Advice for Water Treatment in Grand Canyon

“I am a bit concerned about ingesting the amount of sediment that is typically in the Colorado. “

For about one ounce added weight and very little pack space — you can make a “water scoop with integrated pre filter” — both to help obtain water easily even in shallow pools and to remove all visible sediment and gunk.

Depends on the source. Are you planning on perennial/seasonal creeks, water pockets/puddles, Colorado River…?

I think all of the above. We will be in the Canyon a few days as well as climbing out of it.

Has anyone had success with this method in the GC area?

I was there in October when the river was brown. After settling I had about 1/4 cup of sludge in the bottom of a gallon ziplock.

If your source is the river, I recommend taking some alum for flocculation, and then a purifier of your choice – chlorine works.

I’d also take some sort of colored “sport drink” powder to obscure the cloudiness and the taste of unfiltered chlorinated water.

You may not need either, but they will be much appreciated if you do.

This Thread may give you additional insights.

The Colorado River is some of the skunkiest water I've ever choked down, so I'll emphatically second bringing some sort of flavoring. It helps a lot.

We used alum to floc, and then treated chemically because we were unsure if the alum would get out enough of the crud so that a filter would be useable. In retrospect I think that we could have used the filter, since we generally only tanked up from the Colorado overnight and thus had plenty of time to let the sediment settle.

The other water sources were all much more pleasant than the Colorado, and you could filter it easily. Page Spring is crystal clear, and I'm told that the arsenic is nothing to be concerned about… :)

I hope you plan to have a little better idea than "I think" before you head out. You know that 80 miles in 5 days in the Canyon is a pretty aggressive itinerary, right?

You should know how "brown" the Colorado River is running before you hike in; it's pretty easy to see from the rim. Probably a good chance in March with the spring runoff. When it's turbid, I filter it through a paper coffee filter, let it settle and then treat. Alum works — research the recipe before you go. If I'm relying on the Colorado heavily, I take my MSR Miniworks.

Most of the creeks run nice and clear. Just be aware of the ones that are known to be highly mineralized. There's usually a warning on the permit.

One of my friends I am hiking with has planned the route and thus has the knowledge regarding the ins and outs of the route. My responsibility was to figure out how to drink some water :)

If you are faced with really churned-up brown river water — such as what can happen after a rainfall — it is often the more intricate filters that can clog up more quickly (although one can back flush…).

One option is to pair your chlorine with a simple, larger-pore size filter that is less likely to get clogged up (although you may still need to back flush even then).

Brown water or not, my usual set up is a combination of chlorine and Aquamira Frontier Pro filter. This filter is very compact and weighs just 2oz! But it is extremely versatile — it can be used as an inline filter, or a gravity feed filter (good for group use at camp), or simply screwed directly onto a bottle with "standard" thread — such as Platypus and some supermarket water bottles. It comes with a detachable bite valve.

Here's what I do:

1. Find the best water location you can — scoop water with the aforementioned water scoop with prefilter.

2. Treat with chlorine (unscented household bleach – 5 drops per quart or liter) and wait 15-20 minutes. Or simply continue hiking while water is being treated.

3. Sip water through the AquaMira filter — either as inline configuration or using its bite valve. Your chlorine will have treated bacteria and viruses by now. The purpose of the filter is threefold:

. a. clarify water — even brownish water will come out crystal clear
. b. improve water taste – filter's carbon core will "sweeten" water and remove ALL traces of chlorine taste
. c. filter out protozoa cysts (giardia, crypto, etc.) , which are harder to deal with using chemicals alone.

Again, as with any filter, you should try to get the clearest water you can. As others have suggested, if the water is truly horrible, let it settle some and take the clearer parts from the top. But this small and compact combo setup really does it all.

The only time you might need to get water from the Colorado is if you plan to camp on one of the river beaches. Even then, most of the beaches reached by trail are adjacent to lateral drainages such as Hermit Creek and Monument Creek. Unless you are there during the summer thunderstorm season these creeks run clear and you can take water from them rather than the river. But, there is no trail along the river, the Tonto Trail follows the river, sort of, but on the Tonto Platform which is, on average, about 800' -1000' above the river. You will get your water from where the Tonto Trail crosses these creeks mostly and only if there has been recent, heavy, rain will there be sediment in the side creeks. I would take a bit of alum, just in case, but would plan on just filtering the water, as is, in most instances. Your permit will have notes on water issues: Horn Creek can be radioactive at high flows and Monument Creek can occasionally exceed the EPA nitrate limits, as examples. I have had more difficulty getting good water in cattle grazing areas. No matter how you treat it it still seems to taste the way cow pies smell. Probably psychological!

Wow, I missed that planned itinerary- 80 miles in 5 days. Maybe with very careful route selection at the right time of year…

But hopefully you aren't planning something like this:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=62675

>> My responsibility was to figure out how to drink some water :)
OK, but as you may have gleaned from some of the responses, the route matters a lot.

If you're doing something like Escalante or the Gems or the beach hike between Thunder River and Deer Creek, you may find yourself relying on the Colorado River for water. Even if you're camping at the river, it's sometimes worth picking up water at a creek source on the way if possible, but it's hard to predict until you get there exactly what you'll find. Some creeks are seasonal/undependable and Colorado River can be anything from clear to chocolate soup.

In general, hiking in the Canyon means collecting water whenever you can, especially if you're not sure about your next planned source. Even if it's somewhat unappetizing water from a puddle. You can always throw it out if you find something better. Local hikers will time their dry hikes right after it rains to take advantage of water pockets.

So, if your route has some dry stretches, definitely take something that will allow you to scoop from puddles/pockets. For the river, at least have some capability to pre-filter and enough containers to settle (this can be gallon ziplock bags.) I'm skeptical about using the tube-style filters (like the Sawyer) there unless I know I'm going to find good running streams. If I'm not sure, I always take the big honkin' Miniworks.

Thanks for the advice!

And I just spoke with my buddy, we are doing about 60 miles (maybe even less) so I think distance wise we should be fine. We have done the Zion traverse in 2 days before and that was fine.

One other question: I have been selling off some gear recently and I was thinking about picking up a Tarptent Moment for this trip because it has the ability to be freestanding. Do you guys think this is necessary? I typically carry a tarp due to the weight savings but I have been unable to get stakes in the ground before and it is incredibly annoying.

My view may be skewed- I've been incredibly lucky with weather and I've never actually *had* to pitch tent in GRCA. I've almost always cowboy camped. The few times I pitched my 'mid it was mostly to keep wind from blowing sand all over me. I had no problem with stakes in sand, or tying off to rocks. So my answer would be to bring the most minimalist rig you are comfortable with and plan to cowboy camp almost all of the time.

Well, except that I've never been there in March, so rain may be more of a threat.

The only water treatment I have found reliable for all conditions in Grand Canyon is my MSR Miniworks with an MSR Sweetwater SiltStopper. It is heavy but works when the Colorado or any of the side canyons run muddy. The siltstopper can be backwashed without much difficulty, or can be opened and rinsed out to restore flow.

Thanks Steven.

I'd forgotten about the SiltStopper.

And once you figure out hose compatibility, it could work as a prefilter to any pump.