Sick after drinking filtered river water

[Falstaff]

I have a Grayl Geopress and like it, but in mucky water I think some form of pre-filter like a Millbank is worthwhile. It's performance is related to how quickly the filter gets blocked. Optimum conditions max if 350ltrs, for the Geopress, 140lrs for the smaller version.
As they are not cheap, and there is no way of removing the sediment etc. a simple pre-filter seems sensible.

 

[Urvin]

purifier

 

[Watch-keeper]

I used a Grayl quite a bit in Southeast Asia, The Middle East and Europe and never got sick after using it.
So far I have been through 2 filter elements without becoming ill.
My strategy was to only use the cleanest looking water available but occasionally I did filter some pretty dodgy looking water. I test ran a filter when I first bought it and it clogged up pretty quickly if filtering dirty water and as Falstaff mentioned there is no prefilter, once clogged it slows down the filtration process a lot so its worth sticking to the cleanest water you can find.

 

[JosefStalin]

Where can you get chloine dioxide cheap. Amazon is over 50 quid for 24 tablets that only do a litre. An average persond drinks at least 2 litres a day & 3 litres is normal wuth medical issues. That makes it very expensive

 

[nigelp]

https://www.ellis-brigham.com/lifesystems-chlorine-dioxide-tablets-30-pack-274402900

 

[nigelp]

Drops are cheaper https://www.ellis-brigham.com/lifesystems-chlorine-dioxide-droplets-2-x-30ml-274401900

 

[nigelp]

I tend to use a Sawyer filter and take the tablets as a back up or something I can put in my personal first aid kit in case I need to treat water because I’ve been caught out.

 

[nigelp]

Where can you get chloine dioxide cheap. Amazon is over 50 quid for 24 tablets that only do a litre. An average persond drinks at least 2 litres a day & 3 litres is normal wuth medical issues. That makes it very expensive

That what Amazon does. Under cuts and reduces competition and becomes the default shopping location before putting up prices!

 

[C_Claycomb]

Where can you get chloine dioxide cheap. Amazon is over 50 quid for 24 tablets that only do a litre. An average persond drinks at least 2 litres a day & 3 litres is normal wuth medical issues. That makes it very expensive.

First mistake...shopping on Amazon.
LifeSystems own website, 30 tablets, 30 litres worth, under £11

I have used both drops from AquaMira and Lifesystems and like the AquaMira much better. Harder to get in the UK though.

 

[Woody girl]

I used a Grayl quite a bit in Southeast Asia, The Middle East and Europe and never got sick after using it.
So far I have been through 2 filter elements without becoming ill.
My strategy was to only use the cleanest looking water available but occasionally I did filter some pretty dodgy looking water. I test ran a filter when I first bought it and it clogged up pretty quickly if filtering dirty water and as Falstaff mentioned there is no prefilter, once clogged it slows down the filtration process a lot so its worth sticking to the cleanest water you can find.

Thats where a milbank comes in handy and saves money too,, as it preserves the function of the filter . I always carry a milbank, prefilter even clean water and then put it through my sawyer minni. A bit more work, but it prolongs the life of the filter. I also have a uv wand to sterilise any bugs left over. No sickness so far.

 

[JosefStalin]

I tend to use a Sawyer filter and take the tablets as a back up or something I can put in my personal first aid kit in case I need to treat water because I’ve been caught out.

I have a few of them

 

[Falstaff]

purifier

Correct, as a whole it is a purifier not a filter. This is as a result of some activated carbon-type tech (I'm generalising), but in front of that, literally, is a filter medium. This not a lot different to other filter-only devices.
It is this that keeps out the fine solids and enables the rest to do it's virus killing bit. Consequently it is the filter that gets blocked up, and slows the flow to a point where you have to change the unit. I suspect it has a lot less filter area than others, like say a Sawyer,

 

[nigelp]

I have a few of them

That usually does the trick and will also remove any ‘bits’ that might make the tablet treatment less effective. Easy to back flush the sawyer so works well as a belt and braces approach to getting water clean. That’s what I used to do with groups when I did wild camping.

 

[slowworm]

That what Amazon does. Under cuts and reduces competition and becomes the default shopping location before putting up prices!

They are about £13 delivered in the UK from various shops that sell on Amazon currently, and it warns you the price is currently higher than normal so hardly dodgy pricing.

If Josef is real and in the USSR that might have more to do with the £50 price tag but then I doubt many UK shops would ship there.

 

[Falstaff]

Anybody used one of those 5ltr/gallon hanging Sawyer set ups?
Presumably for a backpack bladder system you could toss the tablets into the bladder to sterilise the water first, and let the inline Sawyer on the outlet take care of the solids?
That would save a lot of time if you are on the move, or if it's a longer walk back from source to camp.

 

[nigelp]

Anybody used one of those 5ltr/gallon hanging Sawyer set ups?
Presumably for a backpack bladder system you could toss the tablets into the bladder to sterilise the water first, and let the inline Sawyer on the outlet take care of the solids?
That would save a lot of time if you are on the move, or if it's a longer walk back from source to camp.

I’ve used a 3 litre bladder and hung the sawyer to filter water. Fills up a pan or bottle in no time. No need for tablets as a pre treatment.

 

[Falstaff]

I’ve used a 3 litre bladder and hung the sawyer to filter water. Fills up a pan or bottle in no time. No need for tablets as a pre treatment.

Thanks for that. The need for tablets is on a case by case basis and is a tricky personal decision.
Personally I'm getting concerned by my perception of the spread of contaminants in
watercourses across the country, especially viral ones. I fear many of these are human food chain related and bear as much on farming practices as water companies. e.g. meat slurry field injection as a fertiliser.

 

[GreyCat]

Thanks for that. The need for tablets is on a case by case basis and is a tricky personal decision.
Personally I'm getting concerned by my perception of the spread of contaminants in
watercourses across the country, especially viral ones. I fear many of these are human food chain related and bear as much on farming practices as water companies. e.g. meat slurry field injection as a fertiliser.

I agree, the more sophisticated filter systems can remove bacteria and many chemical (organic and/or inorganic depending on filtration media) contaminants, but none of them will remove viruses.

To remove viruses, you must either boil, treat with disinfectant or use a particular wavelength of UV light (or x-rays/gamma rays of course ).

The other thing that may get through a filter is the sporulated ("cyst") state of bacteria. The ceramic filters used by Berkefeld systems specifically tell you that viruses and cysts will pass them.

Quite a few bacteria- including some relevant nasties such as Bacillus cereus (rice food poisoning), Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Clostridium botulinum (botulism), Clostridium tetani (tetanus), Clostridium difficile (infection- colitis), Clostridium perfringens (gangrene/food poisoning)- have a spore form where the bacteria can curl up on themselves in a "hardened" dormant state to survive hostile conditions.

The spores are really tough- they can be resistant to dry heat, dessication, UV radiation from the sun, extreme freezing and household chemical disinfectants such as alcohols, quaternaty ammonium compounds and detergents. They can also survive in a viable form for hundreds, even thousands, of years.

Standard household bleach (10% sodium hypochlorite) in contact with spores for a minimum of several minutes can be effective- only a small proportion of spores can survive longer than 10 minutes. Higher concentrations won't help but a longer stand time might. Note this is in contact with the spores, so filter first them treat to have maximum effect. A good rolling boil is an alternative for treating water. Some shorter wavelength UV (UVC- the lamps producing this are different to standard "blacklights") or X-rays/gamma rays also disrupt spores.

The reason that the WHO recipe for hand sanitiser includes hydrogen peroxide is to denature the bacterial spores- which the standard alcohol sanitiser would not touch.

The immune system will deal with an amount of contamination- level depending on the individual- but if you drink from a watercourse that could have been polluted, please please boil/treat with hypochlorite after filtering (the purifying UVC lamps used in a water treatment plant are typically a bit too big to lug around if camping).

GC

 

[nigelp]

Thanks for that. The need for tablets is on a case by case basis and is a tricky personal decision.
Personally I'm getting concerned by my perception of the spread of contaminants in
watercourses across the country, especially viral ones. I fear many of these are human food chain related and bear as much on farming practices as water companies. e.g. meat slurry field injection as a fertiliser.

I think you would then need to look at a proper purifier rather than a filter. I would only source water in upland areas now a days. If you use tablets after treatment there will potentially be no ‘particles’ in the water to hinder the purification process.

I filter with sawyer and if in doubt boil also or use the chlorine dioxide tablets afterwards. It won’t take out pesticides or the like but I would try and find more upland water. In a lowland setting cattle troughs are served by fresh water, taps around the back of churches and I have also just knocked on a door and asked to use an outside tap. Can then filter or use tablets on a case by case basis.