Water purification

imported
#1

I’m starting in Ashland on the PCT and I’m not sure what to do for H2O. A friend told me she just drank whatever water she ran into.

gus

#2

I would carry Aqua Mira, it’s light weight, and leaves no taste if used per the instructions. I usually drink the water from lakes and streams, but if it seems questionable I use the drops.

Brett

#3

I also use Aqua Mira. What I like is the light weight of the system. It is about 3 ounces and will do 30 gallons of water. It is now available at Backpackinglight.com. But you have to pay shipping. The better backpacking retailers will carry it.

Rodney

#4

Aqua Mira is good for muddy water (and doesn’t have that terrible iodine taste!), but it takes SO long to work and I’m bad at water rationing. As long as the water’s clear enough, you might want to consider a steripen with a solar charger, it weighs a little more, but it’s super easy to use and it only takes about a minute.

Dani

#5

Aqua Mira is great. Like everyone said, it tastes the closest to what we are used to coming out of the tap (better, in some cases). Most people wait the 15 minutes and drink.

Try not to use muddy water, as there is only a finite amount of “free chlorine” (the sanitizer) in the solution, and it bonds to anything organic. You don’t want to use it up bonding to the mud and not have enough for the bacteria, cysts and viruses in the water.

Iodine with the neutralizer (just vitamin C) tastes good too, but takes 20 minutes instead of 15. It also takes a little longer to dissolve in cold water, so that wait time should be increased.

Treehugger

#6

I agree in principle with your friend. I find the pervasive fear of natural water, even amongst those who should know better, a very strong metaphor for our general disconnectedness from the real world and her bounty. It is based in fear of course, which pretty much drives our collective American instinct.

On a ridge trail like the PCT the great majority of water is much more healthy than what flows out of our treated taps in cities. I treated water only about a dozen times on the entire PCT and found this strategy not only grounding, but it allowed me to stay lighter and drink more by reducing the hassle associated with it.

That said, about half of those dozen treatments were between Ashland and Hwy 140. So, if you are headed North, beware. You are headed to the worst water on the PCT.

Hans Berg