Water purification alternatives?

I'm not certain there are any other ultralight methods of removing bacteria and other nasties. If there are, I too would love to learn of them.

I guess you could build your own 6' long (natural) sand filter on-site.

Well there is UV as well. Still no unicorn horn on the market. Do you want to improve the taste as well, or just make it safe to drink?

It seems like this same question gets asked over and over again, and the answers don't change. You really need to get a handle on what kind of water risks you are going to run into. For example, in some third world countries, you need to get rid of any virus or bacteria. In the Sierra Nevada, we mostly focus on the parasite Giardia lamblia.

1. Boiling
2. Chemical treatment, typically with something chlorine- or iodine-based
3. Filtering
4. UV light

–B.G.–

Ultraviolet treatment is about all that is left. The Steripen line is the 800 pound gorilla in that corner. You may need to prefilter water that is cloudy for full effect. They do run on batteries and will break if dropped.

With filters or a Steripen I still carry a few Micropur tablets as backup and I can always boil.

You can use bleach or chlorine dioxide for chemical treatment. Time, cloudiness and temperature are issues.

Filters can clog and they don't get viruses, but they are fine for North American backcountry use. They do take the beasties out of the water where the other methods don't. A filter can improve the taste too.

Boiling kills all the bugs but takes time and fuel.

No free lunch!

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/drinking/Backcountry_Water_Treatment.pdf

The only other alternative I can think of is source selection: pick your water carefully, and just drink it without any treatment. Springs are the safest source, but still not without risk. I've done this before several times, including drinking stream water. I drank several gallons from an Ohio spring. That doesn't make it safe or risk free, but I didn't experience any adverse effects from it.

Persactly Dale! Tablets and a Steripen.

Actually, I use a Sawyer Mini with Micropur tablets for backup.

Yes, Frontier Pro gravity filter with pills for failure backup if necessary.

–B.G.–