treating water and the options on how to do this

[THE REAL SCAVENGER]

as i have just gotten norovirus for the uptenth time, i felt that it would be quite benifical to make a post on how not to not get water born illnesesses (and perhaps i should follow my own fucking advice)

there is a few options and i will go about the pros and cons of all these treaments. just going to split these into two catorgories. feel free to mention any that i did not mention in comments, as i have not used all the options out there.

1. water filters.
things like the sawyer squeeze, playtapus, life straw, etc. if it is plastic, consider it apart of this.
the sawyer squeeze costs about 25 bucks at most walmarts. they work quite well with most water bottles or 1 lieter plastic lids. you screw it on the bottle and can drink from it. they work quite well, but you have to backflush them every so often or it will take longetr and longer to filter, eventually this filter becomes useless because of how slow it is.
lifestraw works about the same way, although it doesnt screw onto a water bottle, just drink from the source.
playtapus gravity filter works the same way, although it just uses gravity instead of force.


IMPORTANT: MOSTLY ALL PLASTIC FILTERS CEASE TO WORK IF EXPOSED TO BELOW FREEZING ENVIROMENTS. your filter will not show any sign that it is broken, but it will be useless, and you can still get sick.

2. Chemical treatment
I find this to be the BEST and in my opinion THE ONLY WAY to treat water. however the major con is that you have to keep on buying/stealing/etc these things because you will run out of chemicals.

aquamira is my absolute favorite option. you mix the two chemicals together for 5 minutes, fill up, wait 15 minutes and then you are goood to go. many other chemical treatments like iodine and other pills work about the same way, telling you to wait anywhere from 15 minutes before drinking to 45 minutes.
best option in my opinion, as even in freezing temps, these will still work.

also you can boil water for 15 minutes. self explainitory.


add any options you have used in comments.

 

[Tony Pro]

Good info. I'd just add that boiling water is always the most effective method of sterilizing it. Certain chemicals aren't proven effective against really scary shit such as cryptosporidium. A good filter would also do the trick in that case, however.

A while back someone here was talking about using bleach and an eye dropper instead of paying for chlorine tablets over and over. Not sure what the ratio was.

 

[DrewSTNY]

I haven't tried this (because I don't have the balls too), but I have been told by community health educators out in the field that if you have clear water (no mud/sludge/etc) and leave it in the sun in a clear bottle all day, the sun's UV will kill all the critters in the water.

The community health educators out there actually do this when presenting how to get good water and basic sanitary health to native communities without good sanitation .

You hit all the biggies, but something that I did not realize until recently is that you have to boil continuously for 10 minutes to kill everything in the water. Longer is not necessarily better, but will not hurt either.

Also, having clear water is pretty much key to getting it safe to drink. Particle contamination will allow critters to hide from UV treatment and partially from chemical treatment.

For me, giardia are the hardest to get rid of because in cyst form, they are pretty much impervious to everything except the boiling method. Good thing is that it is relatively rare for it to occur in water, but more likely to have it on your hands or your stuff from ground contact.

 

[N0MAD]

So a few things i will add to what has already been said but you seem to have gotten them all. Like yourself i have given myself a few bugs through inattention.

There are 3/4 ways of making water biologically safe to drink, and ill say that again biologically safe. Depending on where you are will depend on if there are further chemical or sedimentary contaminants these will have to be treated separately depending on what you are using.


So you have;

Heat, added to what has already been stated, boil for a minimum of 7-10 mins and add 1 mins for every 100ft above sea level.

Chemical treatment, my preferred method like OP but i prefer to use ClO2. ClO2 will kill pretty much anything and leaves no noticeable taste and is safe to use whilst pregnant. It is also worth noting sustained consumption of iodine treated water (about 5+ Litres) is not recommended for those that are pregnant.

Water filtration, My personal choice is the MSR guardian very pricey but will purify a lot of water in a relatively short amount of time (I fill a lot of water bottles and dromedry bags when out being and instructor and guide). However as OP has stated there are many other options available and they are just as good when used correctly, however this does not always remove the very small microbes such as viruses.

And UV, this doesn't filter out any chemical or sedimentary contaminant it does however inhibits the reproductive ability of bacteria and microbes which is what makes us sick. I commonly use a steripen when abroad and am drinking the local water or in conjunction with one of the methods above.

Removal of sediment can be achieved by passing the water through something like a millbank bag, and passing the water through a few activated charcoal filters will remove most chemicals in the water such as fertilizer run of from fields etc.


Another thing to note is that lack of good practice will lead to illness if you are using a water bottle that you have filled from a stream and then used a chemical treatment it is good practice to wipe the threads of the bottle with a disinfectant wipe or similar to try and prevent illness. The same goes for water filters remember that there is a clean and a dirty side and to use each end appropriately try and keep all dirty hands and gear away from this area and if possible flush with clean sterilised water before hand.

I hope this has helped,

ATB N0MAD.

 

[lone wolf]

don't you ever wonder how wildlife can drink from the most disgusting ponds with no ill effects?

all these chemicals in our food and water have damaged our immune system.

 

[AlwaysLost]

I boil it then strain it through a charcoal filled bandanna i make from the campfire. Chemicals are great but if u use them too much esp iodine, you can get a buildup and have thyroid problems.

 

[N0MAD]

don't you ever wonder how wildlife can drink from the most disgusting ponds with no ill effects?

all these chemicals in our food and water have damaged our immune system.

The thing is wildlife do develop illnesses Especially cysts and parasites they're by no means immune to it they just don't show it as much. This is why you flea and worm your cats and dogs they pick it up the same as we do.

However yes you are correct successive use of chemical treatment of things has removed some ability of out immune system through environmental adaptation.

ATB N0mad

 

[THE REAL SCAVENGER]

thanks everyone for all the input, keep it up.