Water in Elk Creek CO

We spent several days there last September and filtered Elk Creek water with no adverse effects. I had never heard anything about contamination before this, I would be interested in hearing other peoples' input as well.

"The person who told me this said only drink the water if treated with iodine or boiled (no Steripen or filter)."

He doesn't know what he is talking about.
Sterpen kills everything. Iodine isn't totally effective against high concentrations of giardia and crypto.

Thanks. If anyone else has thoughts post them, but your info on steripens vs iodine helps. K

I'm not familiar with Elk Creek per se, but I would be thinking of possible heavy metal contamination from all the mining that has been done over the years in the Silverton area. Be aware of mine tailings near your water source, and try to find small springs instead of the larger streams that might have been used by mining operations uphill and out of sight. Call me a bit paranoid, but still…

What Justin said. If there's human waste, I'd treat the water with a steripen since it sterilizes bacteria, protozoa, and virus. I typically don't worry about virus in the backcountry but I would if human waste is a concern. None of this will help with heavy metals though.