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Purifying water

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    • Purifying water

      I've just read all the posts on the 3 previous topics in this category, and decided to start my own. I was thinking the Sawyer sounded pretty good until I read that topic. Maybe I'm just getting to be a cranky impatient old lady, but I can tell you I won't bother with all the things you have to do to get good water from one of those things. On my thru hike attempt in 1997 my OR filter broke and I used iodine tabs that I had brought along with me. When you use the neutralizer (Vit. C) in the treated water it loses all the iodine taste & color, but after about 3 months constant use I realize I don't want any more iodine in my system than necessary. So are there any other kinds of tablets that can be dropped into the water and will purify it?

      I'll admit I was sketchy about decontaminating the threads on the bottle of treated water before drinking out of it, and maybe once in a while I shaved 5 or 10 min. off the recommended time to allow the iodine to work, so I'm not a compulsive rule follower. I just want something to keep the odds in my favor that I won't catch some unwanted malady. I bought some Aqua Mira but not sure if that is enough to treat the water or is this product just insurance that your other water treatment program works.

      Sorry for this long post - I get started and don't know when to shut up!

    • Purifying water

      I'm not sure what bad thing you read about the sawyer. You can screw it onto just about any water bottle- and either drink from the end of the filter or squeeze the bottle into another bottle or use it as a gravity filter. An evernew collapsible water bottle works very well as they are tough and will not burst like some of the early sawyer squeeze bags. I can filter 3 liters in less than 5 minutes. I take some chlorine dioxide tablets for back up, but have never used them. But you have to find what works for you.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • Purifying water

      gypsy97 wrote:

      I didn't read that it was bad, but it seems to me to involve more work than I'm looking to do to get water. I am going to definitely take a good look at them next time I'm at REI.


      The guys like to turn everything into a tinkering fest (sorry for the sexism). All I do is screw the filter onto the bag and squeeze the water into my water bottle. My philosophy is KISS, keep it simple stupid.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Purifying water

      i picked up the mini squeeze. i brought the squeeze last spring and it was easy to use. i really dont treat unless the source is kinda suspect, and dont treat my cooking water at all, im boiling it anyway. so for the times i need a filter, the mini squeeze is so light and compact , it doesnt make sense not to bring it.
      its all good

    • Purifying water

      hikerboy wrote:

      i picked up the mini squeeze. i brought the squeeze last spring and it was easy to use. i really dont treat unless the source is kinda suspect, and dont treat my cooking water at all, im boiling it anyway. so for the times i need a filter, the mini squeeze is so light and compact , it doesnt make sense not to bring it.

      its also less hassle than pouring it through a stick
      its all good

    • Purifying water

      What I use depends on where I use it. The AT has numerous fast running streams & springs. I always consider the source. If no farms/beaver ponds or development upstrem I often don't treat.

      Out west is entirely different. The PCT was often shared with cattle even in some high country. I prefered a filter due to ponds I had to get water from in many areas.

      Aquamira may be an option for many, I just like the clean taste of filtered water when I have to skim green slime off of a cattle tank to get water.

      Like anything in hiking, chose the method depending on the area/time you hike.

    • Purifying water

      Stopped at Campmor on my way home from work today and picked up the Sawyer mini. I know people have had problem with the bags on the regular Sawyer. I thought I had read they improved the bags...Im going to try it out a few times prior to my first excursion.
      RIAP

    • Purifying water

      TrafficJam wrote:

      gypsy97 wrote:

      I didn't read that it was bad, but it seems to me to involve more work than I'm looking to do to get water. I am going to definitely take a good look at them next time I'm at REI.


      The guys like to turn everything into a tinkering fest (sorry for the sexism). All I do is screw the filter onto the bag and squeeze the water into my water bottle. My philosophy is KISS, keep it simple stupid.


      Follow TJ's advice Gypsy- it's the easiest treatment available next to Aquamira. She's right we are tinkering.

    • Re:Re: Purifying water

      Just Bill wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      gypsy97 wrote:

      I didn't read that it was bad, but it seems to me to involve more work than I'm looking to do to get water. I am going to definitely take a good look at them next time I'm at REI.


      The guys like to turn everything into a tinkering fest (sorry for the sexism). All I do is screw the filter onto the bag and squeeze the water into my water bottle. My philosophy is KISS, keep it simple stupid.


      Follow TJ's advice Gypsy- it's the easiest treatment available next to Aquamira. She's right we are tinkering.
      she's doing it wrong.
      I'm proud of her
      its all good

    • Purifying water

      WiseOldOwl wrote:

      CoachLou wrote:

      I would love to lose the pump. Waiting to get out with HB to observe the operation of that mini thingi


      I never saw you pump! :unsure: We used well water almost to the last day.


      There is no way I carried enough water 'till we got to that well. I'm wracking my brain trying to think where I got water that second day, but I'm remembering talking to 'Socks while doing it!!! :huh:
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

    • Purifying water

      I'd like to be able to leave our Katadyn Hiker Pro filter at home and use some chemical treatment. My wife, Kathy, doesn't want to be adding anything to the water so that leaves filtering as boiling a lot of water takes a lot of time. I guess carrying a filter is a small price to pay to be able to share this activity with my spouse, who enjoys hiking as much as I do.

    • Purifying water

      LIhikers wrote:

      I'd like to be able to leave our Katadyn Hiker Pro filter at home and use some chemical treatment. My wife, Kathy, doesn't want to be adding anything to the water so that leaves filtering as boiling a lot of water takes a lot of time. I guess carrying a filter is a small price to pay to be able to share this activity with my spouse, who enjoys hiking as much as I do.


      If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

      Did you see the Sawyer Mini that Sarcasm the Elf had along in Harriman? That looks like a nice lightweight solution, and it's small enough to ride in an inside pocket in the winter so that the filter element won't freeze. That's got me looking at filtration again, for the 'instant gratification' aspect of being able to drink right away at a water source. I've got an MSR Mini Works, but it's on the heavy side, and too much of a pain to keep unfrozen in winter, so I use Aqua Mira in cold weather.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.

    • Drybones wrote:

      I gave up on filters a couple of years back, have three hanging in the basement, I now use bleach to treat water...if I treat it.


      for 2.5 oz. its almost insane not to take it.for the times i need to treat, i can drink my water now. no waiting.i dont like to carry water unless i have to so its nice to not have to wait for the bugs to die. i still carry aquamira as a backup although i still have the same two bottles for 2 years now. never used it. i only filter if the source is questionable. some people treat all sources as questionable.a stream with a lot of green stuff growing in it, mossy rocks, is almost certainly pure.
      its all good

    • hikerboy wrote:

      ...i only filter if the source is questionable. some people treat all sources as questionable.a stream with a lot of green stuff growing in it, mossy rocks, is almost certainly pure.


      Sawyer worked great for me this summer. Got to the stream crossing by a beaver dam and cow pasture and was really hoping it would work (it did). But then a mile later I got to one of those nice mountains streams with the mossy rocks and thought crap, I wish I had better info, but the trails around Roanoke are pretty dry in July so I always filled up when I got the chance.

    • Filters don't get out everything that can harm you, the Sawyer instructions I saw said to treat after filtering, so if the water is clean why bother filtering it, just treat it, I would use a filter if I had to drink muddy water but I don't hike much in swamps. I've tried Aqua Mira but it's a pain to deal with, after trying everything out there I ended up with a <1oz bottle of bleach.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      Filters don't get out everything that can harm you, the Sawyer instructions I saw said to treat after filtering, so if the water is clean why bother filtering it, just treat it, I would use a filter if I had to drink muddy water but I don't hike much in swamps. I've tried Aqua Mira but it's a pain to deal with, after trying everything out there I ended up with a <1oz bottle of bleach.


      I suspect the Sawyer instructions are written to protect themselves from law suits and not because it is an ineffective method of filtering out every bad thing you don't want to drink. Such disclaimers are a product of the society we live in.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • Some folks are much more tolerant of what lives in water, Mexican water doesn't bother the Mexicans but it hurts the gringos, a matter of what you're accustomed to, my first memory in life was going down to the spring with my older brother and sister to get water, we had no indoor plumbing, I could probably drink anything my dog could drink and not get sick, best water I've had came out of a cow track while quail hunting.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      Some folks are much more tolerant of what lives in water, Mexican water doesn't bother the Mexicans but it hurts the gringos, a matter of what you're accustomed to, my first memory in life was going down to the spring with my older brother and sister to get water, we had no indoor plumbing, I could probably drink anything my dog could drink and not get sick, best water I've had came out of a cow track while quail hunting.


      I had a guy worked for me in Singapore who was originally from the USA. He married a woman from Thailand and brought her back to California where she got sick from the water.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Astro wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      Some folks are much more tolerant of what lives in water, Mexican water doesn't bother the Mexicans but it hurts the gringos, a matter of what you're accustomed to, my first memory in life was going down to the spring with my older brother and sister to get water, we had no indoor plumbing, I could probably drink anything my dog could drink and not get sick, best water I've had came out of a cow track while quail hunting.


      I had a guy worked for me in Singapore who was originally from the USA. He married a woman from Thailand and brought her back to California where she got sick from the water.


      I'd be nice if those migrating across our southern border couldn't drink our water.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Astro wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      Some folks are much more tolerant of what lives in water, Mexican water doesn't bother the Mexicans but it hurts the gringos, a matter of what you're accustomed to, my first memory in life was going down to the spring with my older brother and sister to get water, we had no indoor plumbing, I could probably drink anything my dog could drink and not get sick, best water I've had came out of a cow track while quail hunting.


      I had a guy worked for me in Singapore who was originally from the USA. He married a woman from Thailand and brought her back to California where she got sick from the water.


      California water would probably make me sick too...and my dog.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.