[Cdt-l] water treatment (New Mexico)

[Eric Whte]

When CatsPa, Lost and I did the southern half of NM we used alot of cached, GPS'd, 89 cent WalMart gallons of water. Mini Mart
...and, of course, packed out our empties. 


________________________________
 From: Brett <blisterfree at yahoo.com>
To: cdt-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 2:06 PM
Subject: [Cdt-l] water treatment (New Mexico)
 

>>So, hiking NM what would be the filter method of choice to avoid clogging
and disease?

Avoiding the burger joints in town oughta help. Or isn't this a discussion about arterial health?

Actually, I would just carry Aqua Mira out on the trail in New Mexico. Chlorine dioxide solution is safe, more effective than bleach or iodine, and contains no chlorine. And avoid the dirt tanks as much as possible. If forced to drink from a dirt tank, you can pre-filter it through a bandana, and then give it the full 14 drops per liter of A.M., waiting a good long while before drinking, and preferably exposing it to direct sunlight through a clear water bottle while you're waiting.

Even a filter would be incapable of removing all traces of silt from the worst sources. That which it did successfully remove will, at some point - possibly very soon -
 cause that filter to fail. Unless you're able to clean it. Pretty heavy, regardless.

Also, I wouldn't trust a filter to actually rid the worst sources of all contamination. The physical manifestation of a filter's clogging and failing may be only the first obvious sign that it's been failing your GI tract for some time.

The Steri-Pen can be a worthwhile alternative to Aqua Mira, but with a few caveats, namely it's battery-powered and otherwise fail-able technology, it's likely to perform worst when you need it most (again, the dirt tank water), and the UV bulb won't fit inside a standard liter-sized Platypus bottle opening.

- blisterfree



 
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