator" if you see him around.
Blissful
07-28-2009, 18:55
Aqua mira worked good for me as a water treatment.
Well I'm retarded at reading polls. I drink 4-6 liters of water a day, not gallons. I use AquaMira.
Sorry but you can't drink too much water, urban myth. Your body will dispose it for you, fact.Hate to break it to ya, but you're dead wrong on this. Try telling that to someone with congestive heart failure or renal failure and see what you get. That aside, Gaiter and Hoop Time are right. It's true that drinking too much water can be dangerous. The question remains: How much is too much? The only person who can answer this each individual hiker. Each person out there hiking should be in tune enough with his/her own body and its hydration needs that this doesn't become a serious issue.
Frick Frack
07-29-2009, 09:57
Weight weenies will shudder but we took a MSR Mini Works and used the same filter the whole way (needed replacement in the end). It is bomb proof and came in handy a few times when we had to suck out water for the chemical users. We had iodine tablets in our 1st aid kit just in case but never needed them. We went through 3-6 liters of water/person a day depending on conditions.
ChinMusic
07-29-2009, 12:01
Hate to break it to ya, but you're dead wrong on this. Try telling that to someone with congestive heart failure or renal failure and see what you get. That aside, Gaiter and Hoop Time are right. It's true that drinking too much water can be dangerous. The question remains: How much is too much? The only person who can answer this each individual hiker. Each person out there hiking should be in tune enough with his/her own body and its hydration needs that this doesn't become a serious issue.
It is nearly impossible for a person hiking the AT to achieve water intoxication. It is NOT something one should give a second of thought.
It IS possible to have an electrolyte imbalance but that would be caused from loss of electrolytes from sweating and not over use of water.
Dehydration is a real concern, hyper-hydration is not.