Filter or No?

[2Questions]

I'm sure it was the water. I'm meticulous about eating habits, sharing food, and filtering water. My MSR ceramic filter is carefully stowed in my pack and gets boiled when I get home.

It takes two weeks or so for the symptoms to surface...the critters have to build critical mass. I could track back to that time.

Might be right about the PA Game News, but I've heard this before from other sources as well.

Being in the water treatment business, I've been amazed what some will risk when known bacterium or cysts are detected or most probable. Effective chemical kill is subject to many variables, more so than with properly handled filters. I'll carry the weight for the peace of mind.

[jimmy b]

water filter or polar pure, i carried a msr water filter to Great Barrington, Mass. and I needed to replace the water filter because it had stopped and before that it was taking half an hour sometimes to filter a quart. Instead of replacing the filter which I could have, because I found one in a outfitter, I switched to polar pure, I didn't have any problems and the process is much faster and the weight is only 3 or 4 ounces.

jimmy b

[Israel]

If you do not like the taste of iodine...treat it as you normally would, i.e. let the iodine do it's work. When it is ready to drink, use your pocket knife to shave off just a bit from a vitamin C pill, close the lid on your water bottle, shake, and poof! Brown color is gone and no iodine taste at all.
The company that makes the little iodine tablets sells a style that has two little glass bottles....one is the normal iodine and one is the "taste remover." Read the label on it...it is just ascorbic acid, otherwise known as vitamin C and they charge you like $10 for this "kit." Cheaper to just go get some vitamin C pills and do it on your own. One large vitamin C pill would last me for at least 500 miles or more.

Works like a charm.

[stranger]

In general water along the AT is not infected, and as long as you use common sense you shouldn't get sick. I only treat about 30-40% of my water and have never gotten sick, although I'm sure others have. A water filter is kinda pointless, especially a "purifier" as there are no viruses in North American water. Giardia is very rare.

[RagingHampster]

Commercial filters can clog with no warning (as did my First Need Water Purifier). Sometimes backwashing can help, but usually has little effect (such as with my First Need). In some cases gravity filtration will still work, but not all (as with my First Need). With fiberglass-type filters (First Need, Katadyn Hiker) your stuck. With ceramic filters (Katadyn & MSR) you can scrub the grimy slimy bacteria, cyst, and virus laden gruel from the filter surface, often chancing infection by cleaning! Ceramic filters also crack when residual water freezes within them. Filter cartridges (ceramic & fiberglass) can also develop short circuits from continued use, over pressurization, backflushing, freeze-expansion of water, and simple defects. In short I don't trust or use them. They also tend to weigh 11-25oz, even more when carrying a backup cartridge. Oh yeah, the only stand-alone filter that removes virus without chemical useage is the First Need. With all the others you take a chance.

You can also go the all-chemical route. Iodine tastes nasty to me, and does nothing against virus' from what I know. Chlorine can lose it's effectiveness if not properly stored, and has a short shelf life even then. Chlorine dioxide (aquamira) has a long-shelf life, little/no after taste, and weighs only 3oz a set, even less as you use up the fluid. It also costs the most at $13 a set for 30 gallons of treatment. Some pretreat with a coffee filter, which is very smart because quite often the chemicals you treat with cannot penetrate clumps of material (by clumps I mean small pinhead size bits).

Then there is the grizzly adams method of drinking untreated water. You obviously roll the dice using this method, but you can stack your odds by educated decisions on what sources are worthy of this method. In heavy farm land areas like vermont, this is often a risky method.

I use a hybrid method. A stripped down pump and hosing to draw water from tough/deep sources, and attatched is a SiltStopper 2 Pre-Filter which removes dirt, algae, and large foreign media, and some of the larger cysts. I then treat with Aquamira to eliminate all baddies and some of the color/taste issues.

The pump, hosing, Siltstopper pre-filter, 3 replacement filters, Aquamira, and stuffsack weigh 10.25oz.

Oh yeah, you can also boil your water. During the winter this is all I do. Saves you filter/chemical weight, and most of the time you have to melt snow anyways. During warmer months where liquid water is available, this method is too heavy to use.

I'm also going to copy this and keep it on hand for pasting for the next time a new memeber opens pandoras box....

[RagingHampster]

...there are no viruses in North American water

Not true. I am a wastewater treatment operator in Massachusetts, and we treat our water to remove cystic, bacterial, and viral pathogens. For one example, some types of Hepatitis can be transmitted through contaminated water. Hepatitis can be a lethal infection. We saturate & detain our water with chlorine gas to accomplish this.

In worst case scenarios, I'll boil my water and eat crunchy rice over not-treating at all. Even fountain like springs, as downhill leechnig can contaminate the source. Just my thoughts.

[Footslogger]

RagingHamster ...want your opinion on something, since you're somewhat of a water treatment officianado. I'm using a water filtering/purification system this year not too dissimilar from yours. However, instead of the SiltStopper 2 Pre-Filter though I was planning on using the little screen element that came with the old PUR Hiker filters that fits inside the black acorn. Over that screen I was going to place a coffee filter for added sediment removal. Then I was going to either boil for a meal or treat with AquaMira.
I know it's not going to get me the 5 micron filtration of the SiltStopper 2 Pre-Filter but is lighter and wouldn't need to be cleaned or replaced.
Whatayathink ??

[RagingHampster]

I would like to point out that I'm not trying to scare people. Unless your drinkning from cess pools, or water located in farmed valleys, you have a very small chance of getting an infection. Still, much of the land on the AT in my area passes through areas of farming and grazing fields. Be very careful of where you get your water.

Last september, I was hiking an 8 mile loop up and around Stratton Mountain in southern Vermont. I brought a half gallon of water with me, and foolishly should have brought more as the temps rose into the 90's. I ran out of water about 4miles later (I drink alot), and ended up sponging off from my friend who carried extra. I was tempted to drink from the two springs I passed, but was glad I did not as the caretaker on the summit told me there were 2 cases of Giardia they thought came from this area (from section hikers who reported they had Giardia).

I'm actually not sure about the "pore" size of a coffee filter if youd call it that. Youll also need some type of funnel to fill your water containers if you go the coffee filter route, or pour the water real slow. On my setup, I had the pre-filter from my First Need setup on my new setup, but discarded it, as most of the time the water I filter is relatively free of large debris. So now I just use the 1oz siltstopper w/3 replacements that weigh in at 1oz together. The real heavy portion of my setup is the pump mechanism itself. I'm currently looking for a lighterweight pump, which would cut the weight of the system by 2 or 3 ounces. For my water containers I use two 3L platypus dromedary bags (2.75oz together) and a 1.75oz 1L widemouth pepsi bottle, giving me a 7L potential capacity which is plenty. I prefilter the water into the platypus bags, and only chemically treat what I drink from the pepsi bottle. My cooking water is always brought to a full-boil to kill any nasties in the water, or residing on my pot/utensils.

I'd also like to point out that most commercial filters retain water making them even heavier, and that almost all tap water is treated chemically, with simple screening of it's source.

There is also another method I forgot to point out in my last post, UV radiation. But the current "pen" style models are delicate, heavy, require batteries, and only treat small volumes at a time. However as this method gets more research and funding, it may become practical for backpackers. For now I'm sticking with the method our states and towns use, pre-screening and chemical treatment.

[stranger]

Fair enough Hampster....and I have heard of some very rare cases of Hepatitus being found in water. I actually heard of a case in Duchess County in NY about 9 years ago, but I don't think you will find viruses in mountain springs or ground water. I think it's safe to say it's not worrying about. But compared to some other countries you don't have much to worry about along the AT.

[warren doyle]

26,000 miles of walking on the AT. I have not filtered or purified. I consider giardia as a gift that the trail has given me.
"If the human species has lost its animal strength, perhaps its individual members can have the fun of finding it again."

[GreenTurtle]

The side of the AquaMira bottle also says their product should not be ingested nor is it guaranteed to be reliable. Gotta wonder about a product such as that.... *rolling eyes*

For what it's worth, I *almost* never purified or filtered any water sources I drank from and never so much as got a cold during my entire thru-hike. I did carry some AquaMira just in case I was "forced" to drink from a water source I had serious doubts about, which I ultimately did do--once in Massachusetts (or was it Connecticut?), and three times in Maine.

Most of the water I used for cooking purposes ultimately was boiled in the process which might have helped too, although I didn't boil the water specifically for that purpose. Just a bonus.

On another note, because I wasn't treating my water in any way, I was probably much more selective about the water sources I drank from than most other hikers. I'd deliberately stock up an entire day's worth of water if I found a great spring even if it meant carrying more weight while other hikers would carry less water but resupply more often--from less reputable sources.

I can't say I'd really "recommend" not treating your water. If you feel safer doing so, by all means, you should do it! Being able to sleep without worries is important! But it is an option. And you know, sometimes it feels great just to scoop out a bottle of water and drink. No messing around with filters. No waiting for chemicals to do their thing. Dip and drink. Instant gratification, and it was absolutely wonderful much of the time. =)

Carpe diem!

-- Green Turtle, thru-hiker 2003

[Peaks]

Before you decide to not treat your water, remember that people who have had a good case of giardia say that giardia will not kill you, but you will wish it did. Is it worth the risk?

[chris]

I think the Aqua Mira warning has something to do with the state of California not having certified chlorine dioxide as a safe, reliable method of treating water. I think Potable Aqua used to also indicate that it should not be taken internally.

[mustang]

During my 03 thru-hike and every trip before that, I have used bleach to purify my water. Works great, doesn't taste horrible, and is cheap, light and easy to find. That said, I didn't use anything many times up north and I'm telling you, nothing tastes better than fresh mountain water

[Peaks]

According to some sources, household bleech isn't all that effective. Obviously, it worked for you, but I wouldn't recommend it to others

[bearbag hanger]

I use a filter now. The problem with the iodine, etc. tablets, for me at least, is they can create some health problems, particularly if taken over a six month period. But I guess Sgt Rock has done this for longer periods without problems, so again, it's an individule decision.