clean water on the CT

[alpka]

Hey all, am heading to the CT this summer and wondering what strategy you all like for purifying water? Are the steripens reliable? I am trying to figure how to organize water if we used tablets that take 4 hours to kill crypto... carry extra water that is purifying while riding and leapfrog the bottles and water in the camelbak... Also, in a dry year like this, are there sections where water will be more of a problem than normal?
Thanks for any insight.
Dan

[alpka]

OOOH, I just saw the platypus gravity filter, that looks like the ticket! Any opinions?

[mtnbound]

I was planning on using a filter I already owned for backpacking but I heard good things about the Platypus too.  It is also fairly light (and very quick!).  Easy to drink as much as you want while at the water source, then fill up your water bag/water bottles and go w/o waiting for any tablets to work.

I, too, am concerned about the water supply this summer on the CT.  Snow pack is really down.  The CT Guidebook will be invaluable to read and know where the water sources are most likely to be and water sources that may not run in down years so that you can know and plan for the long stretches w/o water. 

[jeremy11]

I just use Betadine in the alpine, then had two 2 liter bladders so one could purify while the other was drinkable.  no water shuffling around.  just clip the unclean hose to the back.  I was wishing for a real bottle - something to drink out of other than a tube.

[Flounder]

I use a SteriPen and have for several years. It works very well, and because it seems so dubious a light bulb would make your water safe, the system has been tested more than any other. It works. It's also got potential for opperator error just like anything else. It also has one drawback - it doesn't do squat to improve the water you do find available. On the CT, much of the water I encounter is pretty clear, but there have been times when the only water to be found was a bit nasty.

The platy gravit thing is slow, can't be backflushed very easily if you really get it fouled up and it's kinda bulky. My other option for potentially foul water with high turbitity and "teaing" is the Katadyn Micro. It's soooooo slow, but it truly fits in a jersey pocket.

[bradh]

+1 on the gravity filter.
I used a sawyer bottle w/ a filter inside, and also had the fittings to use it as a gravity filter.   

[alpka]

Of course, I really like the steripen concept, but get a little nervous when I hear about them getting finnicky. I always tend toward bombproof at the expense of light, within reason.

[Flounder]

Of course, I really like the steripen concept, but get a little nervous when I hear about them getting finnicky. I always tend toward bombproof at the expense of light, within reason.

I bet I've consumed over 300 liters of water processed with a SteriPen. I also work as the buyer for a large retail store. We've sold probably 200 SteriPen units in just the last few years. In that time we've not had a single warranty, or any reports of a pen not working or certainly not a scenario leading to any illness. In that same time we've taken back maybe 12 MSR Hyperflows, a couple Katadyn Hikers, one Katadyn Vario and a few Sweetwater filters.

Not saying the Steripen is perfect. It has drawbacks, but it absolutely does what it's supposed to do - make icky water safe.

[alpka]

Wow, well that is a good track record. Thanks Flounder. Is there a limit on how murky the water can be for the steripen? I was thinking of putting water thru a coffee filter or something first? Any other tricks?

[Flounder]

The water can actually be fairly funky. The water turbidity or murkiness needs to be slight enough you can see the light through the water. I recommend using the newer clear Nalgene Wide Mouth bottles as it's easier to see the water clarity and the bulb in action. So, for me, if I come across water that's pretty gross, and the thought of drinking it makes me cringe, chances are it's at or beyond the limits of the SteriPen's abilities. In reality, the water can be absolutely gnarly and the light is still going to punch through the murk. Gonna be a gross beverage, though.

Now, there's another consideration - particulates. Your water does need to be free of lots of small particulates. On the CT, this is often little more than small chunks of algae or other particles. These have to be removed from the water. The reason is simple. If there's a pathogen of some sort clinging to that particulate, it could in theory be on the dark side of that particle and not getting the full hit of the light. This is a real stretch, by the way, but possible. So, I simply use the small funnel-filter or "Fits All Filter" to fill my nalgene and filter out those large chunks.

Now, I know people will baulk at the idea of taking a Nalgene for their SteriPen, but I really like having it. It's not just the bottle I use to facilitate my SteriPen operations, It's my bottle for what I call "clear" water. I often put electrolytes in my hydration reservoir so my nalgene can sometimes be used for clear water I use for food, coffee, etc. Sometimes I swap that system and use the bottle for electrolyte drinks.

The SteriPen is small enough to fit in a small pocket. It takes only 90 seconds to process a liter. One set of batteries will easily process a long week on the CT. No hoses. No chemicals. No pumping.     --   But the water you encounter has to be palatable in the state you find it. Filtering through a coffee filter does help, but it's really a slow process and only helps a tiny bit.

[Flounder]

I should really make this thorough, as I know from experience questions pop up after users return from their first Steripen trip. Here's the most common question:

Let's say you take your clear Nalgene bottle to a stream. You put the funnel/filter on the bottle and dunk it in the stream. You remove the funnel and zap the water with the SteriPen. As you're doing this, you're going to be wondering about all those water droplets clinging to the lid and the lip of the bottle. Those droplets are not getting zapped by the light. So, can that water make you sick?

No.

I've had many discussions with the creator of the Steripen on this subject. The reality is, the potential pathogens in those few droplets are not enough to multiply in your system to make you sick. Even if you drink 10 liters a day and therefore lots of those little un-treated droplets.

And just so you know how the system works, the UV light does not KILL those pathogens. It sterilizes them so they cannot multiply in your system. You're still drinking live kooties, they just can't multiply in numbers needed to induce illness.

Lastly, if you zap your water and for some reason feel sketched out by the water....zap it again!

For what it's worth, this technology has been around for maybe 100 years. British explorers who trekked across large expanses of African desert would put their water in glass jars and expose those jars to the sun to do exactly what a Steripen does.

[offroute]

Steripen makes a pre-filter. I have the one that looks like a two-part funnel, but they also make one that screws onto a Nalgene.

FWIW, I carry a backup means of water purification, even if it's merely iodine tablets. Glad to hear the reliability reports on Steripen, but I would not put that much faith in an electronic device unless I'm carrying it for convenience only.

Cheers...

[caseygreene]

I don't have experience with water conditions on the CT, but in the Northern Rockies, this is the method i use:

Mike C's ULTRALIGHT TIPS - treating water

Aqua Mira can be hard to get ahold of because a lot of stores don't carry it, but QBP does. So, any bike shop can order it for you.