Water - aqua-mira

imported
#21

I think with reasonable care, almost any approach can be 98% effective unless you are unlucky. On my third thru hike now and I still carry a filter because (1) I have seen statistics about water quality - esp. in New England, and (2) I worry a bit about ingesting lots of chlorine or iodine. In the south, I drink untreated water from almost all piped springs (there aren’t many in the north) unless something looks fishy uphill. I think/hope that is safe. I wouldn’t dream of drinking any stream or lake water without treatment. As others said, a filter is prob. more reliable when properly used. Still, there is the splash factor, and you get water on your hands, etc – or you put your filter in a bag so the inlet and outlet hoses touch. So, you can still be unlucky and get bugs. I got giardia once – three days after I finished at K in '99. It was good to be at home so I could move the TV into the bathroom. Good news: metranaz. gets rid of the bugs in just a couple of days. Also, First Degree hiked from Pine Grove to Peters Mtn with giardia – wasn’t a pretty picture but it worked! ('Guini: got my son for a rabbit now – the little prick ditched me once but I caught him. So, we are 23 days to Damascus. Packs are down to 14-16 lbs loaded. This super light stuff is FUN! No pain, don’t have to watch your feet, etc. Still haven’t figured out how you got to 7lbs - did you eat? Zero day and beer today.)

old man

#22

Buy a cheap visine bottle. Fill it up with Clorox or whatever and wallah! If you use it all the time, you might need to refill it every 2-3 weeks. Oh yeah! As far as using it . . . add 2-3 drops per liter. You can do more or less, depending on how safe you feel the source is. After putting the bleach in, give it a good shaking for however long (10-30 sec.) Then, bleed the cap (Turn the bottle upside-down, unscrewing the cap a little, letting some water flow over the cap and threads). You can also use this water to clean and sanitize your hands. The general rule of thumb that I went by was to not drink the water until 15-20 minutes aftre treating it. I always tried to be as safe as possible. I would imagine that the water sources on the IAT shouldn’t be too polluted, but I don’t know. I hope that there are some “fill’er ups” out there. Those are the best . . . drinking straight from the spring. You might want to experiment with different shaped bottles and caps, too. As you know, some are alot easier than others in collecting water.

Linguini

#23

i just finished the first half of the colorado trail, and still have about half (maybe even a little more) of each bottle left. that stuff worked amazingly well. i started filtering through a bandana initially, but soon got rid of it. i pulled water from cow pastures (because i had no choice) and had no ill effects. whenever i though a source was sketchy, i used 1 1/2 - 2 times the recommended dose. i give aqua mira thumbs up. it served me very well.

scott

#24

After hiking on the AT last year I felt that a filter was a waste of money and weight. I bought one and carried it 30 miles and sent it home. I then used aqua mira for about a month, its good but you have to wait 5 min after you mix it and before you add it to water and if you are filling several water bottles that can take 15 minutes just waiting for your chemicals to react. I ended up using bleach in a drip bottle. 2 drops per liter. I only treated stream water. I always trusted springs. The numbers I have read on giardia are that the most effective treatment(regardless of what the lab tests were) are about 90% effective, only 10-20% of the water sources you come in contact with on the AT are contaminated. You are taking a chance with anything, but as a gambling man you chances are pretty good. Save carrying the weight 2000 mile and just carry the 2oz bottle of bleach. Its much easier

pappy