Water purification choices
Question: What is your first choice for water purification or do you not purify your water?
Submitted by: Rick
Answer: We can tell you that we ALWAYS treat our water! Back in 1999 during our thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail Randy became severely ill due to the affects of Giardia, he lost thirteen pounds in three days, was very weak, dehydrated, and unable to hike for ten days. While we are not certain of the exact source of the parasite, we do know that we never want to go through that type of experience again and therefore we never take the risk of drinking untreated water. We have always made the personal choice of justifying the weight of a filter or purifier. Our choice as to which type of treatment we include in our “Hydration System” is heavily dependant on the pre-hike research of the area we will be hiking through. Our travels with the Get Out More Tour limit our backpacking to trails in the continental United States, so we are not overly concerned with our exposure to viruses in the water sources we will encounter. With that in mind we are quite comfortable carrying a Microfilter, and we are currently using the MSR Hyperflow. At just 7.4 oz. and with a 0.2 Micron Filter Pore Size, it is successful at removing particulates, protozoa, and bacteria. We love the fact that it can filter three liters of water in just one minute (one liter in just 20 seconds). If we ever question the safety of even our filtered water we will take the extra precautions necessary and either boil our water, or use one of two very light weight very packable chemical treatments, Chlorine dioxide or Iodine. We personally don’t like to use chemical treatments unless we feel it is completely necessary, especially during hikes of longer duration so that we don’t face the risk of any adverse health effects from the accumulation of those chemicals in our body. Staying hydrated is very important to any backpacker, and having the comfort of knowing you are drinking a clean supply of water will definitely enhance your on trail experience.
