Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Water filters or chemical treatments?

I am hiking on August 22nd, day permit. I have hiked the main trail before and used my MSR filter at Trail camp. I was thinking about trying a chemical treatment called "Aqua Mira". I was wondering if anybody had used it and what were their results. Thanks.

I've used AM.

I'm sure that no one who has used it on the main trail, has gotten sick. Certainly no one has reported such.

I know AM is very popular with the ultralight crowd. I looked into it, but wasn't happy with putting such a strong brew of chemicals into my water (though presumably if you wait, most leach out).

For safety from viruses, bacteria, and other nasties, AM is probably one of the most reliable treatments. I believe some people complain about the aftertaste, even though others claim the product is "tasteless".

Andy

From http://giardiaclub.com/aqua-mira.html

Chlorine dioxide is widely used in municipal water treatment. Put simply, chlorine dioxide kills pretty much anything at much lower concentrations than chlorine and without the carcinogenic byproducts (various organic chlorine compounds). With this product, you are stuck with the chemicals used to generate the chlorine dioxide, although the whole process sounds relatively benign. Overall, this product sounds like fun if you have a lot of time on your hands.

Personally, I recommend reading Bob Rockwell's article and then skipping filters, chemicals, and uv.

Ah, AlanK! You usually catch me.
I was surprised that no one caught the ironic significance of my statement:
"I'm sure that no one who has used it on the main trail, has gotten sick."

Ken -- I did chuckle to myself when I read it, but forgot to say anything in my post. Nevertheless, your comment was perfect for the occasion!

I was a little surprised that Bob R. didn't post his .02 here.
Haven't seen any postings from him lately; perhaps he's on vacation?

CaT

The Katadyn "Micro-Pur" tablets are another chlorine dioxide treatment. These are available from Campmor and are what the Philmont Scout Ranch supplies these days for treating water out there. They are easy to use (but slow like all chemical treatments). You drop one into a quart/liter bottle of water, let it fizz out, bleed the threads and 30 minutes later, you have drinkable water.

"Bleed the threads" By that I mean letting the tablet dissolve completely to disperse the active agents, capping the bottle, inverting it and then opening the cap just enough that a little of the treated water seeps past the threads and drips out. That way, you ensure that the inside of the cap and the outside of the threads where you put your mouth to drink are also disinfected. Easy trick and takes care of anything left on the threads from dipping into a stream/lake.

At Philmont, we found that the taste of the treated water wasn't anywhere near as obnoxious as the old iodine-based treatments. After an hour or so, it's pretty much back to city tap water taste. Not as good as filtering nice fresh mountain stream water but quite tolerable. (And tastes a whole lot better than what comes out of some of the Philmont wells, given the iron/sulfide content at a couple of camps!)

The downside is that when you're thirsty, 30 minutes is a long time to wait.

My sense is that taking some Micro-Pur along as a backup in case your filter fails is sensible and adds very little weight to your pack.

I've had good luck with KlearWater, which is a pre-mixed liquid chlorine dioxide water treatment solution (see link below). No fuss, just add 1 to 2 ml per liter water and wait 15 minutes.


-Ken

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/..._treatment.html

SteriPen. I am telling you. SteriPen. Instant water.Most now agree that filtering and purifying is not necessary. Those of us nervous nellies who have years of fear installed in our brains just want to be on the cautious side. So we will error on the side of caution and treat the water.Did I mention SteriPen?

In the Sierra's and many California mountain areas, I do follow Bob R.'s lead as I have for years before coming to this forum. But, there are some areas where small springs in desert areas are your only option, so I use a treatment there. One I have used is Polar Pure by Polar Equipment. It's not sold in California for some reason (which someone on this board will have the answer for). Has anyone else tried this? I'm off to the Grand Canyon in October and that's what I normally use.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the General Ecology First Need purifier. It weighs about a pound, uses no power or chemicals, pumps fast, works instantaneously and is EPA certified to remove viruses.

I went on a recent backpacking trip in Yosemite with a large group and half of them had Steripens. It seemed to work well for them, until their batteries ran out. My First Need purifier got water for the group for the remainder of the trip and they were amazed at how fast it pumped. So it's a little heavier and bulkier but it's nice not having to depend on power and it doesn't change the taste of the water such as with some chemical treatments.

Hmm..the SteriPen uses 4AA batteries..and I'd definitely take a couple spares for back-up. But the instruction manual shows the duration for different types of batteries:

Regular Alkaline - 20 to 30 treatments of 1/2 liter.
NiMH - 150 treatments of 1/2 liter.
Lithium - 130 treatments of 1/2 liter.

I've been using Energizer lithium batteries in both my camera and SteriPen for the past couple years..they are fantastic. I'd guess they last 4 to 6 times longer than regular batteries in my digital camera and are really good performers in freezing conditions. I wouldn't use regular alkaline batteries in my SteriPen...20 to 30 treatments (10 to 15 liters total) doesn't sound like good use of that battery weight.

Regards..
Chris