Using cup as scoop for Squeeze bladder, risking illness?

[Jim H]

I have Sawyer Squeeze and have been using Evernew bladders for the dirty bag. I've been carrying a scoop made from one of the old Squeeze half-liter bags. I also carry a cup – most recently a small GSI Infinity Stacking cup, which is shaped like a sierra cup. I had a lightbulb go on the other day that my 12oz cup would be easier to use than my scoop.

Would I need to simply dry the cup before drinking from it again, or rinse it with clean water? I'm in the PNW so relatively clean water other than the usual concerns. Thanks.

[Rex Sanders]

"Would I need to simply dry the cup before drinking from it again, or rinse it with clean water?"

I don't worry about drinking a few drops of untreated, relatively clean water.

Would you swim in that water? Do you never, ever get any drops of water in your mouth or nose when you swim?

I would be OK rinsing the cup with clean water, and/or air drying the cup – better than moving germs around with a bandana. Air drying will kill a lot of nasties.

— Rex

[Jim H]

Your response makes sense. I think I'll ditch the scoop and just plan on using the cup.

[Rex Sanders]

Hours later, remembered that I've drunk gallons of untreated river water from many different rivers around western USA – due to accidental or intentional "swims" while rafting. Some of those rivers were far from pristine.

Didn't get sick any of those times. Not that I recommend the practice, some of those swims were definitely Type 3 fun.

So drinking from a water bottle or cup that previously held unclean water, doesn't bother me much.

— Rex

[Brian Johns]

I say no way. Plus, most harmful life forms will die after a few hours exposed to air. I think you could safely scoop assuming the water looked remotely potable.

[Dale Wambaugh]

I wouldn't worry about it. I've considred this when usin a Ti pot or mug and the first thing you are going to do with it in camp is to put it on a hot stove and boil water in it.

[Nico .]

I agree with the assessment of the others.

If you're carrying a cup or cookpot that is easily accessible, there's no reason not to use it as your scoop.

[Jerry Adams]

There are 20 "drops" per cc and 1000 ccs per liter

If you shook out your cup so there were only 2 "drops" remaining, you would have 1 part in 10,000 or 99.99% effective. This is about how effective filters are.

So, if you shook out cup vigurously, then the risk should be minimal.

[David Thomas]

I normally hate having things swinging on the outside of a pack – stuff falls off and swinging masses represent lost work.

But UV is actually quite effective for killing infectious microbes in water. A full day in the tropical sun inside (!!!) a #1 PET plastic bottle provides good treatment, according to a recent study. So leaving the cup with a few drops of water exposed to full sunlight would quickly knock down 99% of the few buggers in those drops.

So I concur with the others – I wouldn't worry about small quantities of "untreated" water left in a scooping cup.

[Jim H]

It's funny how I've had a Squeeze for a year and carried a scoop and a cup every time, and it never occurred to me to just use the cup as the scoop until recently. Thanks for the feedback. If only revelation saved a pound instead of half an ounce. :)

[Dale Wambaugh]

That's okay, half ounces add up and you have one less thing in your pack ;)

[Harald Hope]

I posted on this a while back, and also tend to agree that a cup hanging outside your pack in the open air is going to dry out. However, experience has shown me that a cup hanging from my pack out of eyesight on a hot day when breaking through thick chaparral, is very likely to be missing at the end of the day, whereas a thin rolled up bag used as a scoop wrapped around the filter will probably still be there since it's in a pocket on the pack. But I like the cup method personally, I find it easy to do, particularly with very low streams with little water.

Also, if you use the cup, then get all the water you can out of it, then rinse it with a bit of clean water, then dry that out, you have then diluted the tiny amount of drops remaining from the dirty water substantially. All it takes is an ounce or two swished in the cup after getting the initial dirty water out by shaking it. If you then shake it vigorously again, I believe there will be a tiny chance remaining that any organisms will remain in large enough quantities to matter. If you did that process twice, the dilution would be getting to be fairly extreme, since each time a few ounces are diluting a few drops remaining from shaking it.

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