# Clean(-ing your) drinking water



## boris (Dec 12, 2009)

Dear people,

Last august I hitched the Himalayas near Leh (from Lamayuru to Lardo (which is near Saspol and the Alchi monastery)). The water we drank was water from the river and streams, but we always cooked it. We also had "Hadex" with us, in case of emergencies. One drip of this fluid makes a glass of water clean. There's more info here and it contains sodium hypochlorite. I'm from the Netherlands and this seems to be a Dutch product. It seems to be like this.

Then I read Mady's post saying that she bought a straw! I'm a bit doubtful about how proper that works, and how long it'll work (proper). In the category filters I also found this.

So what do you use for water? Cook it? Hadex? Straws or filters?

Does anyone have good or bad experience with the methods of cleaning water I mentioned?

Thanks in advance,

Boris


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## Peregrin (Dec 13, 2009)

you can also use bleach in emergency situations where you can't clean water... it's 8 drops of household bleach to a gallon of water. if the water is cloudy, pour it through a cloth first... and allow the remaining particles to settle... then pour it off. allow bleached water to stand for 30mins before drinking.

bleach will kill most, but not all disease causing organisms


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## boris (Dec 13, 2009)

So you'd have to carry bleach (like Clorox for example) in a special little bottle.

Pouring water through a cloth didn't occur to me yet, good idea.


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## Peregrin (Dec 13, 2009)

empty a visine bottle, or you could cut straws and burn the ends to seal them shut. 

10:1 ratio water:bleach makes a safe sanitary solution. well kill teh aids.


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## bikegeek666 (Dec 13, 2009)

while i know it's clean, i can't say i much like the idea of bleach in my water, and i can think of enough situations where that might not even be possible. boiling seems the only reasonable solution, particularly in terms of being able to do it most any time.


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## stove (Dec 15, 2009)

Boiling is nearly sure-fire, except for chemicals. I often carry a filter for any extended/unplanned trip, though there are chemicals for backpacking which I carry sometimes because they are small and light. AquaMira and Polar Pure are two examples.


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## spoorprint (Dec 23, 2009)

I had a First Need filter for a long time. I liked it, but it wouldn't remove viruses and was a little awkward.Iodine tablets will remove virusses, but come with a warning now not to use them long term.

Right now I have a bottle with a filter of its own, tough to squeeze water throught the filter though.


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## coldsteelrail (Dec 24, 2009)

i drink chlorinated water all the time. It comes straight out of the tap that way. You can smell and taste the bleach. It keeps me pretty far from dying from diarrhea, unlike 3 billion others on this planet.


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## coldsteelrail (Dec 24, 2009)

if you bleach your water, and have time to let it sit over night, a lot of the chlorine will evaporate, no?


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## Peregrin (Dec 25, 2009)

30 mins should do. 

this is only for emergency situations, where you can't strain and boil your water... its not going to kill you... a lot of books suggest more bleach than posted.


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## supersaiyanjesus (Dec 23, 2010)

I've heard but have yet to try coals. grass/dirt/sand, coals, then a cloth and it's supposed to filter out everything that would fuck with you. On "the colony" they supposedly used it to even take out pollutants. It's supposed to be because of the porous nature of coals.


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## farmer john (Dec 27, 2010)

polar pure tablets as a back up for katadyn pocket filter ive always used katadyn and theyve always workt well at altitude and in the city


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## 123homefree (Jan 4, 2011)

If you sip a questionable source once, then wait 24 hours...you will have partial-complete immunity to that same source of water. I have lived by that for years but recently came up with my own straw filter thatS somewhere on here..loads with charcoal for the chemicals, and has a copper screen in it for antimicrobiability. You can connect them too.


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## farmer john (Jan 4, 2011)

123homefree said:


> If you sip a questionable source once, then wait 24 hours...you will have partial-complete immunity to that same source of water. I have lived by that for years but recently came up with my own straw filter thatS somewhere on here..loads with charcoal for the chemicals, and has a copper screen in it for antimicrobiability. You can connect them too.


 
keyword partial complete translatation NOT safe


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## Monterey (Aug 13, 2012)

In desert areas the water is really alkaline, so after boiling it, I put just a touch of kool aid lemonade from the no sugar packet into it to balance the water so it tastes better.
If the water has a bit of a funny taste, toss a little bit of charcoal into the water while boiling it to cleanse the flavor.
Whenever I cook anything or kill an animal, I always make it into soup. It's a free way to get more water. You are sterilizing the water as you cook it. Just remember the rule: 10 minutes at a rolling boil minimum.

- Monterey


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