Water Purification

[Physch]

I was wondering what kind of water purification you guys use and would recommend?

[Shawn]

I use sawyer inline filter on a spare bladder and gravity fill bladder in my pack.

[forepaw]

I was wondering what kind of water purification you guys use and would recommend?

It mostly depends on the source you are using. If it is a protected spring, within a predominantly backcountry or wilderness area, I would just use the bottled iodine tabs available at REI or Sportsman's. You could also use fresh household bleach, at the dosage of 8 drops per gallon of water. I almost always have an eyedropper with me for this purpose. If your source is surface water, or in an area with known recreational use upstream, you probably should filter first, then disinfect. There are a number of good backpacking filters such as the Katadyne, PUR (Hiker, Scout) and others. You can google this info, or go right to REI for more details on their products. If you are someplace with really roily, turbid water, you will need not only filtration and disinfection, but also some sort of pretreatment. Sometimes filtering through fine mesh (pantyhose) or even a clean t-shirt will remove enough sediment for you to treat and drink the water. If it is really bad, use about a tablespoon full of alum (aluminum sulfate, powdered) per gallon. Colorado river water for example, won't settle by gravity enough to produce much clarification. Even letting it sit overnight will not clear it up. It will settle out some, but not all of the particulates. You need to hit it with a metallic salt such as alum (or ferric chloride) to really settle the water. Decant the clear water into another container for treatment.

 

I would not recommend drinking any backcountry water without treatment.

 

forepaw

[oz31p]

The msr mini works and the msr 6l dramadory bag has served me well. I normally filter from cow tanks.

[lonne]

Boiling water is probably #1. If that can't happen, then iodine tablets work good. Katadyn ceramic filter is excellent for a length of time if the tablets don't work or are expired. After the ceramic filter, the ultraviolet light Steripen is a good idea.

 

As the gentleman mentioned aboving, filtering through a handkerchief or something first is a good idea.

 

If you are completely out of luck, with none of the above, and just need to survive, then drink flowing water and not still water. If you have no flowing water, then taking water from a place where it has filtered through dirt (ground) first and very recently is your best bet. It used to be ok to drink stream water, but nowadays pretty much any water can be risky.

 

As the gentleman mentions above, bleach would work, but for someone who can't follow the instructions of "drops", and misreads the directions, it'd be a bad idea.

Lonne

[208muley]

Katadyne hiker pro. If its muddy then use a coffee filter pre pre-filter. Sawyer is good just takes a long time unless you use a dirty bag and put the filter inline.

[idgaf]

My daughter just did her science project on this subject. The sawyer works the best, even better than boiling because it gets rid of smell and the off color.

[Guest akaspecials]

Most people hit the nail on the head. One thing to add, I usually carry a "dirty" dromedary back. I will fill that bag with untreated water and let all the sentiment settle to the bottom over a few hours or overnight. I then pump from the top of the dromedary bag. This saves em from having to use (and carry) either panty hose or a handkerchief that is cold and wet.

[Tail_Dragger]

I use a platypus collapsible bag that has the bottom cut out along with a sawyer mini that screws right onto it. I also use a 5/8" hose washer from home depot that seats perfectly in the neck of the bag and provides a perfect pre-filter. I carry this with me at all times. Also, if you go the sawyer filter route make sure to never let them freeze as it will ruin the internal filter and will not provide you with purified water.

[ctafoya]

[PelaPapas]

Anybody use the sawyer mini's? I've heard some good things about em...

[Heat]

Is that all you got ctafoya? How's this for a water filter?

[ctafoya]

That's a big plant. The one I put up is a little one im starting up in NM. Its on hold while my new 300HP high pressure pump motor is getting new windings.

[n2horns]

Sawyer mini and sawyer large. Ran Sawyer large inline in pack, redoing this year to run the mini. Check out rokslide the have a bunch of topics around water / water purification etc...Regardless of what Bear Gryles promotes, urine thru any filter still taste like urine.

[Whitesheep]

Good thread. Another trick is iodine suspect water then run through a charcoal filter to take out the taste. Generally I have enough water for a day hunt, but do carry a Bota Bottle with filter for emergencies. It has been used to supply three hunters with water from a contaminated stream and while some work, did the job.

 

The Sawyer inline filter works great as a main filter as it can filter while you do something else. Beats the heck out of a pump filter. However if it clogs up during a trip, you may be screwed. Good to have at least one pump in the group for backup, especially one that is field serviceable like the MSR I use.