Water- do I really need a water filter?

[Klampfenhauer]

Hey Guys, I hope i do not have failed to notice a thread about water.
My question is,>> Is it really necessary to take a water filter onto the trail?<<
I want to trhuhike and i´m not shure wether to take a filter, because the health office in germany meant to me,
that there is no huge danger of getting ill by drinking water. (out of streams and lakes etc.)

Whats your opinion?
Do you take a filter with you?
If so, what kind of?
Do I underrate the Situation ;For example the danger of an giardiasis infection.



Sorry for my unprofessoinal english.
Thank you for reply

[Starchild]

I would suggest some form of water purification especially from someone not native to the area.

[Karma13]

First of all....

There are a ton of threads on water purification. If you search on 'Aquamira' you'll find a lot of them.

Here are some good ones. The first is from a fellow German:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...ghlight=filter
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...light=aquamira
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...light=aquamira

Good luck with your preparation. I hope you have a wonderful hike!

[yellowsirocco]

I carry a filter, but I use it less than 50% of the time. Most of the water is good, but sometimes you can't help but drink something that is not ideal.

Why carry a filter instead of chemicals? I can suck up some nasty looking stuff and have clean water with my filter. The chemical people are using a leaf or a cup and trying their hardest to get half a liter while I can easily just drop my tube in and get a couple of liters in half the time. It is just easier. And you don't have to wait.

[moldy]

In many parts of the Appalachian Trail you should do something to the water to protect your health.
Most hikers(not all), will do one of 3 things to the water. Filter or treat with chemical, or steralize by boiling or UV light system.
What I do is, examine the water. If it's a clear spring or small creek early in the year in the mountains, I do nothing, I just drink. I use a UV light system to steralize any water that comes through farms and cow pastures. I also use it in all slow moving rivers or standing water like lakes or ponds. I use it more often in the hot months of June July and August.

[Del Q]

I have gone from filters to aqua mira, two hikes with nothing, am going to try the Sawyer Squeeze in the Spring..............had Giardia last year, I am not convinced that it comes from the water 100% of the time. Lets face it, hygiene on long hikes is not easy, add all of the mice on, in and around shelters, fecal matter............

One concern with filters is that before and after use they are wet/damp in a pack, the bacteria count must be insane.........how clean is that really?

Agree 100% on the waiting for aqua mira to do its thing, 30 minutes minimum...........when you get to a good water supply and are empty do we wait those 30 minutes?

When I have chemicals or a filter, I use it when necessary, if the water is coming directly from the ground and I am high up, usually just go for it.

[garlic08]

I was surprised at the amount of clean water coming from good springs on the AT. I did not treat that water. I carried Aqua Mira, a chemical purifier, but only used it when I had to take water from stagnant ponds, pastoral areas with active grazing, and from urban areas (creeks near roads). That amounted to about 20 to 30 liters of water the entire trail.

Here's a brief summary of some points in the many threads:

Many long distance hikers find that mechanical filters require too much maintenance. Some say it's not a good idea to carry something for which a repair kit is sold. But many others enjoy using mechanical devices and especially like electronics with glowing lights, and are willing to carry such devices to help avoid risk.

Surveys show little difference in reported sicknesses between those who purify and those who don't.

Many say that personal hygiene, specifically hand washing, is more important to health on the trail than purifying water. Same with food safety--keep others' dirty hands out of your food. When sharing, pour into their hands.

[Kerosene]

I've also discarded my filter to use Aqua Mira, and for a high mountain spring coming directly out of the rock I don't bother with that (I do use if I have to dip out of a pool, however).

While a filter is more convenient for pulling water out of a shallow or leaf-covered pool, there is no way that anyone can avoid cross-contaminating for any significant period of time.

[Colter]

Surveys show little difference in reported sicknesses between those who purify and those who don't.

I almost always agree with Garlic because he's done a ton of hiking and he is very sensible and pragmatic. But I do disagree with what the surveys show. The oft-quoted Mueser survey was one of the few to show little difference between treating/not treating drinking water on the trail. It wasn't, however, a scientifically rigorous survey. Most surveys show water treatment is important. This was a major peer-reviewed study of 334 Appalachian Trail backpackers and it concluded Lack of hygiene, specifically handwashing and cleaning of cookware, should be recognized as a significant contributor to wilderness gastrointestinal illness. Hikers should routinely disinfect water and avoid untreated surface water. A large, scientific survey found giardia in 14% of springs.

Many people get by for years without treating water. Some people get sick on their first trip. I know many people who've gotten giardia more than once, including me. Most of us are true believers when it comes to treating water.

Personally, I am a fan of Aqua Mira drops.

[Don H]

Some comments based on the study:
I would treat all sources of water on the trail, even water from hand pumps. I use Aqua Mira or a Steri Pen.
Freezer Bag cooking eliminates dish washing, just dip your spoon in boiling water before using.
Hand washing is important but next to impossible most of the time. I always had sanitizer and used it several times a day.

Question; how long do you wait for Aqua Mira before drinking? I've heard anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours.

[Colter]

...Question; how long do you wait for Aqua Mira before drinking? I've heard anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours.

The big source of confusion is tablets vs. liquid. I prefer the liquid, which is 5 minutes to allow the mix to react, then wait 15 minutes after pouring that mix into your water. With very cold water, 30 minutes is recommended. For tablets, it's 4 hours. That's why I use the liquid.

[cliffordbarnabus]

done the at 2.7 times. time #1 I filtered. never sick. time #2 and #.7 I never treated. never sick.

pct. used bleach sometimes. sick once.

5.5 year globe bike ride. never treated (including Bolivia, Kosovo, Bosnia, India, kaz-Stan, Cambodia, etc). sick some.

was the sickness due to water or just living? who knows?

if most people saw the inside of their pipes, they'd run to the streams. but it's - for some reason - comforting to turn a piece of metal and see water (usually unaware of the actual SOURCE) cascade into something white and porcelian...

[joshuasdad]

While I usually use a filter, chemical may be better for a thru. Some filters can be damaged if exposed to freezing temps, so you need to sleep with your filter or take other precautions on cold nights (and days).

[T.S.Kobzol]

I never treat my water besides opportunistic boiling and I have never been sick. I do, however administrer discrimination to where and how I get my water.

While I usually use a filter, chemical may be better for a thru. Some filters can be damaged if exposed to freezing temps, so you need to sleep with your filter or take other precautions on cold nights (and days).

[Don H]

Well everyone has to make their own decision if they will treat water on not. My theory is better safe than sorry.
Every outdoor organization that I know of (ATC, NOLS, AMC etc.) recommends treating water.

[Cherokee Bill]

Do I carry a filter ............. damn right! I have seen the results of Gerardia (sp).. Have seen animals standing in creeks, drinking, peeing and crapping at the same time!

[garlic08]

...if most people saw the inside of their pipes, they'd run to the streams. but it's - for some reason - comforting to turn a piece of metal and see water (usually unaware of the actual SOURCE) cascade into something white and porcelian...

I realized something like this when I saw day hikers in the Smokies carrying bottles of "Appalachian Spring Water" they bought in Gatlinburg for $3 each. When they're in the cities, they buy spring water to drink. When faced with the actual spring, they drink bottled water they bought in the city. That made me shake my head in wonderment.

[Colter]

To the best of my knowledge, every major public health organization in the country that has taken a stand, recommends treating backcountry water. And as Don H said "Every outdoor organization that I know of (ATC, NOLS, AMC etc.) recommends treating water."

The reason it is more risky to drink untreated surface water in the backcountry than to drink from a tap (and statistics clearly show it's true) is that city water is treated. Appalachian Springs bottled water, for example, is not surface water pulled from an untreated spring and bottled: Our bottled water plant is equipped with ultra modern equipment and there is an on-premise lab where each production run must pass stringent test before each run is released for shipment. It is also inspected by various government and independent labs...We use the ozonation process which kills any bacteria (I drink tap rather than bottled water myself.)

Inevitably in threads like this there are numerous people who have drank untreated water and not gotten sick, and others that have gotten sick. The trouble is, "past performance is no guarantee of future results."

The largest retrospective scientific study ever done on backcountry giardia concluded this: drinking untreated mountain water is an important cause of endemic infection.

Is it risky drinking backcountry water untreated? Yes. It's a fact.
Is it worth the risk to drink backcountry water untreated? That's a matter of opinion.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I use Aqua Mira drops as well. I usually treat my water, but will sometimes drink from clean spring or cold fast-flowing stream without treatment.

I do own a Filter but I rarely use it. As others have said it was very difficult to avoid contaminating the filter parts that contained the clean water.

[brian039]

You could get by without one in Georgia and North Carolina but once you get into VA the water sources are rarely springs. Filters are annoying, I would get Aquamira as long as you don't mind a few floaty things in your water.