Drinking Stream Water

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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kepPNW
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Location: Salmon Creek

Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by kepPNW » August 4th, 2017, 9:33 am

squidvicious wrote:
kepPNW wrote:I can't tell, but it ought to "cram onto" (technical term) most hoses? Platypus, here. Thanks!
Not 100% sure, but jamming the hose in the spout like that isn't the official method they give in the manual. You can look here, step 4: https://d1l67pfsx3wblg.cloudfront.net/p ... s%20EN.pdf

That wasn't happening for me, but then I saw someone else's advice to just go straight to the hose, which I was a bit surprised to find worked great. I'd think one or the other way should work out.

edit: I take it back, apparently I got it from their official video. I don't really get the printed instructions
Cool, thanks! The printed instructions appear to be using a Platypus hose, so they seem to make sense to me. But the video was good to see, as well. Might have to snag one of these next time REI puts out a good coupon. Looks so easy, I may even use it. :)
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

JeffreyHoward
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by JeffreyHoward » August 8th, 2017, 1:47 am

I got to drink unfiltered water multiple times and didn't get sick.

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retired jerry
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by retired jerry » August 8th, 2017, 7:49 am

If you bring to 194 F (boiling at 9000 feet) maybe let it sit for one minute. If you immediately drink it there might be some parasites that survive.

Milk can be pasteurized at 165 F for 15 seconds, but maybe there aren't as many bugs in raw milk as stream water

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Crusak
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by Crusak » August 13th, 2017, 12:33 pm

I've drank untreated water on day hikes a few times and not been sick after. But I'd recommend filtering.

Those darn filters can be troublesome, though. It seems like when I'm backpacking at least one person in the group has a problem with their filter system. I've seen people have trouble with the Sawyer Squeeze, Sawyer Mini, Platypus Gravity Fiter, MSR ceramic core filter, and MSR sweetwater filter. But fortunately we've had some redundancy in equipment and everyone got to drink 'clean' water. :) I always test my filter system the night before any backpack trip to make sure it is working.

When it's cold and rainy out I usually just boil my water over the campfire.

Good luck! I hope you avoid the gallops!
Jim's Hikes

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Chazz
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by Chazz » August 15th, 2017, 9:19 am

I always take the Aquamira treatment drops as a back up to the Sawyer filter that I carry. You can't hike without water and risking an intestinal parasite is a non-starter for me except in a true emergency. The chemical drops are a bit inconvenient as you have some activation time when you mix the two chemicals (5 minutes) and then you have treatment time once you add them to your water, but they are lightweight. My first PCT section hike, I used the drops the whole time when I discovered I had packed all the filtering gear but not the actual filter. Doh!

scrambler2
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by scrambler2 » August 15th, 2017, 12:26 pm

I've been drinking unfiltered water regularly since my 2012 PCT thru-hike and have not gotten sick. I do filter from lakes and tarns or flowing water that has camping upstream - ex. below Paradise.

We just spent 9 days in the Olympics crossing the Bailey Range and I filtered only twice. Once at Heart lake and from the tarn at Boston Charlie's.

Mankind has survived for thousands of years drinking from streams before the invention of the water filter.
PCT class of 2012

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Eric Peterson
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by Eric Peterson » August 15th, 2017, 1:55 pm

Picked up a Be Free water filter - collapses down into a small footprint and does the job.
8019639_BeFree_ISPO GOLD AWARD_Backpacker Award.jpeg
https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/14946-801 ... system_usa

buck3m
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by buck3m » August 25th, 2017, 12:46 pm

scrambler2 wrote:...Mankind has survived for thousands of years drinking from streams before the invention of the water filter.
That's a comforting thought until you consider that although our species has survived, a primary cause of sickness and death before routine treatment was contaminated water. Lewis and Clark's men were often sick and epidemiologists think much of their troubles were due to bad water.

Many people can testify that prior results of not treating do not necessarily predict future results, either way.

JeffreyHoward
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by JeffreyHoward » August 28th, 2017, 7:35 am

buck3m wrote:
scrambler2 wrote:...Mankind has survived for thousands of years drinking from streams before the invention of the water filter.
That's a comforting thought until you consider that although our species has survived, a primary cause of sickness and death before routine treatment was contaminated water. Lewis and Clark's men were often sick and epidemiologists think much of their troubles were due to bad water.

Many people can testify that prior results of not treating do not necessarily predict future results, either way.
Got it! I can drink unfiltered water, and it will not cause an extinction of humanity.

I might die though. :lol:

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forester
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Re: Drinking Stream Water

Post by forester » August 28th, 2017, 7:54 am

I do filter from lakes and tarns or flowing water that has camping upstream
What about if there's a dead deer fermenting upstream just around the corner?

I'd rather spend $15 and spend 2 minutes so I didn't ever have to worry about it.

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