[pct-l] lightwight water purification on the PCT

[steve_pct at hotmail.com (Steve Setzer)]

I used Aqua Mira (chlorine dioxide) on my thru hike.  The 5 minute waiting 
period was kind of a pain but I would stop, fill up water, put the stuff in 
the mixing cap, then walk for 5 minutes while it mixed (carrying the little 
cap like a dork) and then throw it in my water.  In my opinion the 15-30 
minute waiting period that you have with chemical treatment is no big deal 
because you can just hike while you wait.  In So Cal we usually hung out at 
the water sources during the heat of the day so I would treat large 
quantities of water as I lied around.

I think a filter is probably safest but I think they're a pain to use and 
they're heavy.

Iodine is very temperature depended so I don't think its good for use 
against Giardia.  On my Polar Pure bottle it says the water must be above 68 
for it to kill Giardia.  Most mountain water is much colder than that, but 
probably doesn't have Giardia.  I used Polar Pure for a few weeks and didn't 
like the taste and thought it was a pain to use so I went back to Aqua Mira.

The MSR Miox sounds like a good idea but I'd rather not depend on electronic 
stuff.  The people I know who used one were always having problems with it.

Chlorine is a good idea but it forms THMs (Tri-halomethanes) when it comes 
in contact with organic material (leaves, dirt, the stuff that's in water, 
etc.).  THMs cause cancer but it seems like everything does these days so 
maybe you don't care.  People may say, "Well they use chlorine to treat our 
tap water".  Yes, but chlorinated water is always filtered first before 
treating. This is the first thing we learned in our water treatment class 
and its not folklore.  I wouldn't use chlorine for the length of a thru hike 
but hike your own hike.

It seems like most of the water is safe to drink without treating.  Many 
people hiked the whole trail, never treated, and never got sick.  I treated 
maybe half the time and got sick twice.  But its hard to know where you get 
sick from.  Maybe not even the water.

If I were to thru hike again, I would take Aqua Mira again (you need to mail 
it to yourself because it hard to find on the trail and its illegal to sell 
it in Cali.).  I would probably often drink the water without treating it.  
I would probably get sick again too.

Steve

>From: "Jeff Moorehead" <jeffmoorehead1@cox.net>
>To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
>Subject: [pct-l] lightwight water purification on the PCT
>Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 00:49:02 -0800
>
>I would be interested in hearing about solutions to water purification that 
>don't involve boiling and are in line with the goals of ultralight hiking. 
>I've been doing some research on the matter and from my reading, here are 
>the availabe options in ascending order of the weight requirements:
>    1) Lightest method-- don't worry about it and take chances with water 
>purity. Doesn't seem this is wise for a 5 month hike, or even a short hike 
>if it involves water sources in the So Cal deserts.
>  2) Next lightest-- tablets or chlorine dioxide solutions. Seems the 
>disadvantage here is the cost, waiting time, and possible after taste.
>  3) Water filter bottles: these sound great but do they work? How does one 
>devise a system with these? They are costly, too. One expensive filter 
>cartridge will handle about 30 gallons.
>  4) MSR MIOX. A relatively new device that creates a cocktail of biotoxic, 
>mixed oxidants using salt and electricity which is then added in small 
>quantities to unpurified water. In effect, it produces a purifying solution 
>that then has all the pros and cons of a chlorine solution. It would cut 
>costs over the duration of a thru ike and it is relatively light. Anybody 
>used these?
>  5) And then the long list of water filters that range in weight from 2 
>lbs down to 13 oz. The heavier ones are more durable and filter to the 
>recommended 0.1 microns. However, the most durable lighter weight units, 
>such as the Katadyn Pocket Filters are prohibitvely expensive and still 
>weigh in at 22 oz (more with the gadgetry required to deal with viruses and 
>after taste).
>
>  I'm not sure if this has been extensively discussed in this group, so 
>pardon the remission if it has. I'd like to hear about systems that people 
>use-- i.e. maybe one should use different methods for different parts of 
>the hike. It seems that water purificaton may be a vital chore in the more 
>southerly sections of the trail but maybe not so in the high Sierra. Any 
>thoughts would help...
>  Jeff
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