[pct-l] Water purification & Clorox...

[Rod Belshee]

Viable, yes. Use by many hikers, no.

The vast majority of PCT hikers use Aqua Mira. A few carry filters for some sections, a few use bleach, and a few do no treatment (and Iodine and boiling are extremely rare).

I use bleach on my thru hikes. It is simpler to use than Aqua Mira (no pre-mix step). It also takes such a tiny amount that I carry the smallest little vial I could find and it would still last for months. To refill, I spend a buck at a store for a gallon of Clorox, take a dribble, and leave the jog at the Laundromat. Make sure you buy just 6% hypochlorite bleach, not bleach with other ingredients as well.

I think the chief concern with bleach is that the hypochlorite releases free radicals, which I alleviated with two methods. First, I'd treat water at night and leave the bottle lid vented to let chlorine escape overnight so my first bottle or two of the day were pure.  Secondly, I took 1g of vitamin C every day as an antioxidant. YMMV, and indeed I'd guess that only 1% of 2004 PCT hikers and 15% of 2007 CDT hikers used it, so most folks would not agree with me.

Use is fairly easy. Add two drops per liter, wait twenty minutes and check for a slight chlorine smell. If no smell, repeat. For grungy water (CDT cattle drainage) start with four drops. Unlike Iodine, the dosage is unaffected by temperature. Like all chemical treatments, the dosage is greatly affected by cloudy water, so pre-filtering through a handkerchief is handy for cloudy water.

You can keep it very simple (2 drops, 20 minutes, check for smell), or you can use less in many circumstances. The EPA recommends 2 drops for 4-6% hypochlorite, and 1 drop for 7-10% hypochlorite solutions, so the two drops of 6% is on the strong end of the recommendation. For water sources that are very good (much of the PCT!), I used just one drop per liter. Also, if you let it sit for 40-60 minutes you can use less chlorine (as long as a small smell remains), so in sections with longer hauls, you can treat your first liter with 2 drops and the additional water with one. 

Steady Sr



From: David Margavage 
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 8:30 PM
To: Pct-l at backcountry.net 
Subject: [pct-l] Water purification & Clorox...


Is the use of Clorox a viable water treatment on the PCT?