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groingo
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2012 06:44pm - Edited by: groingo
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Do you boil it, treat it or just hope?
Personally, I have a good stream but have no control what happens up stream so I always boil it....how bout you?
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2012 06:57pm
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Have a look here water filtration thread and you will find some good information
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vandersysml
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2012 07:14pm
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Right now I haul all of my water in (kind of annoying). I have a spring but it's kind of a hike, and I'm not sure if it's potable or not. Anyone know how to tell?
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2012 09:41pm
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It needs a good lab test to tell what's in it as far as possible pathogens. And if it's a stream you can never be sure it's going to be the same next week, next month.
Do you have electricity? Look into UV light purifying. There are even portable units to do a cup or a quart at a time. The water has to be clear filtered first as any particulates in the water can block the purifying UV light rays.
FYI, in the USA Giardia is the most frequently identified etiologic agent found in surface streams. Northern states show a higher incidence than southern states. You don't want Giardia; trust me on that.
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naturelover66
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2012 10:50pm
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In veterinary medicine we often find Giardia in canine feces after the pet has developed diarrhea. I always ask the owner if fido drinks from puddles.... The answer is always "yes". Giardia is nasty, even after.two weeks of.treatment, its hard to get rid of. Test your water as the very wise mtn don recommends.
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 12:41am
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....or just treat the water and be sure. Here's a link to one of the niftiest devices ever made..... SteriPen They came out with the Classic sometime in the 90's. It cost more back then. Now there are many models of different sizes and capacities. Simple to use and you can be sure the water is safe after you treat it with the "magic light".  They have models that can be carried in virtually anyone's daypack emergency kit. We each have one plus two of the models that needs no batteries; one in the cabin and one stored in the Jeep.
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Seto
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 07:33am
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rain water or melted snow, and i use a hand operated filter, durring the rare dry times when i don't have enough i go to the creek down the hill or buy 5 gallon jugs (then save the jugs to fill when it rains a lot more, i now keep from 5 to 40 gallons at any time
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 12:30pm
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Another option - Check out the Sawyer filters Sawyer Products. These come in two filtration levels - .1 for most bacteria and .02 for viruses. They do not need any replacement filters and can be used either as a drip filter or with a pump (I use a 12v pump in my setup). Unlike many filtration filters, if they start to get clogged there is a decrease in flow but no risk of contaminants getting through. Downsides? Cannot freeze and you do need to be careful how you handle them. Also they do not remove odor or color so we put any water for drinking into one of the Brita filter jugs (only for odor).
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TomChum
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 12:47pm - Edited by: TomChum
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I drink stream water that originates from a spring on the side of a large mountain. A large cedar grove has appropriated this wet area. It flows about 2000 feet to my property; sometimes just a little creek on the surface, or invisible below the thick mat of the cedar grove. 2000 feet is not a lot; compared to a stream that might be on the surface for 16 miles.
About a hundred yards downstream it feeds a marshy area on my property. The mud here stinks pretty bad if you disturb it, but the water does not have that mud smell. This concerns me.
My water has a slight yellow color when in a clear bottle. I think of it as a 'cedar' color. I've been drinking it for 1.5 years, and no one has reported any effects, yet. I took it to the county water dept and had it tested ($25) and they said my sample was safe to drink.
I intend to set up a filtration system for the drinking water, to be more certain of safety. I want a filter that won't clog, and won't grow its own funk. Freezing is another issue. Consequently I'm interested in this thread.
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 01:00pm
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Freezing is a problem with any filter that has an element or cartridge of any type that retains water. That includes the ceramic elements. That's one reason I like the portable UV units. I used to pack the cartridge in and out and store it in the refrigerator at home in between cabin uses. I don;t need it as long as I'm using clear water. The UV just guarantees it is safe.
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TomChum
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 01:02pm
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Ah yes, I keep forgetting about the UV units. What brand is yours? How much water does it treat at a time?
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 01:20pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Steripen, for small portable units. A water bottle at a time. Great for hikes where there is stream or spring water available. They save on lugging liters upon liters of heavy water.
There are larger whole house units from several manufacturers too. A friend has one made by Trojan I believe. Great for use with stream fed water systems or a well that has a e-coli count that is unsettling.
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wakeslayer
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 05:13pm - Edited by: wakeslayer
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We use a SteriPen when backpacking. Great little unit.
Our well is 225 feet deep. Decided to punch one in a few years ago after getting tired of hauling a dozen 5 gallon jugs in every time we visited. I had a 150 or 200 gallon tank I could get filled from a local guy for a few bucks, but his well got overrun in a flood and got nasty.
A well is worth every penny if you ask me.
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rayyy
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 05:16pm
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I bought a couple of those Berkey black water filters and made up a two teer water pitcher set.You pour 2 quarts of untreated water into the top pitcher,it trickles down through the filters and gives you completely filtered,safe drinking water free from everything in the lower pitcher.I ad a drop of clorine into the top and it does it's job than the filters even filter that out.They sure are pricey though.They swear that you can dump the most nastiest mud water through these filters and you'll get perfectly clean water out.
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2012 06:54pm
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I completely forgot about the SteriPen, gonna get the hand crank one just to have as a backup.
I knew I kept coming back here for a reason!
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Force_Multiplier
Member
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# Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:37am
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my plan is to use a slow sand ( biosand ) filter...
I guess living in a southern climate has it's advantages, I have a fairly mild winter, it does get cold enough that the biosand filter won't work, my plan to deal w/ that is to put in in a solar greenhouse... basically an inefficient solar oven...
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:33am
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Big Berky for drinking water from our spring fed creek. In the old days some would drink without filtering. My son stopped doing that when he filtered water and found a long white worm in the filter! Also animals drink from this creek so why take a chance. For showers and dish water we pump water from the lake into a 250 gallon water tank with clorine that we add.
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