View Full Version : Water treatment
Drybones
02-06-2012, 20:36
I will carry some aquamira but do not plan to treat water unless I suspect a problem with it. Anyone had a problem with untreated water?
Hmmm, six of one, half dozen of the other. Puts a whole new meaning to the phrase "I had a funny gut feeling about that water back there".
You're a lot more likely to become ill from people (yourself & others) not washing your/their hands than you are from waterborne illness.
RWheeler
02-06-2012, 20:44
You're a lot more likely to become ill from people (yourself & others) not washing your/their hands than you are from waterborne illness.
Aka hand sanitizer after your morning privy visit, and don't let people reach into your bag of nuts.
Pray you don't meet Mr. Norovirus........ he laughs at hand sanitizer.
You're a lot more likely to become ill from people (yourself & others) not washing your/their hands than you are from waterborne illness.
I saw a study to this effect - the group that was fastidious about handwashing but didn't treat their water had the same rate of gastrointestinal problems as the group that treated their water.
My personal choice is a filter bottle. The most likely problems you'll encounter are cysts, such as Giardia or Cryptosporidium, and a filter is more effective against those than chemicals. As UV units like the SteriPen get more reliable, I'll switch.
Nothing's perfect. Filters break, $hit happens. I drank directly from streams for 40 years without issue, but one bad experience is all it takes.
I saw a study to this effect - the group that was fastidious about handwashing but didn't treat their water had the same rate of gastrointestinal problems as the group that treated their water.
....
That means both groups ate GORP from "infected" foodbags being offered by morons who didn't wash their hands. Interesting.
RWheeler
02-06-2012, 21:04
That means both groups ate GORP from "infected" foodbags being offered by morons who didn't wash their hands. Interesting.
Exactly what I thought. The scientist in me is just thinking how important the uncontrolled factors were.
Lone Wolf
02-06-2012, 21:35
Anyone had a problem with untreated water?nah. it's all i ever drink. i wouldn't think of treating water
My thoughts--why risk delaying or having to end a hike not to filter or use AM. I am a Steripen user and AM for my bladder--it's about safety for me
paradoxb3
02-08-2012, 23:54
in 2010, i used AM the whole way with a (very) few rare exceptions when the water was from a super cold spring at the source. i never had any problems and it was never really an inconvenience to me to treat. 3 guys i hiked with got lax about treating, and all 3 got giardia, one of them got it twice, and were miserable for a week or two. its your choice but i dont see why you wouldnt do *something* when the downside to one is having to wait a few minutes before drinking, while the downside with the other is a 2-week-long experience in spraying the forest with the green apple splatters at random unexpected times.
SCRUB HIKER
02-09-2012, 02:41
in 2010, i used AM the whole way with a (very) few rare exceptions when the water was from a super cold spring at the source. i never had any problems and it was never really an inconvenience to me to treat. 3 guys i hiked with got lax about treating, and all 3 got giardia, one of them got it twice, and were miserable for a week or two. its your choice but i dont see why you wouldnt do *something* when the downside to one is having to wait a few minutes before drinking, while the downside with the other is a 2-week-long experience in spraying the forest with the green apple splatters at random unexpected times.
Correlation doesn't imply causation. There are a hundred different opinions on giardia that I've heard, and none of them mean anything. Your question is impossible to answer. Some people treat their water fastidiously and still get sick, others like Lone Wolf haven't done it for 50 years and are always fine. I carried Aqua Mira and treated only from gross-looking streams and rivers (i.e. where I couldn't see the source and there was clearly some extra color) just because it made me sleep easier. Do whatever works for you.
You might be able to get by without treating water if you're use to drinking raw, untreated water. Just think of the water in Mexico, the locals drink it all the time and don't get sick. You drink the same water and you'll have it coming out of both ends:(
Hit, bring extra TP.
swjohnsey
02-09-2012, 19:17
Most cities/towns in Mexico treat their water the same way we treat ours in the U.S.A. I drink tap water in Mexico with no problems.
My point exactly. If you're use to it then you'll be OK. I'm assuming by his question that the OP does not drink water from streams and springs along the AT, therefore he is not use to it.
I don't know how the OP will know when to "suspect" a source is not safe to drink.
Even the wells along the AT with hand pumps are not tested often enough to know they are safe. The caretaker at the RPH shelter told me they test the well there and at the campsite 1/2 mile south only once every 2 years. Many wells are posted warning to treat the water.
I believe most gastrointestinal illness on the trail is from hand to mouth contact, i.e sharing food and drink, not from drinking water.
Your choice to treat or not.
Wombat Farm
02-09-2012, 20:21
I'm pretty daring but unless the water is coming from a spring (ie from underground) assume some animal (human or non-human) poo may have ended up in it. tablets are very light weight and well worth it I think. I'm not sure I buy the whole "hand sanitizer" thing (just more crap to carry really)...just stay "clean" (I bring baby wipes) and treat surface water just in case. :D