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Micha
10-04-2012, 15:29
Hey there,
I've got a question, how is the water quality of the sources, springs, streams, lakes and so on on the AT? Do I need a filter that kills viruses or can I go with something like the sawyer squeeze filter? I have a Steripen, but I wonder if I can go lighter with the squeezer and also be independant from batteries...the sawyer gets good reviews but its not killing viruses. Would be happy to read some experience!
Greetings, Micha
PS: I dont like chemicals because of the taste and the contact time...and they are chemicals, kills my natural-outdoor-wilderness feeling :D

snifur
10-04-2012, 18:34
I strongly suggest treating and or filtering the water sources along the AT. Do you really want to risk being laid up for a few weeks or longer because you did not take the precautions? Some of the water sources on the AT are poor with a trickle, some are stagnent murky pools with a yummy green protein slime covering the surface. knowing that there are hikers and their dogs that poo where they should not and bath openly in some of the water sources; i would not risk it. its a big risk. if you properly treat your water there should not be much of any taste if any. filtering further reduces the taste. public water is treated and most bottled store bought water is treated and filtered. as for the steripen i have not used one. but have found many in hiker boxes and witnessed enough failing that i will not purchase one until they improve them significantly. i trust treatment and filtering even though it might seem cumbersome. just plan accordingly and you never have to wait for the water. its your risk to take. your decision. live well and take care of your body and it will see you through.

Drybones
10-04-2012, 18:53
I treated the water about half the time, used bleach, 3 drops per liter, not enough to taste. I'd rather drink the water from a mountain stream unfiltered or treated than the water from my kitchen tap. I've drank water from streams all my life so I may have more immunity than others, recommend you treat it. IMO the filter is just extra weight. I did carry the top section of a plastic bottle cut in half with a screen in the hole to filter sediment. Used it to scoop water from shallows.

T-Rx
10-04-2012, 18:54
I use a sawyer squeeze filter and it works great and is easy to clean. I also carry aqua mira as a backup. You will find varying opinions on WB about filtering water and I will admit to occasionally drinking from some sources untreated. But I think it is better to be safe than sorry (and sick). Just my humble opinion.

swjohnsey
10-04-2012, 21:10
Probably 90% or more of the water sources along the AT needs no treatment unless you are the type that only touches the bathroom door handle with a paper towel. Jez, it is coming out the side of a mountain!

Blissful
10-04-2012, 22:51
I used Aqua Mira for over 4000 miles; no problems.

Another Kevin
10-04-2012, 23:43
I've seen a beautiful spring coming out the side of a mountain ... with a dead rodent in it. I've also seen horses' hoofprints going right up to a spring, with, no doubt, the predictable things happening at the end of the horse that wasn't drinking - one horse length away from the drinking water. So I treat.

In terms of viruses, I've posted before, that there isn't that much in North America that's really nasty. Hepatitis A? My shots are up to date. Polio? My shots are up to date - and we have no monkeys here to spread it. JK Virus? It causes severe disease only in the immunocompromised (think AIDS patients). The coronavirus that causes SARS? Awfully rare. Norwalk virus? Much more likely to be transmitted hand-to-mouth than in water, and besides, I can put up with a day or two of the runs. So I don't bother with halogenation.

Bacteria and protozoa are another story. There are a few of each that can knock you off the trail for the season. (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba histolytica, Shigella, Salmonella, Legionella, Vibrio, Leptospira...) I even knew someone back in the 1970s who managed to get typhoid in the backcountry. So I filter.

Bucho
10-05-2012, 00:23
Hey there,
I've got a question, how is the water quality of the sources, springs, streams, lakes and so on on the AT?

Three of my friends got giardia.



Do I need a filter that kills viruses or can I go with something like the sawyer squeeze filter? I have a Steripen, but I wonder if I can go lighter with the squeezer and also be independant from batteries...the sawyer gets good reviews but its not killing viruses. Would be happy to read some experience!

Hepatitis is a hypothetical concern, I'd suggest getting vaccinated either way. Other than that I would expect the squeeze to be great and it will work on worm eggs which last I knew there wasn't evidence that the steripen actually worked against.

rusty bumper
10-05-2012, 09:20
I treated all stream and pond water with Aqua Mira. I drank all spring water without any treatment or filtering. I never had any gastro-intestinal problems in over 5 months of hiking.

swjohnsey
10-06-2012, 04:27
'Bout the same here, I treated pond water and any stream big enough to have a bridge across it . . . except in Maine. They ain't figured out the bridge thang yet.

Micha
10-06-2012, 05:51
Thanks for the posts! One question, what exactly means treating water? Filtering oder purifying? (I'm german, sorry :D) Like always there are many different opinions. So what do most people think, can I go with the sawyer squeeze, would it be enough? Anyone did a thru with the sawyer squeeze?

Micha
10-06-2012, 05:55
Sorry switched back into German, of course I mean: what exactly is treating water? filtering OR purifying? This is really a bog topic for me, cause I dont know anything about the water there. I usually hike in Scandinavia, where you can drink all water without doing anything to it...

ChinMusic
10-06-2012, 11:31
... the AT needs no treatment unless you are the type that only touches the bathroom door handle with a paper towel.

me, me, me. At least in public places.

Odd Man Out
10-06-2012, 14:02
Sorry switched back into German, of course I mean: what exactly is treating water? filtering OR purifying? This is really a bog topic for me, cause I dont know anything about the water there. I usually hike in Scandinavia, where you can drink all water without doing anything to it...

On this forum, "treating water" refers to any procedure that makes the water safe (or safer) to drink, either by either removing or killing micro organisms. You could use filters to remove microbes. Or you can use heat, UV-light, or chemicals to kill the microbes.

Water treatment among back country hikers in the US is a widely debated topic. Some people treat, some people don't. Some people get sick. Some people don't. There are lots of opinions. I hazard to make these generalizations:

MOST people feel that it is a good idea to treat water from the back-country in the US, but the primary concern is to treat for protozoans and bacteria and that virus are a minor concern. Thus filters are a viable option.

MANY people feel that gastrointestinal diseases among back-country hikers that are blamed on contaminated water are often due to poor hygiene (that is, the contamination came from you or your friends, not your water).

MANY people use UV devices, filters, or chemicals to treat their water with good success. Each of the methods listed about had advantages and disadvantages which are widely debated. The best choice for you is a matter of personal preference.

yellowsirocco
10-06-2012, 19:49
I talked to a water quality scientist one time on the trail. He said that he treats about half the water he comes across. If it is close to the source like a spring or small stream then he drank it straight and if it was rivers and ponds then he treated. This comes from a guy who actually knows what he is talking about and not going off of scuttlebutt from other hikers or the nanny gov't warnings. It makes sense to me.

Bucho
10-06-2012, 22:33
If it is close to the source like a spring or small stream then he drank it straight and if it was rivers and ponds then he treated.

Which is the sort of thing that tends to work out unless the guy ahead of you washed the feces off his hands in the spring. For 2oz and $50 having all my water filtered as I drink it is worth it to me. Others prefer to gamble and it works out for a lot of them.

daddytwosticks
10-07-2012, 10:48
Which is the sort of thing that tends to work out unless the guy ahead of you washed the feces off his hands in the spring. For 2oz and $50 having all my water filtered as I drink it is worth it to me. Others prefer to gamble and it works out for a lot of them. If it's a PVC pipe shoved in the side of a hill - such as many of the spring sources down south here are - unless the guy wiped his poop all over the end of the pipe, I think we'll be mostly fine. :)

Deacon
10-07-2012, 14:33
If it's a PVC pipe shoved in the side of a hill - such as many of the spring sources down south here are - unless the guy wiped his poop all over the end of the pipe, I think we'll be mostly fine. :)

Even if the guy did, the water would still probably be fine with the constant flow of water through the pipe.


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1stgenfarmboy
11-07-2012, 16:41
We hiked up to fern lake in the rockys and i drank right out out of a very fast running ice cold river running right next to the trail...and it did not end well.

but on the other hand i have drank out of our cattle pond through an ice hole in the winter and made it fine.

i think it would good to treat it some how, but i don't have and sugestions.

Leanthree
11-07-2012, 18:01
The placebo effect is scientifically proven, so even if your treatment doesn't change a damn thing, you will still feel better about yourself. Because of that I like Iodine on short trips and Aqua Mira on long ones.

Airman
11-07-2012, 18:17
My steripen works great for me plus the batteries are not heavy.