Water Filtration/Treatment: A Necessity in the US

[gadget1]

Hi,
Where I'm from we don't need to boil water from streams/bores/springs. Ok, if I'm to get water from a dam or a river beneath where cattle are grazing i'd be sure to boil/treat it.

I keep hearing people talking about water treatment on this forum.  Will I need to filter/treat water from streams/springs, etc. when ring trails i Colorado, Utah, etc?  I'm thinking of riding the Colorado Trail and some other areas around the Rockies and midwest.

And it seems to me that firstneed or drinksafe filters are the way to go

thanks
d

[cjdunn]

I treat or filter all water sources in the backvcountry unless I am 100% sure it has no chance for surface contamination.  Having Giardia does that to you.

[JRA]

Hi,
Where I'm from we don't need to boil water from streams/bores/springs. Ok, if I'm to get water from a dam or a river beneath where cattle are grazing i'd be sure to boil/treat it.

I keep hearing people talking about water treatment on this forum.  Will I need to filter/treat water from streams/springs, etc. when ring trails i Colorado, Utah, etc?  I'm thinking of riding the Colorado Trail and some other areas around the Rockies and midwest.

And it seems to me that firstneed or drinksafe filters are the way to go

thanks
d

Many people never treat the water they drink, but the risk of contaminated water definitely exists. 
Filtering or chemical treatments are just cheap insurance IMO.

FYI, Giardia can be transmitted from beaver, deer and elk too, not just cattle.

[evdog]

If I can find water coming directly out of a spring I often drink it unfiltered.  I used to drink out of small streams a lot in BC (coast); the water was usually good because stream flow originated nearby from springs and water table seepage, so a small stream has usually not flowed very far from source.  There is still some risk and I had a co worker get sick once from drinking from a small stream.  I won't even drink from small streams in SoCal where I live now.  Too much risk even with (or especially with small streams due to warm water temps and low flows).  As a stream gets bigger in size and thus further from source there is more risk of contamination from any number of sources.  Problem is you don't know what might be upstream, could be a dead animal lying in the water. 

To the OP, if you're on vacation I'd play it safe and use a filter everywhere, it would suck to have a vacation ruined by an unfortunate incident.  The one I use is a Steri-pen.  I have liked it so far though I'm not totally comfortable with relying on battery power.   

[JRA]

And it seems to me that firstneed or drinksafe filters are the way to go

thanks
d

Check out the Sawyer Squeeze filter - light and simple.
I have not used it myself, but I know of several people who have and they've been happy with it.

[evdog]

The Sawyer looks like a good option.  I'll remember that for next time I need to buy a new filter. 

[JRA]

The Sawyer looks like a good option.  I'll remember that for next time I need to buy a new filter. 

I've been told that the filter will also thread right on to standard 500ml drinking water bottle or a collapsable Platypus bottle.

[bicyclehobo]

I am with the Sawyer Squeeze folks. Minibull designs makes an adapter that allows you to screw a platypus bag or water bottle onto the 'clean' end.

https://www.minibulldesign.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=208&idcategory=

It's 15 bucks but if makes backflushing easier if you are using the platypus bags.

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

I live6 miles from CT seg 1 and bikepack 1 thru 3 and 6 a lot. Water quality is very important to me so I filter all ground water.

[Mark_BC]

Where I live in SW BC there is lots of rain so the cutbanks on the side of roads usually have ample groundwater seepage, that I just drink straight without filtering. Any surface water, i.e. a stream big enough to flow, I filter. I even drank unfiltered water from seepage in the jungles of Colombia, no problems.