Have you ever gotten sick after filtering water?

[Jerry Adams]

Except this is all a con. No need to filter water at all. Let's triple treat just to sell more stuff : )

[Sunny Waller]

Hey hike your own hike. My hiking buddy Dave could drink from a toilet and not get sick but I have had both giardia and the norovirus and they were both awful. We hike in the Southeast on the AT so we have lots of people out on the trail. The CDC has a great website about treating your water.. I am going to follow their reccomendations. If I were out west I might not…maybe :)

[Jerry Adams]

Some of the time I don't filter, if it's out of an alpine stream or out of a spring.

I always carry my Squeeze. It's so easy to use I usually use it, even if the water looks good.

[Mercedes Clemens]

Someone mentioned norovirus — there was recently an article about norovirus also being airborne (which finally explains why in nursing school seven out of eight students during one of my clinical rotations came down with it despite handwashing and other precautions; the only student who did not get sick was off the contaminated floor that day; unfortunately I was one of the Magnificent Seven who contracted noro):

http://www.webmd.com/news/20150506/cruise-ship-norovirus-bug-can-spread-by-air-study-finds

I would probably skip sharing a tent with someone with possible norovirus (typically referred to as "stomach flu" although it's not flu).

Re alcohol hand sanitizers — two of the biggest factors with those are using cheap sanitizers with lower alcohol content and not using enough sanitizer. CDC recommends at least 60% alcohol content but I prefer to use at least 70%, a name brand (skip the dollar store), coat my hands and let the stuff dry. Soap & water is more effective on cryptosporidium & norovirus. I also keep my nails trimmed back very short & pack a nail brush — nails are great places to harbor bacteria (rings as well, I don't wear those either).

And this:

"UV Water Purifiers Are Bullshit"
http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/uv-water-purifiers-are-bullshit-and-so-are-some-filters-1704387492

Article talks about UV filters and Sawyer in-line. I do not use a UV filter (don't like the weight or batteries required), and after reading this, am even less inclined. And am thinking about replacing my Sawyer mini periodically or possibly treating the filter with bleach post-trip.

[Valerie E]

I thought everyone already knew that UV water treatments were only to be used with clear (not turbid) water, like the Sierras…

I don't think a technology that applies to certain — clearly specified by the manufacturer in the case of Steripen — cases can legitimately be called "bullsh*t". I can't speak for Camelbak's instruction booklet.

[John S.]

Thnaks for sharing that article Mercedes.

[Greg Mihalik]

Thanks for the Gizmoto link which said – "Water treatment for the outdoors is not regulated."

EPA regulates the use of "filter" and "purifier", and aside from the fine print, a manufacturer has to walk its talk.

As usual though, it's up to the consumer to find and read that fine print.

Of more interest to me is Gizmoto's attention to the Saywer filters –

"The Tufts study was conducted on a sample of Sawyer Point One filters installed in a Honduran village by charity Pure Water for the World. Those filters require “backwashing” and other simple maintenance, which the villagers say they performed to spec, but to eliminate that variable, the researchers pulled six used filters and cleaned and backwashed them themselves. They then ran sterile water through them to see if built up crap inside would pollute it. They found that fecal coliform was introduced to the sterile water by the filters. The ones that still allowed water to pass through, anyways.

"They also cut the filters open, where significant visual degradation was observed and looked at them under a microscope, where they observed significant membrane fouling.

“…Sawyer PointOne filters were found to have low bacterial and turbidity removal rates after 23 months of household use,” the study concludes. “When sterile water was introduced, it exited these filters with higher turbidity and bacteria loading. At least one membrane was irreversibly fouled on interior and exterior membrane surfaces. One filter appeared to have burst fibers, potentially allowing short-circuiting of water.”

Whoa!
That certainly give me something to think about.

[Jerry Adams]

too bad there's not some way to test it, like dye particles of some size that should not get through filter

[John S.]

Check out Sawyers response in the comments below the article,

"For anyone interested, here is the information we would have given Wes if he gave us more than 24 hours to respond to a general inquiry to our feedback email address (or to the email we sent asking how we could help).

The Million Gallon Guarantee is now a Lifetime Warranty and the the official response to the poorly conducted Tufts Study is available on our downloads page.
https://sawyer.com/technology/downloads/"

[Greg Mihalik]

Thanks John.

The muddied waters start to clear …

[Jerry Adams]

I dunno

I think the subject of what treatment will always be muddied

[Bob Gross]

I thought this thread was about water filters and users getting sick.

One person will argue this and that about water filters with a virus. Others argue about it with bacteria. Others, cysts. Those are three different things, and there are good water treatments for each one. Unfortunately, most users don't stop to think about which thing is the present risk, so they go arbitrarily treating their water with the wrong method.

As an example, if you are downstream from grazing animals, you probably need to think first about bacteria. If you are downstream from a third-world village, then maybe virus. In many high-country streams of the Sierra Nevada, maybe only cysts.

–B.G.–

[Diane Pinkers]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only medical geek to carry a nail brush! The scrub brushes we use at my clinic are pretty light. I couldn't resist stealing one for my hiking kit.

[Valerie E]

Maybe it's a "woman thing" — I also carry a nail brush. Mine is a mini one that came in a "pedicure kit" at the dollar store. It's just a 1/3-sized version of the classic. Very light.

[Diane Pinkers]

Grungy nails do not go well with food prep.

[jscott]

I play classical guitar (poorly) and so keep the nails on my right hand fairly long. gotta get me one of those nail brushes. Currently I dig into a bar of soap with my nails and then rinse when hand washing.

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