water purification

What do you use? What is the best for the money. I've noticed that a lot of the store bought filters are quite pricey. I don't mind spending the money, but I want to make sure I am getting something good. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg to try something out. Is boiling the water enough? What other distilling/purification methods do you use?

 

Aquamira is light weight and inexpensive compared to water filters.

 

To answer your question, if you can boil the water for 5 minutes, this is the best and least expensive way to treat your water.

 

This might be the coolest way to treat water, but its pricey...

http://www.steripen.com/

 

I've used those hand pump ones like the Sweet Water Micro Filter. It works good, but tends to clog fairly easy and is a bit of work to pump. I also have used aerobic stabilized oxygen. Its easier, smaller and lighter weight then a filter, which for backpacking is a plus. As MellowMike said, boiling water is an accpetable and cheap way, if you easy access to a stove or fire.

 

Those are some adorable babies you've got there, sir. :tongue:
Now that I've gotten my estrogen out of they way, I used to go camping when I was a girl scout and boiling water was always enough for us. We boiled it for about 5 minutes in a covered pot. Tastes pretty flat, but at least you won't get beaver fever...

 

I have used a few different water filters the ceramic ones are the best. Everyone I know with paper filters said they had lots of problems like mold and the filters going to hell and expensive replacements.
Right now I have a MSR ceramic filter like the one below it is OK for one or 2 people it is slow and I don’t like the breakable parts like the handle. But for the price it has been good, easy to use but slow..
The Katadyn is nice more durable but more then double the price.
If you put creek water through a coffee filter or a cloth first it will be easier to filter and if you clean ceramic filters with a cloth instead of a scratchy pad they will last longer.

Bowling water works good but sometimes can be a hassle sometimes, the water treatment pills taste nasty I only do that in an emergency.

 

I use Katadyn HikerPRO but only because it was a gift. I clean the cartridge regularly and am not looking forward to replacing it this Spring. It's 'spensive.

I've tried everything from iodine and neutralizer, Aquamira, Micropur tabs and the Steripen (which I consider USELESS). I even carried a nalgene eyedropper of household bleach once, and it worked! Upset my stomach but I didn't get giardasis. Lately I've been experimenting with a home made version of the Sierra Zip Stove. Since it eliminates the concern of carrying cooking fuel, I don't mind boiling 4 extra liters every evening. But if going ultralight I'll take my HiikerPRO and MP tabs as backup.

 

I love my Steripen. It works beautifully but doesn't filter away the natural taste. It is useful to make water potable but it doesn't remove any possible toxins that may be in the water. I would recommend buying an old-school pump filter for that.

 

With the drought on the east coast, all my hiker friends who relied solely on chemicals are buying filters. Scooping 2-3 liters out of a puddle is fast but if it's been there a while, even MP-1 tabs aren't going to make it taste drinkable. Yup, what sidd said. Tie a bandana around the intake to screen out silt, your filter will last a lot longer.

 

We used bleach in the Scouts when we went to Canada. I am still here.

 

I gargled with Dr Bronners once on a bet and accidently swallowed some. It also upset my stomach. I have a lot tolerance for chemical compounds I guess. Using bleach three to five times per day on a long thru hike would not be a good idea for me.

 

Too much polution is making the water undrinkable. I can't even guess what is in our fresh water lakes and streams. I just drink the water I can carry in on a day hike. I haven't been camping in the wild in few years. I guess it must be worse today than yesterday.

 

Best find or develop a spring you can trust.

 

That's not always reliable either if you don't know the source. A mountainside "spring" could be coming from a stream 20 miles up range, with beavers damming it. Giardasis for sure. Not fun.

I can't speak for the western states, but east coast and midwest I treat every souce as contaminated. 5 or 6 zero days of popping immodium and waiting for beaver fever to run its course is not my idea of a good hike.

 

Some of the finest springs in the world are found high on mountains.

 

any1 tried a Berkey filter? There expensive as hell, but if there as good as they say they are, I dont mind plunking down $200+ for a good filter that even gets FLUORIDE out. if there not as good as they say, what can some1 recomend that that will get fluoride out along with everything else thats nasty.

 

You can filter out a lot of bigger stuff and sediment with homemade filters out of basic buckets and sand. Basically you try to set it up where the water has to drain trough 12-18in of sand.

Also if you just let water sit overnight a lot of sediment will settle to the bottom of your containers and you can just pour off the top 3/4s of the water.

If you have a unclear water source some basic filtering like the above will save a lot of wear and tear on micro filters.

 

n/a

 

I've yet to implement a water treatment solution. For short trips I just used tap water. I pass through a domestic filter to be on the safe side, though not all the time as it filters out some minerals, I just think it's good to have a variety.

For long term outdoor living at a fixed location I have been considering my options and narrowed it down to two:

* An advanced solar still, using adapted solar hot water principles for much higher rates of water collection. Unfortunatley evaporative solutions do mean that any other liquid that isn't water which evaporates will also end up in the drinking water - which means any water contaminated with chemicals will remain so.

* A slow sand filter - this is the cleanest of all and is in fact used in modern water treatment plants. It is a slightly less than portable solution however, so really only for permanent installations - though I have seen semi-portable point-of-use kits for use in the third world. They also take a while to start working (you have to wait for the bacterial layer and tiny worms and stuff to build up!)

I am not keen on boiling water due to the high energy requirements - that means either fire (lots of emissions) or electric (need lots!).

All of the camping filters you see are okay but will only filter out physical debris. So any bacteria or whatever remains - thus forcing you to boil anyway. Some advanced filters claim they tackle other aspects of contamination.

There are also reverse osmosis filters, though I don't think these are of the camping variety as they're quite big and involving forcing water through the filters under high pressure - so only really suitable in domestic applications I guess (though I may have seen an off-grid one once using a powerful motor). These have regular particle filters, various carbon filters to remove and trap chemicals, and then things like UV lamps for disinfection. I believe they are about as good as you can go without resorting to the evaporative methods or a slow sand filter.

You will of course have heard of socks filled with gravel and sand and stuff by special forces guys. These are of course great in a survival situation compared to no filter at all! But if you're always going to be drinking the water you produce it pays to have the best solution you possibly can.