Do you ever not filter or treat your water?

[Alexander S]

Years ago I read a story in Backpacker that cited some study whereas the incidence of giardia per 100,000 gallons of alpine water was no bigger than that of treated municipal tap water.

Apparently the trouble begins in the lower elevations and specifically those exposed to farm animals.

I more and more take unfiltered drinks above 6000 ft, especially from springs with no ill effect (knock on wood). Anyoone else have experience with this?

[Art …]

I filter the water in my own house, which is on a municipal system.
but I do admit to being a bit lax when I go out to restaurants :-)

to get at what you are saying though … yeah you're probably right.
but filtering generally goes so fast for me there is really no excuse not to do it even when risks are low.

as for farmland, I don't even drink filtered water there …

[Jerry Adams]

There are many threads about this.

Google "buck nelson giardia" site:backpackinglight.com

I treat water about half the time. Mountain streams I usually don't bother.

But, it's so easy to use Squeeze or Steripen that it's hardly worth the risk.

Lots of conflicting information and studies about what's necesary. Some people are more sensitive. If you never treat, eventually you'll probably get sick. Some people have mild symptoms, some severe. I don't think it's possible to get a clear, unambiguous answer.

[Larry De La Briandais]

I've been going to the same place in the Sierras for over 30 years. At first I never filtered or treated the water. I got a first need filter cheap and used it mostly to just remove silt. I got it because I used a buddy of mines and liked it. I now use a sawyer and always filter, but I am almost positive that I don't need to.

in Yosemite I always filter and believe that it is likely necessary. The popular area of Yosemite have a lot of human impact. Too big of a chance that some idiot contaminated the water.

[Andrew F]

I didn't treat the water from this natural water fountain which was ice cold and delicious:

I was tempted to not treat my water on a visit to the remote headwaters of the South Fork of the San Joaquin river, but did anyway just to be sure. Not ten minutes later did I pass the following scene:

[Nico .]

In short, yes. Sometimes.

Depends on the circumstances and my level of comfort with the perceived risks.

If I'm in a heavily visited area (or know I'm downstream of such an area), then yes I will filter. If I'm drawing directly from a spring in a remote area or from a remote mountain stream, then I'm more apt to take my chances not filtering.

Other variables can also play a role in my decision, but I'd say an evaluation of my surroundings (and how the area is used) is my primary decision-making factor.

[Billy Ray]

You will not know by looking if you need to filter the water or not.

And any thoughts you have on the chances of any particular water being safe or not are going to be wrong a certain percentage of the time.

I don't like being sick, so I filter or treat my water nearly all the time. I consider it insurance.

billy

[Bob Gross]

I almost never drink any untreated water unless I get it directly off a snowfield, and the snow better not have any muddy animal tracks across it.

–B.G.–

[Lori P]

I always filter. and do research – you do not want water downstream of active mines, for example, or springs that smell "off" – mineral springs sometimes have some toxic stuff in them. Chemicals can not be removed by filtering.

The 30+ confirmed giardia cases obtained in the Sierra that I am aware of came from different elevations, and include one dog, and one case that continues to give its sufferer active symptoms despite repeated antibiotics and a decade of on-off treatment. she treats everything, for herself and her SAR dog.

[John Klinepeter]

+1 to Andrew F's second photo. The deer carcass I saw was in a major feeder stream of the South Fork of the Teton River in the Lewis and Clark N.F.

[David Thomas]

I do about half the time. When lower, or with more human and animal density. And whenever my wife is along. Peace of mind is worth something to me and more to her. Heck, we spend billions on TSA to provide "security theater".

Last week, I had the interesting experience of being told by Rangers, "you don't need to treat the water. Unless you want to. We don't". That was in New Zealand's Fjordlands NP. The Brooks Range NP (Alaska) ranger said the same thing last summer, off the record.

[EndoftheTrail]

I always treat water in the wilds before drinking. Is it because I truly believe in the need? No. But the way I see it… my water treatment system weighs all of 3 ounces — it treats all three class of baddies – viruses, bacteria and protozoa — and it also clarifies water and improves its taste.

The combination of a system so "light and easy" with the potential bummer of getting sick while on the trail (however slight the chance) — I just figure, why not?

But if I see someone drinking water straight out, I wouldn't freak out either.

[Dean L]

In order of perceived purity:

Small seeps coming right out of rocks in both the Appalachians and Rockies

Mountain stream in New Hampshire

Out of Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks

Most foolishly, out of the Au Sable river in Michigan

[Roger Caffin]

We gave up filtering some years ago. BUT – we are selective where we get our water. If there is ANY human operations upstream – we either filter (Steripen) or go elsewhere.
Yes, there are a few places where we just don't get water, but they are few.

Cheers

[Andy F]

I generally don't filter or treat water in wilderness or backcountry areas. I've never been sick as a result of that. If I do get sick, it probably won't change my routine. I've been sick from eating restaurant food, and I still do that.

"I was tempted to not treat my water on a visit to the remote headwaters of the South Fork of the San Joaquin river, but did anyway just to be sure. Not ten minutes later did I pass the following scene:"

The mistake there is looking upstream once you've consumed the water. :-)

[David Ure]

I always treat my water – generally with chemicals or a Steripen (but this has proven unreliable for me at times).

Very little effort and very little weight gain to my load for the insurance it provides.

[Stephen Barber]

I always treat my water. Years ago I took a parasitology class. I was convinced.

[Peter Boysen]

I normally don't treat my water when I'm in the Boundary Waters in Northern MN, provided I'm able to get it from a clear lake, usually further out in the lake where it's deeper. I haven't had any problems with it, and friends who have been going there for decades said the same. I wouldn't do that just anywhere, but it has largely served me well up there.

*Edited the subject line so it doesn't sound like I'm telling you not to filter your water*

[Alexander S]

K at least I'm not the only one.

I still take my sawyer evertime I go but when I'm above tree line and see a spring, I just drink now. I filter all lake and river water.

Also I stopped filtering water I'm about to boil for dinner / tea.

@ Jerry Adams. thx for that link btw.

[Jerry Adams]

same here, I don't filter water I'm boiling for dinner/tea, which is about half my total water consumption

I also don't treat water I'm cleaning with, but that's not much

I also don't treat the water I don't use. I usually have an extra 1/2 liter or so – I normally get a 3 liter bag and 1 liter bottle from stream which is a little more than I need

[Anonymous]

"I was tempted to not treat my water on a visit to the remote headwaters of the South Fork of the San Joaquin river, but did anyway just to be sure. Not ten minutes later did I pass the following scene:"

How far down from Martha Lake was that, if I might ask. And how long ago?

[Buck Nelson]

"Years ago I read a story in Backpacker that cited some study whereas the incidence of giardia per 100,000 gallons of alpine water was no bigger than that of treated municipal tap water."

That is one of those "facts" that is often repeated but it isn't true. As Jerry alluded to above, I usually chime in on these threads and can honestly say I have studied this topic extensively. There are numerous papers that show a correlation between drinking untreated water and giardia. I just saw a new one from Canada today.

Here's a post I did that addresses the above quote.

[Andrew F]

Tom, it was about a mile below Martha. Just before it turns from meadow walking to scrambling over broken slabs.

[Anonymous]

Duly noted. Thanks, Andrew.

[Paul McLaughlin]

Depending on where and when I am, I often don't filter. In general, the further off the beaten path and the higher up I am the less likely I am to filter. On spring ski trips I do not filter ever (don't even bring a filter). If I can see the snowbank it's melting off of I generally don't filter it. If it's a nice spring (one that runs strong and does not have a big pool) I don't filter it.
In crowded areas I do filter generally. Have never had any issues in 40 plus years, and of course I realize that is completely meaningless in an evidentiary way but I'm just not going to filter everything and anything short of treating everything makes it a crapshoot so I'll do as I please.
I have had Giardia twice from foreign travels so I know what it's like.
As others have said and will say I'm sure, there is no way you can be 100% certain that the water source in front of you is free of wee beasties. Even if you somehow knew that this particular lake had been tested and found clean last week, it might have been reinfected this week. Which is why we never will know how big or small the risk truly is, unless we can arrange for a massive research project wherein every single water source in a given mountain range is tested , all on the same day.

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