Water purification - what's popular? What works?

[Sassafras Lass]

I'm not a fan of chemicals, even trace chemicals, so right off the bat I'm opposed to that.

However, I'm not so mule-headed as to think that I can have everything perfect whilst hiking through 6 mths' worth of wilderness.

So - what kind of purification do you guys use? What brands, what methods, and what positive/negative feelings and experiences?

Thank you all SO much!

[Panzer1]

MSR Water Works II

http://www.outdoorreview.com/cat/out...8_2960crx.aspx

I thought that if filtered slower than my old Pur but still for one person it was fast enough.

Panzer

[rp1790]

For me, I started last year with a Katadyn Hiker Pro and it clogged up in the Smokies and the handle broke. I switched to Aqua Mira and was very happy with it. Very minimal taste.

A friend I was hiking with had the same filter and his did the same thing about 2 weeks later...

[white_russian]

For me, I started last year with a Katadyn Hiker Pro and it clogged up in the Smokies and the handle broke. I switched to Aqua Mira and was very happy with it. Very minimal taste.

A friend I was hiking with had the same filter and his did the same thing about 2 weeks later...

I had a filter that lasted about as long as the smokies as well. That was a old plain hiker filter and not the hiker pro with the prefilter on the cartridge. Since I have had the pro filter in my regular housing just cleaning the screen has let me use one cartridge for about 1000 miles and still going. My handle is still good so they may have switched plastics or maybe yall were just pushing too hard against the clogged filter.

[Roche]

I gave up the filter after trying AquaMira. I crossed the chemical bridge after reading Lightweight Backpacking & Camping by Ryan Jordan. So I bought some ($15), tried it at home, on hikes, overnights, then week trips. You'll get plenty of opinions on all methods, but use what you are comfortable with. Trust, but verify.

[flemdawg1]

Steripen Classic. But I'm not a thru-hiker, so I can't speak as to that application over a 6-month period.

[GeneralLee10]

This is one you should really look at. I use it in Fl and it does take all color, fowl taste out of the water. I have never had an issue with it at all. My brother has had one for 13 yrs and it still like new(not the filter).

http://generalecology.com/category/p...r_purifier-new

[Lyle]

Not intending to be argumentative with the OP, but without chemicals, we'd all be dead. Just sayin'

For me AquaMira. Light, reasonably convenient, compact, effective, little or (in my opinion) no taste.

I've used filters, both gravity and pump, Iodine tablets, Steipen. AquaMira still wins.

[Sassafras Lass]

What about going completely au naturel?

I'm not opposed to boiling water, only that it takes a lot of fuel and time.

Aside from the occasional runs, would it really be that terrible and unhealthy to drink untreated water? Many people do, and many people have for millenia before the creation of fancy filters and chemicals.

Just sayin' . . . .

If I were to make sound decisions regarding my water sources (running water higher up a mountain, etc.), how would I fare?

[CrumbSnatcher]

katahdyn hiker/pro is a great filter. if you had a problem it was probably operator error!

[Lyle]

Actually, I do treat or not depending on my water source. Not that anyone can tell by looking.

Used to be I would treat if the water source looked NASTY. Cow manure, hoof prints, body parts, slime, stagnant, etc. Otherwise I just dipped my cup and drank. Kept a Sierra cup hanging off my pack just for these dip and drink locations.

Now I treat unless the water source looks pristine and is in an area unlikely to be polluted. True springs, as opposed to a temporarily underground stream resurfacing, are almost always trusted.

Decide for yourself, no right or wrong, if you are willing to take the risk. Lots more people and development around today, by the same token, more environmental regulation and awareness too.

Also, have you ever tasted boiled water, even after it's cooled? Nasty stuff.

[Tipi Walter]

For me, I started last year with a Katadyn Hiker Pro and it clogged up in the Smokies and the handle broke. I switched to Aqua Mira and was very happy with it. Very minimal taste.

A friend I was hiking with had the same filter and his did the same thing about 2 weeks later...

Long term ingestion of chlorine? Just wondering. Check out:

http://www.healthynewage.com/chlorine-cancer.htm

And anyway, the original poster said he's against using chemicals, so why recommend Aqua Mira?

Not intending to be argumentative with the OP, but without chemicals, we'd all be dead. Just sayin'

There are chemicals and then there are chemicals. There are hundreds of man-made foreign chemicals in our bloodstreams that are being studied and no one really knows what harmful effects they might have. These chemicals are concocted in labs and have no natural origins and thus there's no long term knowledge of their health impacts. These are not the chemicals you're talking about, like calcium and iron and niacin and sodium.

[CrumbSnatcher]

[QUOTE=Lyle;975847]Actually, I do treat or not depending on my water source. Not that anyone can tell by looking.

Used to be I would treat if the water source looked NASTY. Cow manure, hoof prints, body parts, slime, stagnant, etc. Otherwise I just dipped my cup and drank. Kept a Sierra cup hanging off my pack just for these dip and drink locations.

Now I treat unless the water source looks pristine and is in an area unlikely to be polluted. True springs, as opposed to a temporarily underground stream resurfacing, are almost always trusted.

Decide for yourself, no right or wrong, if you are willing to take the risk. Lots more people and development around today, by the same token, more environmental regulation and awareness too.

Also, have you ever tasted boiled water, even after it's cooled? Nasty stuff.[/QUOTE
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[take-a-knee]

What about going completely au naturel?

I'm not opposed to boiling water, only that it takes a lot of fuel and time.

Aside from the occasional runs, would it really be that terrible and unhealthy to drink untreated water? Many people do, and many people have for millenia before the creation of fancy filters and chemicals.

Just sayin' . . . .



If I were to make sound decisions regarding my water sources (running water higher up a mountain, etc.), how would I fare?

I don't think you've ever been to Haiti. People there don't know what a beefy turd looks like. This is a classic example of the "ignorance of the blessed".

[Roche]

I don't think you've ever been to Haiti. People there don't know what a beefy turd looks like. This is a classic example of the "ignorance of the blessed".

The thread is about AT water sources. Your post is a classic example of......

[Sassafras Lass]

"This is a classic example of the "ignorance of the blessed"."

I'm not trying to shun the opportunities that I'm afforded here in America; rather, I like to approach living simply and naturally, and am just wondering if unpurified water is really as toxic as they claim, or if it's just a matter of everyone eating processed food their whole lives, which lowers their immune system and leaves them susceptible to bacteria and whatnot?

[wudhipy]

I've had a katadyn hiker for about 7 years now and never had a moments problem, just replaced the filter elements a few times...never had hiker butt either. I guess tying a bandana around the inlet part has added to the life of it by keeping out sand and little critters.

[take-a-knee]

[QUOTE=tppreston;975966]The thread is about AT water sources. Your post is a classic example of......[/QUOTE
What part of my answer wasn't an applicable. appropriate answer to the need to filter water? I guess dihydrogen oxide from the Carib is somehow markedly different than that that falls on the slopes of Applachia. Faiti is about as far from Springer as Baxter St Park is.

[take-a-knee]

"This is a classic example of the "ignorance of the blessed"."

I'm not trying to shun the opportunities that I'm afforded here in America; rather, I like to approach living simply and naturally, and am just wondering if unpurified water is really as toxic as they claim, or if it's just a matter of everyone eating processed food their whole lives, which lowers their immune system and leaves them susceptible to bacteria and whatnot?

Well, take it from a retired Special Forces medic whose been to a few of those "garden spots" and seen how indigenous folks have to endure lack of potable water, you don't want to trade places with them. I was not exaggerating when I said that many don't know what a solid turd looks like, I've had the displeasure of stepping in a few of their piles left behind their shacks. I'm all about not eating processed food. I also filter every drop of water that I drink, cook, and shower with. Chlorinated water is good, as long as you remove the chlorine before you drink it.

[Appalachian Tater]

I'm not trying to shun the opportunities that I'm afforded here in America; rather, I like to approach living simply and naturally, and am just wondering if unpurified water is really as toxic as they claim, or if it's just a matter of everyone eating processed food their whole lives, which lowers their immune system and leaves them susceptible to bacteria and whatnot?

You know, there are plenty of people who don't treat their water and hike the whole trail and they are fine. But the fact is that you can get some nasty bugs from drinking water and get really sick. If you are out for a weekend and know your sources that is one thing but you are really taking your chances over a 5-6 month thru hike drinking out of hundreds of sources.

You never know what is uphill or upstream or where the water coming out of the side of the mountain has been. Sometimes you will pass a water source because it is downhill from a cow pasture or has an oil slick on it. I have read studies that say still water from the surface of a lake is sterilized by UV and so is safer than drinking from a moving stream. Others say moving water is safer. Some nice clean streams are dark and foamy from tannic acid and may be safe but taste bad. Some springs are full of frogs or dried up and muddy with animal tracks and piles of poop. You might get to a shelter and find some idiot taking a bubble bath and washing their clothes in the spring. You may see a rotten hog or deer carcass upstream from your source or a sign saying do NOT drink the water and a bunch of empty gallon jugs.

Water treatment methods are like condoms, you have use them properly for them to work no matter which one you choose. If you don't use enough chemicals or wait long enough or if the water is too turbid for the UV to work or if you scrub your paper filter to clean it like you were supposed to do with the old ceramic ones you might as well not bother to treat at all.

So my advice is to always filter and also have some inexpensive iodine tablets as a backup for really nasty water out of a stagnant roadside ditch or pump failure. Whatever you do, learn the right way to do it and do it consistently.

Others will take their chances or even try to pretend like there is no danger and each person has the right to do what they please. I like to at least improve my odds. I also get vaccinated and walk on the side of the road against the traffic, not with it.

Plus, filtered water tastes great!