What is everybody’s favorite way to treat water?

[Steven McAllister]

Yes a very high percentage of water is safe, but it only takes one bad source to make many people sick.

And as I said before many people are more tolerant, but a lot are not and some of us don't want to gamble on the trail.

[Steven McAllister]

I use the classic Steripen, the batteries are cheaper, more common and last longer than the lighter models.

I don't know if I would want to rely on rechargeable, solar, windup or anything on the trail when I can go a lot of miles on one set of AA batteries.

[EndoftheTrail]

I agree that the majority of the time, we would be OK drinking water out in the wilds without treatment.

But I find it an interesting observation of human psychology that some can easily shrug off 20 or 30 reports of illnesses — but will quickly move on after reading a small handful of negative feedback about a particular tent or pack…

[James Marco]

"Those that carry Steripens, how are you carrying them or what power source are you using? The recent article comparing Steripen to gravity filtration, the author had the rechargeable kind, with solar powered case. The extra battery, plus the case, put the total weight up to 11 ounces if I remember correctly, which is equivalent to my MSR Sweetwater. Didn't seem like such a weight saving for me, and I don't find the time to pump water to be that much of an issue."

Even with a spare set, the Adventurer (the Opti is lighter) doesn't weigh anywhere near 11oz. Mine came up as a hair under 5oz. The two sets of batteries was 2.5oz and the gadget was about the same at 2.375oz, or, a total of 4-7/8oz. As far as I know, only the Adventurer was sold as a rechargable set, maybe the Opti. This should take you about 20 days, easily, even at double dosing cloudy water (much of the ADK's is.)

1) I never use the rechargable batteries nor the case. Just ain't worth it in the forests of
the ADK's.
2) Lithium batteries last a bit longer than alkiline, more importantly, weigh 5/8 as much.
3) I am lazy, I hate to fiddle with stuff. Even AquaMira gets annoying…

[Mary D]

Lightweight gravity filter, homemade but using same setup as ULA Amigo Pro with a Sea-to-Summit 8 liter dry bag (lots easier to get water out of the source than with the ULA bag) and a cut-down Katadyn Hiker Pro filter (the extra housing, which can be trimmed, weighs a couple ounces). Total weight 6.5 oz. dry, 7.5 oz. wet (after shaking and blowing out excess water). At the suggestion of many on this forum I will try the Sawyer 0.1 micron filter (I just got one but haven't tried it yet). I'm interested to see which one weighs more when wet, and how easily the Sawyer clogs.

With chlorine dioxide, I have to wait for the chemicals to work (especially where the water is icy and where I'm concerned about giardia). That means I need to carry a liter of water while it's purifying plus I have to start the process while I still have a half-liter of water ready to drink. With the filter, I don't need to carry more than half a liter at a time (obviously assuming frequent water sources) and I can drink the water right away. In other words, the filter weighs considerably less than the extra water I'd have to carry using chemical treatment. This advantage, of course, disappears for all-day hikes with no water, but most of my trips are in places with frequent water sources.

[Dan Momii]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your feedback, I've been away for awhile and haven't able to comment on my own thread. Anyway I thought this question would make a good thread, as many have the same water treatment questions running through their head. I forgot about the aquamira frontier pro and have always been intrigued by it's low weight and simplicity. Yet I have been put off by the idea of having to use chemicals to pretreat water before filtering. My question to all you frontier pro users is chemical treatment necessary? Thanks.

[Ken Helwig]

Steripen with chlorine dioxide as a backup

[Bob Gross]

"My question to all you frontier pro users is chemical treatment necessary?"

In the famous words of Dirty Harry: Do you feel lucky, Punk?

* Assess the water risk. Are you trying to treat water out of principle? Are you treating for protozoans, bacteria, viruses, and also chemical contaminants? (Probably not.)

Normally I use a gravity feed Frontier Pro running from one Platypus to another… and that is all. About all that is going to do is to clear out most of the giardia. That happens to be the prime risk for where I typically operate in the Sierra Nevada. If I think I am at some stream where there is more risk, perhaps one nearer to trails, horses, and people, then I go to a step ahead of the filter, and that uses some household bleach. On rare occasions, I have used liquid chlorine dioxide drops instead of bleach. On an extremely rare day, or if those primary steps are unavailable, I can boil the water. I won't do that for many days unless I had my woodburner stove along and wood fires are legal.

–B.G.–

[Dan Momii]

Hi Ken,

Nice to have a local include his comments. So has the Steripen been reliable and good on battery usage?

[Dan Momii]

Hi Bob,

I also will be doing hopefully a lot of hiking in the high sierra and know that the water is pretty clear. My question is what method do you use to treat water locally, say in the Santa Cruz mountains and in other bay area locations?

[EndoftheTrail]

"My question to all you frontier pro users is chemical treatment necessary? Thanks."

I always do — I treat my water using chlorine (bleach) — wait 30 minutes — then drink water through my FP filter.

Not a germ expert at all, but my thoughts:

1. Bacteria can be as small as 0.2 micron.
2. Most quality filters (MSR, Katadyn, etc.) have filter pore size of 0.2 to 0.3 micron.
3. The Frontier Pro pore size is 3.0 microns — that's 10x – 15x bigger than #2!!

I just do not believe that FP is the one "getting it" while everyone else is being overly cautious. I believe there is a logical reason for matching filter pore size to the size of smaller bacteria. In fact, I kind of view FP as a "toy" that should not be used all by itself.

The FP pore size is good enough to block the bigger stuff life protozoa cysts (giardia, crypto, etc.). But can any of us be comfortable assuming that our water source only has the bigger baddies and NO bacteria? I don't think so. Why? Because I think any water source biologically "rich enough" to sustain bigger organisms like protozoa is likely also rich enough to sustain the simpler life forms as well — like bacteria.

So, IMHO, to avoid false sense of security, either pair the simple FP filter with chemicals — or suck it up and get a better, quicker but heavier filter — or use the Steripen if you know your water is going to be clear to fairly clear — and free of bad taste.

[Bob Gross]

"My question is what method do you use to treat water locally, say in the Santa Cruz mountains and in other bay area locations?"

In the Bay Area, I use public drinking water. As I stated previously, I operate in the Sierra Nevada for outdoor purposes.

–B.G.–

[roberto nahue]

Would it be ok to filter first and then treat the water chemically?

For example if using a system such as the platypus bladder you could buy and extra cap, filter the water, add aquamira drops, close it. Then wait 30 mins and reconnect the hose and then you have drinking water.

[Steven McAllister]

I always treated my water with chemicals first. wait 30 minutes and then gravity filter through the Frontier Pro.

Why? It tastes better. The activated carbon in the Frontier Pro removes most of the chemical taste.

[Dan Momii]

Hi everybody,

Thanks for all the feedback. My plan is to either make a ULA amigo pro type gravity filter or purchase the Sawyer gravity filter for use in the low altitude hiking areas, where I may encounter more pollutants from people and animals. I may purchase a steripen for use in the sierras, where the water is generally clear of particles, yet may contain some level of bacteria. Also may bring along some form of chemical treatment as a backup. Anyway thanks all. Later.

[Andrew Wolff]

Iodine Tabs – kills the nasty's and protects you from nuclear fallout

[Author]

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