Filtration

“I found this chart in the lab and I thought it interesting.
Do you know the capability of your filtration system?

Filtration

Smallest visible particle 40 mm
Bacteria 15 - 0.3 mm
Yeasts and fungi 4 - 0.6 mm
Virus 0.08 - 0.004 mm
Endotoxins (pyrogen) 0.07 - 0.002 mm


What is an endotoxin (pyrogen)?”

“oops, those should be micrometers not mm”

“endotoxin(pyrogen) are substances produced by bacteria when they break down that when injected cause shock, in smaller amounts produce fever and an increased white blood cell count.”

“Oooooh....

"Pathman" is "Pathologist Man!"”

“He gots the mojo.”

“Sure, I flirt sometimes. Doesn't...

Oops....nevermind...”

“"What is an endotoxin (pyrogen)?"

It's the stuff that makes cheese yellow.”

“wanna hear something really funny? when my friend and i went backpacking 2 weekends ago, we came all prepared with a water filter...and couldn't figure out how to use it!!! i thought it was one i had used before, but apparently not. so we just drank the water "straight." i know that's really bad, but we were really thirsty! does this mean i filter like a girl? ;-)”

“You could have just boiled it lyra.

It's probably better to risk it than to not drink water at all.”

“oh, yeah, but i haven't told you the REALLY funny part. we didn't have a stove. or matches. or fire of any sort. i shouldn't be let out of the house, really...”

“My goodness, lyra, whose turn was it to watch you?”

“i know, right? we just left the matches in the car, and we hadn't been too concerned about bringing them in the first place, because we brought food that didn't need to be cooked. we could have borrowed some fire, but by the time we saw anyone else, we'd already downed about a gallon of water, because we were so thirsty! live and learn and laugh... :-)”

“also, i knew the water probably wouldn't hurt us, because i grew up in that area, and i used to drink the water "straight" when i was a little kid.”

“My new MSR filter clogged on me the last time out. It comes with a cleaning pad and instructions. I guess the pond was kinda funky cause it would only pump a liter before it clogged again.

At least I know the filter is working. My old Pur never clogged, but I couldn't handle the taste.”

“Lyra. You should be careful. You never know when some idiot just took a dumper in the water upstream of you. Those idiot mountain lions!”

“I always have Polar Pure or Potable Aqua for a backup.

The alternative tried and true method is to make your body such a hostile environment that no self respecting bacteria or virus would want to live there.”

“Bacpac, MSR Miniworks? I've found it will pump about 10-12 liters out of a lake before it clogs. Half the people I know use MSR adn the other half use Pure.

Speaking of taste, how do you get the taste out of 2 liter soda bottles? I tried dissolving one tablespoon of bleach in 2 liters of water, and now it tastes like bleach instead of Diet Coke.”

“Baking soda solution?”

“Can't taste any worse than bleach.”

“Vinagar.”

“Wanna hear something else so funny? After a fantastic week at the Wind River Range last year I spent the last night at a campground by the Green River. My buddies checked us in and I went staight to the showers. As we all were sitting around comparing adventures and rehidrating I heard someone say "I guess they pump water staight out of the river to those faucets to water the grass." "What faucets" I say . "The one by our tents.The lady said don't drink it!" he says. "Oh, You mean the one I filled my bottle with and have drank half of." I say.
So I got a stroke of genius and dig out an iodine tab and desolve it in about half cup of water, drink it down, stand up and jump up and down. Said a quick prayer. I either got lucky or the green river is cleaner than it looks. I didn't get sick!!”

“ROFL wolfsister that one is right up there with taking a Midol and doing jumping jacks after unprotected sex as a contrceptive”

“Yeah, my MSR MiniWorks will get clogged quickly if the water has a lot of silt floating in it but it is tough and the water tastes great because of the carbon filter.”