Water Purification

[Green Dweller Beloved]

Hi there,

What do you guys do to purify your water? I'm talking about potential dirty water in a forest as opposed to the clean stuff you get up mountains etc

Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft page 71 says:-

“When purchasing a pump-action water-treatment device, be sure to establish whether it’s a filter or sterilizer. Purifiers sterilize the water and chemically disinfect it, killing any nasties. Filters alone cannot remove viruses and rely on a second stage of purification either boiling or chemical disinfection.”

What the master is saying is that regardless of what kind of filter we use, we need to boil the water.

What do you guys do?

As far as I see it options are:-

Buy a sterilizer/purifier and be done with it.
Buy a cheap portable water filter and then boil OR use purification tabs.
You could purchase a millbank bag and then boil OR use purification tabs.
I have heard of coffee purculator bags/bandanas/handkerchiefs being used to filter as well. Ovbiously you'd have to then boil OR use purification tabs

I haven't ever actually had to drink from a river or lake before so need your advice.

Recommendations on Filters and Purifers would be great, but bear in mind, I'm not made of money!

Cheers
GDB

 

[gregorach]

If the water is clear, and I'm going to be boiling it anyway, I don't bother.

If it's clear, but I'm not going to be boiling it, and I'm unsure of its safety, I reach for my PreMac Pocket Travel Well. Probably not the best purifier on the market, but almost certainly the smallest and lightest. It's also pretty cheap provided you don't plan on using it much. However, it does use iodine, so not appropriate if you have any of the relevant medical conditions and it does taste pretty foul. Soluble vitamin C tabs improve the flavour greatly.

If it's not clear, I try and find a better water source. Failing that, I would probably try and improvise a filter before treating as above - the PreMac's lifetime can be seriously reduced by trying to filter turbid water, and nobody likes muddy tea.

 

[Voivode]

Ahem. The search button is just up at the top there. We've beaten this dead horse back to life a few times.

Gregorach pretty much nailed it as far as chemical treatments and boiling go. If you're worried about viruses, boil or chem it. If not, your filter will do the trick.

 

[Eric_Methven]

You can pick up a millbank bag on ebay for £3. A packet of puritabs from Boots for a few pence. That's all you really need. Everything else is just bells and whistles.

Eric

 

[Gailainne]

Sorry Eric I dont agree, neither the millbank or puritabs will deal with chemicals or heavy metals and "not totally effective against Giardia and Amoebic Cysts" from a site selling puritabs.

The millbank is however very good at removing particulates from water before filtering it, and so as gregorach stated extending the filters life.

At the end of the day, its unfortunate, but you must look at the area where you will be traveling, local industry, now and then, farming, ditto, and make a decision based upon what you find on what methods you will take to ensure clean drinking water.

As I believe someone stated in an earlier post, was effected by an outbreak of crystosporidium from an overrun from local streams into a reservoir feeding Glasgow, it would appear this came from the local populance of deer, mountain streams safe, I would'nt bet on it.

At the end of the day, you make an informed choice, I've drank from local streams my whole life, wherever I've camped, lucky, good judgement, shrug who knows, but in the last couple of years I've been taking more and more precautions to ensure the water me and mine drink while camping is safe.

My thoughts on the matter, take or leave as you choose.

Stephen

 

[Eric_Methven]

Sorry Eric I dont agree, neither the millbank or puritabs will deal with chemicals or heavy metals and "not totally effective against Giardia and Amoebic Cysts" from a site selling puritabs.

The millbank is however very good at removing particulates from water before filtering it, and so as gregorach stated extending the filters life.

At the end of the day, its unfortunate, but you must look at the area where you will be traveling, local industry, now and then, farming, ditto, and make a decision based upon what you find on what methods you will take to ensure clean drinking water.

As I believe someone stated in an earlier post, was effected by an outbreak of crystosporidium from an overrun from local streams into a reservoir feeding Glasgow, it would appear this came from the local populance of deer, mountain streams safe, I would'nt bet on it.

At the end of the day, you make an informed choice, I've drank from local streams my whole life, wherever I've camped, lucky, good judgement, shrug who knows, but in the last couple of years I've been taking more and more precautions to ensure the water me and mine drink while camping is safe.

My thoughts on the matter, take or leave as you choose.

Stephen

Fair enough mate. I haven't really thought about chemical contamination or heavy metals. Mind you, I've drunk some dodgy stuff off and on since I was a wee boy and must have built up a tolerance to certain contaminants that would make others ill. So how would you treat water if you supected heavy metals or chemical contamination?

Eric

 

[anthonyyy]

I used to think that chlorine tablets were adequate in this part of the world. However, chlorine is ineffective against CLOSTRIDIUM

Clostridium can have some pretty nasty effects.

chlorine:
http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/4/1598
(free chlorine for our purposes is the chlorine liberated by tablets in water)

article on clostridium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium

 

[gregorach]

Sorry Eric I dont agree, neither the millbank or puritabs will deal with chemicals or heavy metals

Nothing short of reverse osmosis or distillation will deal with chemicals or heavy metals. If you suspect that sort of contamination, there's not a lot you can do about it.

 

[Gailainne]

Activated charcoal, also has limited success in removing chemicals and heavy metals, I'm thinking more along the lines of artificial fertilisers, which streams and rivers are more likely to accumulate.

 

[fredcraft]

I used to think that chlorine tablets were adequate in this part of the world. However, chlorine is ineffective against CLOSTRIDIUM

Clostridium can have some pretty nasty effects.

There was actualy an outbreak of Clostridium, more precisely Clostridium Difficile in local hospitals in Québec and people died of it. There seems to be a resistance to a mild exposition to that bacteria by healty human adults. Most deaths that occured seems to be with elderly patients.

And as you stated Eric, you probably have "built up some resistance" to contaminents thanks to a good immune system. But one can only take that much before feeling the effects of contaminents, and as we say, better safe than sorry. There is a possibility that you will never feel negative effects, but who wants to take the risk ?

It's now that I'm following courses on health and security that I realize the importance of trying to eliminate contaminents before they reach your belly and your bloodstream :bluThinki