[pct-l] Water treatment question for the PCT community

[OMullis]

My long-awaited Sept 2008 Oregon section hike was truncated in no small part due to 
an ornery water filter (nothing would come out) and a subsequent brush with dehydration.  
Boo, hiss....  I intend to go back (another year) and finish what I started, but meanwhile, 
I'm rethinking lots of things based on my brief experience.

So,what's the community's opinion/experience/advice on the efficacy, if one carries & 
uses some (presumably effective) form of chlorine-based treatment (Sweetwater, Aqua 
Mira), of foregoing the small-pore-sized, relatively heavy, clog-prone manufactured filters 
systems and simply using filter paper (i.e., coffee filters, chem-lab filters perhaps?) and 
gravity to physically clear the water of its largest, chunkiest, most textureful components, 
then relying on the chemical treatment to kill the bad stuff, then maybe some E-mergen-C 
or the like to polish up the taste?

I know there are some who bypass filtration/treatment to one degree or another while on 
the trail, but that's just not something I'd feel comfortable doing.  Yet, if I can find reasonable 
ways of both lightening my load and reducing the process to its simplest (effective) form, I 
figure that can only improve my chances of completing the trip next time out.  Seems like
we're always more or less trading weight for risk... but I don't want to go too far and end up, 
very lightly making my way to a doctor or the hospital.

Of course, I know that filter paper can't come close to a sub-micron-rated filter cartridge in 
terms of physical removal, but if the Cl-based post-filtration chemical treatment can kill or
disable whatever cooties get thru, is that an effective/reliable enough treatment strategy, do
you suppose, or an invitation to grief?

Input from the successful among you would be much appreciated.

Ollen