Water Help, Quick!

“Hey guys,

I'm new to the whole packing thing and was wondering about the threat of viruses in the U.S, I have a MSR Miniworks Filter and was wondering if i should also chemically treat my water????”

“Threat of viruses in US backcountry water is almost nil. Filtering should be enough.”

“We generally just filter ours. No problems yet.”

“save the water, drink wild cherry pepsi.”

“I just use iodine..no filter.”

“yuckfu! Iodine!?! yeah, that'll taste great!”

“HHH is a PANNNNNSEY”

“The porosity of the miniworks is pretty small. It will probably catch most everything that will harm you. It also plugs fairly easily if the water has heavy particulates. If you have the time and means you can catch a large bladder of water and pretreat it, then filter from the bag. That gives you double protection and an opportunity for settlement of contaminates.”

“is that Mississippi or Michigan State?”

“Thats Michigan State!”

“nevermind ;)”

“We filter only with a MiniWorks in the SouthWest all the time with no probs.”

“Viruses can really mess things up. I use Norton and McAfee. That seems to do the trick.”

“I own the MSR Waterworks Ex ( http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/waterworks_ex.asp ). The Waterworks EX does a small amount of extra filtering that the Miniworks EX does not do. The MSR Miniworks EX ( http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/miniworks_ex.asp ) claims to filter 99.99 percent of the things in the water that will cause you to become ill in the backcountry. MSR claims, 'If you are concerned about viruses, treat the water before or after filtering with a disinfectant such as chlorine or iodine' ( http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/about_filters.htm#ww ). If you're still concerned after treating your water with chlorine or iodine consider boiling your water to a full boil.

Rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds that recieve direct run-off water from farm irrigation are water sources that, to me, might call for a full boil. I contend that farmland drainages are a somewhat more likely source of e-coli (e.g. 0157 H7) and cryptosporidium contamination in water.

Don't forget to wash your hands though. Many illnesses in in the backcountry are probably due to poor personal hygene. Hikers sometimes go get drinking water, for example, after a visit with the cathole. In such cases sufficient hand washing techiques are as important to backcountry health as is filtering water from water sources in the woods.

Filter your water with your Miniworks EX. Catch most all the backcountry pathogens, but remember personal handwashing too.”

“Precision makes a very good point. Dirty hands, soap on cookware, and poor food prep will make you sick too.

My MSR miniworks, works.”

“Woo Hoo Go State! :-)”

“Filtering is fine. Most people I've seen use the Pur (Katadyn) filter. As far as alternatives to filtering, Aqua Mira seems to be a hot ticket on the item. It's basically a type of chlorine treatment where you chemically activate it and after sterilizing the water, it dissipates so you don't taste it.”

“I only use a First Need because it filters viruses. I got hepatitis A twice when I was a kid and it's no fun.

The FN is cheap, new filters are readily available and it works (has never been recalled).

Hep A is just human giardia and it's as easy to catch, but can be much more serious.

Doug”

“poil water in TWO pots...(Important...)

Sterilizes both pots in the process...then pour the boiled water back and forth to reoxygenate the water...(Boiling removes oxygen; hence the flat taste)...”

“oh pink, we know you are trolling. Just quit it!

LOL!”

“If the water is really nasty looking I use a bucket and allow time for most of the solids to settle out. If I'm really uncomfortable I drop in a chlorine dioxide tablet to kill viruses. Then I filter with a my PUR hiker.”

“pixie--I am NOT trolling!!! :-)”