Water Treatment Recommendations

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WVMountaineer
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by WVMountaineer »

I like this tread, thanks for all the contributors.
Scott P wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:04 pm Also iodine is ineffective for things like cryptosporidium and not very effective against giardia:

Another thing you have to be careful about is that iodine expires.
Thanks for sharing this. I've relied on the 2 part Iodine treatment tabs that live in the bottom of my pack but think I'll switch over to Aquamira since it has a 4 year shelf life. I have a beefy MSR pump filter I take on backpacking trips that processes water quickly and everyone at camp can use but it's heavier and stays in the bottom of my sleeping bag when below freezing so the filter element doesn't crack.

My 2 cents for cold mountaineering trips, the filter was great on Rainier because I just needed to heat the snow to melt in a jetboil then filter into storage bottles and didn't waste a bunch of fuel bringing it up to boil.
"There are two ways to measure life; the number of days you simply exist or the number of days you spend truly living your human experience." 14ers.com user goingup
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Cereal
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by Cereal »

OldTrad wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:41 pm
Cereal wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:36 am I'll share my experience with the Katadyn BeFree (1L option!)... I love how easy and straightforward it is. The bag has been through a lot and has not broken.

I purchased it three years ago and probably used it for 25-30 backpacking days before it got clogged recently and was down to a trickle, like 10 minutes per liter of water. (Disclaimer... I have used it to filter from some raunchy mud puddles on the Appalachian Trail.)

I called the company and they recommended soaking it overnight in 1 quart of water plus 1oz bleach. This cleared it right up! Moving forward, I am curious if this makes it as good as new again. But for routine maintenance, I will likely just soak it like this regularly, and especially after any trips where I filter questionable water.
+1
Plus it is collapsable and light, not bulky, and has no mechanical parts that might break so few things can go wrong. Sure the bag can tear or the filter can get plugged up, but you can carry 2 of them (or iodine tabs) in case of an emergency.
Yup. Another nice feature is that you can fill the bottle quick (with unfiltered water), and then filter later/as needed. So for example, if you come across your last water source of the day before getting to camp, you could filter/drink as much water as you want now, then filter a liter into a separate 32oz bottle, and then just fill up a final liter (of unfiltered water) in the BeFree with the plan to filter it later on in camp. (Hope that makes sense or is helpful for at least someone...)

I am also thinking more about a backup option to bring as well. The Aquamira sounds like a good idea. But maybe getting a second Katadyn BeFree filter would work, too?
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justiner
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by justiner »

I would just treat any water you want to use later as soon as you can, so you never forget if you're carrying treated or untreated water honestly.

One Skurka Pro Trick is to pre-mix a batch of Aqua Mira in a small black dropper bottle - it'll last about a day. Then just use that rather than needing to do the mix on the spot. Every day, just make some premix as part of getting ready. Just get a black one, as the stuff is light sensitive.
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by mtn_hound »

cottonmountaineering wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:28 pm i think it boils down to personal preference, i dont like filters for colorado because it gets below freezing often and that will damage the filter. i use bleach (make sure you get the right kind) in a visene bottle cause aquamira is expensive
+1 for bleach. Cheap, effective, and lightweight. I put it in a plastic bottle with an eyedropper in the lid. I have a filter I used to bring on overnight trips but I never used it so now I leave at home
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Alpine Guy
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by Alpine Guy »

One thing about aquamira - when you're really thirsty and you finally make yourself stop to treat a bottle - then have to wait the 20-30 minutes or so for it to take effect - man, that water tastes sooo good.
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by Trotter »

Alpine Guy wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:52 pm One thing about aquamira - when you're really thirsty and you finally make yourself stop to treat a bottle - then have to wait the 20-30 minutes or so for it to take effect - man, that water tastes sooo good.
I thought it was 4 hours?
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by TomPierce »

Trotter wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:41 pm
Alpine Guy wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:52 pm One thing about aquamira - when you're really thirsty and you finally make yourself stop to treat a bottle - then have to wait the 20-30 minutes or so for it to take effect - man, that water tastes sooo good.
I thought it was 4 hours?
It's 30 mins for the tabs I use (NOT iodine). That kills everything including giardia, viruses, and bacteria, but not cryptosporidium, which takes 4 hours. Personally I think the risk of crypto is negligible, but that's a risk you need to assess.

-Tom
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Re: Water Treatment Recommendations

Post by blazintoes »

I'll hike in with 1.5 liters. On the way up I look for reliable water sources so I can fill up on the way out. I've had good luck with these tablets:

https://www.amazon.com/Potable-Aqua-Chl ... uage=en_US

It takes 30 minutes with clear mountain water to kill small bugs but 4 hours for murky water in which case I wouldn't bother unless my only available source was the silty sections of the Colorado river. Also I would never drink out of the Animas ever again after getting giardia from it.

On top of the tablets I also carry this little collapse bottle for a quick fix/need:

https://www.amazon.com/joypur-B07RXK14W ... KQK4WXV4F8
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