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Backcountry Water Treatment

For years, hikers only had three real options when it came to treating water in the backcountry: boil it, filter it, or add iodine. Now a broad array of weaponry is available to exterminate all the aquatic baddies looking to take up residence in your gut: bacteria, viruses, cryptosporidia, and especially parasitic enemy number one, giardia cysts.

ZAP ’EM A beam of ultraviolet light kills viruses, bacteria, giardia, and cryptosporidia in a matter of minutes. Now you can zap your water in the backcountry with compact UV lights such as the eight-ounce SteriPEN from Hydro-Photon ($149) or the seven-ounce AquaStar Deluxe from Meridian Design ($99), which is integrated with a screw cap that attaches directly to the top of a wide-mouth Nalgene bottle.

Pros: Fast, no flavor, kills viruses

Cons: Expensive, bulb durability concerns, battery-powered

FREE THE RADICALS Chlorine dioxide is a gas that kills everything, including viruses and cryptosporidia, with enough time (20-30 minutes for giardia, 4 hours for crypto). It is readily produced from tablets, such as those available from Potable Aqua and Katadyn, which chemically react with water ($10-$13 to treat 20-30 liters). Another option is McNett’s Aquamira, a two-solution system that requires mixing in the field to activate the gas, but treats up to 120 liters ($12).

Pros: Kills everything, simple, inexpensive, little to no flavor

Cons: Undissolved tablets and drops extremely toxic

ELECTRIFY BRINE By sending an electrical charge through salty water, you create a mix of oxidants that is lethal to all your micro-nemeses. This is the technology behind the 3.5-ounce MIOX from MSR ($130), which uses rock salt and a small battery-powered current to produce the potent cocktail. Giardia and viruses are extirpated within 30 minutes, crypto in 4 hours. The U.S. Army recently ordered thousands of MIOX to supply troops overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pros: Little to no flavor, can treat large volumes of water

Cons: Expensive, requires disposable “testing strips”

STRAIN ’EM Filters work by forcing water through extremely small openings in a porous membrane, usually accomplished using a hand pump. Typically 0.2-0.3 microns in size, these holes are too small for bacteria and crypto and giardia cysts to pass through, though viruses still get by. A variety of different filter materials are available, but often the most important feature is the ergonomics of the pumping mechanism. Choose whichever feels most natural to operate.

Pros: No taste, removes sediment, tried-and-true technique

Cons: Bulky, lots of squatting, expensive filter replacements

PURIFY Unlike filters, purifiers also eliminate viruses. While this is not really a concern in the North American backcountry, it can be in third-world countries where sanitation is questionable. The all-time standby is the First Need Deluxe Purifier ($95), a pump which has existed virtually unchanged for more than two decades and removes viruses through an electrostatic attraction. Note that some filters sold as purifiers only eliminate viruses through a second-stage chemical treatment-a two-step process.

Pros and Cons: See filters above

USE IODINE Iodine kills everything but crypto in 20-30 minutes and has been the standby chemical method for decades. Potable Aqua tablets are readily available ($6 for 50 tablets, good for 25 liters), but you can treat 40 times more water with Polar Pure ($11), which uses iodine crystals to saturate a small amount of water that you then add to your bottle. Iodine imparts a noticeable-and to some, disagreeable-taste and odor to the water. There are no proven long-term effects of using iodine for extended periods of time, though health experts still advise against it.

PROS: Cheap, lightweight, easy to use

CONS: Bad taste, crypto will still get you

BOIL AWAY Heating water to the boiling point kills everything. Recommendations vary on how long you need to boil it, though 2-3 minutes is the standard advice. You’ll need a lot of fuel and time, though, to treat much water.

Pros: No taste, no pump, no chemicals

Cons: Pounding scalding water is difficult

Which Water Filter To Buy

A quick read about water filters on the internet indicated that the Pur Hiker/Scout, First Need and MSR Miniworks are popular brands.

Someone commented that the First Need is heavy/bulky but it easily pumps crystal clear water in a Nalgene. 

The PUR Hiker/Scout is an excellent filter with a double action pump and is quick/reliable. The complaints about this filter is that the new versions have a fluted paper element that cannot be cleaned.

The MSR Miniworks appears to work like a champ with guys having absolutely no problems and is easy to clean.

Some guys don't carry water filters and use Tincture of Iodine or Aqua Mira chloride drops. Aqua Mira has minimal taste to it compared to Iodine and is supposed to have fewer side effects.

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