[pct-l] Water Filters

Sun Dec 6 05:07:40 CST 2009

Fantastic advice.

I was a tonto. I had iodine with me. I was just too lazy to use it. The water looked clean but it wasn't running fast. I should have known better.

Thanks for the feedback.

Ernie Castillo
erniec01 at hotmail.com
248 884 5201

> From: 559josh at gmail.com
> To: erniec01 at hotmail.com; brooklynkayak at gmail.com; pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: RE: [pct-l] Water Filters
> Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2009 19:56:40 -0800
> 
> Ernie,
> Cattle are common carriers of Cryptosporidium. That's most likely what you
> caught. Crypto lodges & multiplies in your intestines. Your body attempts
> to FLUSH them out by passing large amounts of waste (which quickly becomes
> diarrhea) to get rid of them. As long as you're healthy this works but the
> process can take up to 3-weeks (more usually, 1 week).
> 
> I use Polar Pure Iodine Crystals which work great for just about everything
> (Keep reading). A couple of bottles (~$15ea) purify enough water for a thru
> hike. UV works against Crypto albeit not 100% of them are killed in the
> typical few seconds that a steripen is used. Boiling is the only SURE way
> to kill Crypto.
> 
> Since 100% of my water is iodized and ~35% of my daily water is boiled, I
> feel confidently safe against waterborne illnesses. I have yet to get sick
> from water in the thousands of gallons of treated water I've taken-in in the
> backcountry over the years.
> 
> I DID get sick once years ago. I believe it to be from untreated water
> because, like you, I thought there was no risk from the "pristine" water and
> so I never treated it.
> 
> I KNOW that there's a million opinions on water...I'll leave others to spend
> the next thousand posts arguing how/why their system is the "Best". I use
> iodine CRYSTALS bcuz:
> 1) I don't mind the taste
> 2) It purifies
> 3) It's simple
> 4) It's LIGHT
> 5) It's fail-proof (no batteries, filters, equipment, etc to
> die/clog/fail/break)
> 6) It's not immediate, but it's fairly quick (30min 'contact' time). I have
> yet to die from dehydration from having to wait 30mins. For that matter, I
> have yet to be majorly inconvenienced from the wait.
> 
> Since I treat at least 1L at a time (sometimes up to 6L) and drink it
> relatively slowly, the iodine's contact time is often HOURS which increases
> the % of Crypto & Giardia CYSTS that it 'kills'. While iodine DOESN'T Kill
> ALL of the cysts even under this set of circumstances, it does kill
> (according to Univ. of Az) 48% to 81% of the cysts when the contact time is
> this high.
> 
> I wonder what percentage of the CYSTS that a steripen 'kills' under typical
> PCT conditions. Hmm..
> 
> Josh
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
> On Behalf Of Ernie Castillo
> Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2009 5:23 PM
> To: brooklynkayak at gmail.com; pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Water Filters
> 
> 
> One of my regrets from my through hike in 1980: not treating my water.
> 
> It was a combination of feeling invincible, trusting nature, and laziness.
> 
> It caught up to me in Northern California as I was hiking ahead of my group.
> I came across a stream, not moving that fast, but looking clean and
> pristine. So I just dipped my water bottle into the stream.
> 
> Big mistake. I didn't notice the cows grazing by the side of the stream less
> than a 100 yards away.My hiking buddies pointed it out to me once they
> caught up.
> 
> The next day, I was the only having to catch up because I kept having to
> take the proverbial dump in the woods. It got worse. I realized later that I
> may have got a bout of salmonella poisoning, e coli bacteria, or H pylori. I
> was sick for about a week, had trouble keeping food down, had non-stop
> diarrhea, and even thought about leaving the trail to find a doctor. But I
> persevered and learned a valuable lesson.
> 
> If in doubt, boil it out.
> 
> Ernie Castillo
> erniec01 at hotmail.com
> 248 884 5201
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > From: brooklynkayak at gmail.com
> > Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 07:18:01 -0500
> > To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> > Subject: Re: [pct-l] Water Filters
> > 
> > I either boil, chemically treat and/or filter all water.
> > 
> > Many people have developed their systems to the point that they can 
> > drink almost anything.
> > 
> > Maybe some day I'll work on that, but for now I don't want to take any
> chances.
> > 
> > 
> > On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 7:09 AM, Michael Peterson <depthhappens at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > Thanks Steve. Did you ever not treat the water?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 8:35 PM, Steve McAllister 
> > > <brooklynkayak at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Filters can make nasty water taste better. Water from forest fire 
> > >> areas, water with lots of tannin or other nasty stuff in it can be 
> > >> turned into god tasting water.
> > >>
> > >> Pre-filtering is very important. You can plug up a filter very 
> > >> quickly if the water has a lot of suspended particles.
> > >>
> > >> I have totally plugged up a prefilter from filtering just 2 liters 
> > >> from a clear flowing stream in the fall. Turns out there was a lot 
> > >> of particles from fallen leaves in the water.
> > >>
> > >> I use Aqua Mira drops, but will also filter with a very light 
> > >> "Frontier Pro2" if the water is nasty.
> > >>
> > >> On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 11:17 PM, Michael Peterson 
> > >> <wordgrouper at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >> > What's the wisdom from the trail regarding water filters?
> > >> >
> > >> > M
> > >> >
> > >> > --
> > >> >
> > >> > "A little learning is a dang'rous thing;
> > >> > Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
> > >> > There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
> > >> > And drinking largely sobers us again." - A.Pope
> > >> > _______________________________________________
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> > >> > Pct-l at backcountry.net
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> > >> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> ... when your feeling blue, and you've lost all your dreams, 
> > >> there's nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
> > >> -- Tom Waits
> > >>
> > >> http://kayakbrooklyn.blogspot.com
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > "A little learning is a dang'rous thing;
> > > Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
> > > There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
> > > And drinking largely sobers us again." - A.Pope
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > ... when your feeling blue, and you've lost all your dreams, there's 
> > nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
> > -- Tom Waits
> > 
> > http://kayakbrooklyn.blogspot.com
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