Water - to treat or not to treat

[patrickbrusil]

I always take water from homer on hikes.

However, I love the taste of the water on most hikes and I usually end up having an 8oz glass or saw of water from a stream on almost every hike because it is cold and good.

I'm sure one day drinking from the stream will bite me in the ass untill then I say cheers.

 

[Whiteman]

Can't resist a stream!

I always bring tap water, but even when well stocked I find it hard to resist a little stream fresh out of some rocky outcropping. I avoid larger streams because I think the odds get worse on the Giardia.

I believe that the Atkins diet was originally the ADKIns diet, or Adirondack Insurance diet, which is nothing but a dose of Giardia, and it is guaranteed to help you lose weight.

 

[kennancow]

I always bring enough water for dayhike but otherwise im all about boiling my water. I'll only bring tablets just in case.

 

[marty]

I always bring Aqua Mira along in case I run out or when I backpack. It is definitely lighter than my filter, which has been collecting dust for a couple of years.

 

[BorealChickadee]

Dayhikes or a night or two-Tap water made into a Gatorade solution from home and then a carry a bottle filter for refills along the trail. I have a pump filter but quit carrying it when I got the bottle filters. For just a quart or two they'e quicker than pumping because of no set up.

I picked up a sippy straw filter to always leave down in the pack as a just in case. You never know when you might just forget that darn filter or could stuff it in a little pack for a quick walk.

 

[kmac]

Always I start out with tap H2O but have learned to always carry my filter with me, and in my first aid kit I always have a bottle of aqua tabs. In the wintertime I boil my water, if needed. I think it's better to be safe than sorry!!

 

[ADK Rick]

Bring water from home to start, either tap or bottled. Not afraid to drink from most higher ADK streams, been doing it my whole life. Mind you, I wouldnt drink from the lower streams that flow through heavy human traffic areas...but I have never had a problem with any water I have had in the 'Daks. I dont own a filter.

Case in point...a few years back when Redfield herd path was much rougher than now, Uphill brook was a real saviour water-wise...drank several liters straight from the brook on a hot day.

YMMV.

ADK Rick

 

[chomp]

d. drink right out of the stream and take your chances.............

In the clear minority, but I drink right out of whatever source there is. I had giardia once, but it wasn't that bad for me. Not advocating it, but its what I do.

 

[Grumpy]

A lot depends on the planned hike.

But as a rule, I'll carry a couple quarts of water from home (base) as a starting point. If it promises to be a long day and water sources will lie along the route, a filter becomes part of my kit so I can replenish my bottled supply along the way. If my route guarantees good water sources near at hand right along, I may go with a single quart of water to start, plus the filter, expecting to refill a few times.

G.

 

[Head]

All of the above----
a. drink bottled water only: on a quick unplanned dayhike...
b. filter water: most of the time when backpacking..
c. treat water: If a filter is not working OR if the water is funky tasting..
d. drink right out of the stream and take your chances: If Im totally out and I'm hours from getting out. (I'll avoid a drinking from a funk-ridden stream in these cases, and wait until I get back to the truck)
E. Right out of the tap: I get 98% of my H20 this way..........
HEAD

 

[Lawn Sale]

I always filter my water, and then treat it.

I am an expert in all forms of water treatment (according to the state and feds), so I know what's in the water and what filters/drops/pills/UV rays will remove from the water.

I have also researched the Steripen, which is the UV penlight mentioned previously. So far I have come across compelling data (and I have hundreds of technical data pages I have sifted through) that it works fine, but the only thing that worries me is they used surrogate organisms in some of the testing rather than actual organisms. This is accepted practice in some labs though. They also extrapolated some of the data rather than bringing the UV pen to failure to find its actual potential. I like the idea, and I have used many UV systems spanning the last 14 years. But, for this trail dog, I'll stick to my filter and chemical cocktail because I trust them implicitly.

 

[mtnpa]

Trust a pro

I always filter my water, and then treat it.

I am an expert in all forms of water treatment (according to the state and feds), so I know what's in the water and what filters/drops/pills/UV rays will remove from the water.

Once upon a time we all drank tap water. The first person I knew who bought drinking water was a friend who worked for the town water dept. He also knew what was in the water...One summer while backpacking in the Presi's we headed up to Adams and Jefferson from the Perch. We boiled water to purify it. It was quite hot and sunny. When we got back to the Perch to pack up camp and head out we were swarmed by black flies. We had intended to boil more water for the trip out, but the bugs drove us to a hasty retreat. We had some water left but not enough. I soon had a throbbing headache. We pushed on. I felt worse, so we stopped at the Log Cabin. After a short nap I was able to make it out. Dehydration is not an experience worth repeating. Now I always keep iodine tablets in my survival kit and bring a filter when backpacking...

 

[Brownie]

ummm TASTY!

I do all of the above and tank up on Gatorade.

 

[Puck]

A short time ago someone posted an article claiming that the chief vector for giardia is unwashed hands after a stool. I think for the most part the water in the Whites is just fine except downstream form a standing pool or bog.

 

[DougPaul]

A short time ago someone posted an article claiming that the chief vector for giardia is unwashed hands after a stool. I think for the most part the water in the Whites is just fine except downstream form a standing pool or bog.

Not only do I treat my water, I also clean my hands (alcohol hand sanitizer or soap and water) when appropriate.

That said, the risk in the NE is usually low with some care, but some of the bugs are nasty and I'd just as soon not give them a chance to infect me.

Doug

 

[Cactus Jack]

I'd have to say (e)- all of the above. All dependant on the situation. I'd prefer NOT drinking water from some of the creeks and rivers I've been to, and probrobly have the same prefeance for any form of physical contact with the same watersource. All dependant on what you've seen IN the water in the past.

I've also drank from several creeks on Grand Mesa and near taylor res. and have gotten chewed out by the USFS for doing so. Strange how they claim there's all this nasty giardia stuff in the water, but I never got sick. Probrobly a rare benefit to having worked at a fast food joint, I guess....

No one answer of all scenarios. Maybe you'd drink right out of S. cottonwood Creek in Chaffee county, but would you drink right out of the Colorado River 10 miles downstream from the Persego Wash sewer plant?

Didn't think so.