Water is one of the most important elements in your backpack, and one of the worst. You need to get energy. You need muscle aches, headache, and always so uncomfortable that it is not fun without your hiking experience.
If you can avoid bringing too much water, enjoy a much lighter package. To find their ability to clean water and know how and when to treat a valuable skill. Pathogens can sometimes be found in the water, which seems certain. A majority of the water that we find in the openis safe, especially at high altitudes and if you are close to the original source. Always remember that first and err on the side of caution, if you do not know about you. It is the water look clear? Do not worry too much about small animals in water. Worry more if there is life in the water, and ask why.
Some experts say that access to running water is safer than still water, but studies have found the water of the sea, because the UV to be the cleanest,Sun kill bacteria on the surface. With the absorption of water from a lake or pond, the water beneath the surface, but near the surface. Check the speed of water flowing in and out of the lake. Is there any bearing animals or other animals that might make the water dirty?
A large part of the answer to the threat of Giardia is exaggerated. A popular science article on giardia was written by Robert L. Rockwell, PhD. It 'called, Giardia lamblia and Giardia, with special attention toSierra Nevada. Bob Rockwell is an active mountaineer who has climbed his first trip in the Sierra Nevada, built in 1952 to Mt. Whitney, and repeats this climb several times a year. She has a degree in physics from UC Berkeley and a doctorate in aerospace engineering (biomechanics) from Stanford.
The article is informative and so well that his first seven sections are as follows:
Ask the average person outside of Giardia lamblia or giardiasis, andYou have certainly heard of. Almost always, they are clearly wrong, however, is informed about the prevalence of the organism in the wild waters, and the severity of the disease, if required.
With the advent of the Internet, the amount of information that can easily be found on this topic is voluminous. Unfortunately, most of them are flawed in important respects, as unfounded, anecdotal or merely quoting other unsubstantiated and anecdotal articles. Official sources, such asexercise many informative publications by the U.S. government are not immune from this criticism.
This document is the result of a critical distillation of relevant articles, but only of the scientific, peer-reviewed or otherwise professional and trustworthy sources.
A conclusion of this work is that you can indeed contract giardiasis on visits to the Sierra Nevada, but it is not out of the water. To drink so freely and with confidence: personal hygiene is more importantavoiding giardiasis than treating the water.
First, an excerpt from a doctor much appreciated Desert wrote:
"Over the last few years have raised alarms frantic about the dangers of exaggerated concern of this parasite giardia. Government agencies, particularly the United States National Park Service and Forest Service, have hundreds of gallons of filtered water from rivers desert, has found one or two bodies (much less than enough to be infectious), and builtgarish signs proclaiming the water is "dangerous."
And another of the researchers who examined the health authorities in all 50 states and searched the medical literature looking for signs that it is a significant threat to outdoor museums giardiasis:
Neither the department nor the health surveillance of medical literature supports the widespread perception that giardiasis is a significant risk to backpackers in the United States. In some respects, this situation (the threat to beachgoersof a) shark attack: an extremely rare event that the public and press have seemingly devoted inappropriate attention.
The full article is available at the website listed at the beginning of the quote.
Water Pathogens are disease-causing bacteria, viruses and protozoa can be obtained from contaminated water. Protozoa are hard-shelled, single-celled parasites, or cysts, the bandwidth from 2 to 15 microns in size. Giardia lamblia cysts is one of the most common water-borneParasites in the United States. Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis has similar symptoms, including diarrhea, fatigue, fever, weight loss, nausea and vomiting. Bacteria are smaller than protozoa and are in the order of 0.2 to 10 microns. These include E. coli and salmonella. Viruses are even smaller at 0.004 to 0.1 microns, and cause diseases such as hepatitis.
During the trips at lower elevations, you must be careful, man-made contaminants fromAgriculture and industry, including herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers.
No matter which water treatment Ensure your hands are clean, especially after going to the bathroom. This is one of the most important points in this article. Unclean hands can often transfer microorganisms to food or water, and water is blamed for the result.
Six main methods of cleaning water are available, and there are options easy for everyone.
1 Kitchen
The kitchen isThe oldest and simplest way to clean water. A rolling boil destroy pathogens. It can be argued to focus microorganisms, which is less of a tumor to kill, but it is difficult to measure in the field. Make sure the water is really cooking. A rolling boil is large bubbles, do not stir the pot, a few small bubbles at the bottom of the pan. To be safe, bring water to boil for 3 to 5 minutes. As a general rule, add a minutes Cooking time altitude of 1,000 metersabove sea level. If you use water for cooking, there is no time, the weight of fuel, or costs. But the boiling water for drinking is slow and cumbersome, and adds to the weight of fuel in your backpack. The actual weight of boiling water will have to bear the weight of extra fuel you.
2 Iodine
This is the easiest, most compact and affordable for many years. Kills many bacteria and viruses, but not Cryptosporidium. Fortunately, Cryptosporidiumstill quite rare in North America, natural water sources. Two tablets are used per gallon or liter of water (32 ounces). A liter is about 95% of a liter. If you think the water may be heavily contaminated, a double dose or contact time. In general, if you're in a hurry, take a double dose of chemical in half and the contact time. If you want a better flavor, halve the dose and double the exposure time. Take in cold water, the tablets are working longer to wait, so for the entire time recommended. After addingtablets for water, have to wait until 30 minutes before drinking. If you drink, the wait time and the hassle of water, iodine will not work to disable the pathogens in the stomach.
The most common type of iodine tablets in drinking water of the United States' water. "The bottle of 50 tablets, which can treat up to 25 liters of water. The suggested retail price is $ 6.95. The package says:" No unpleasant ", but most people would not agree at all, even though the taste can bring backpleasant memories of camping as a teenager. Even the brand Aqua drink sells a version of the tablets that come with a second tablet to neutralize the flavor. The proposed cost for the combination of iodine tablets and neutralizer is $ 10.95. This second "PA Plus" pill, the color of iodine taste, smell and the brown water is neutralized vitamin C. You simply have to wait until the iodine has done its work before the addition of ascorbic acid tablets. It can crush their own vitamin C and pastethe treated water. Remember to add only enough to remove water. Your body can handle more vitamin C, but too much can cause diarrhea. After the iodine has done its job, you can also drink powder instead of vitamin C in order to mask the taste of iodine.
Experts are divided on the amount of iodine is too much for the body. Iodine is important for thyroid function. Often it is the salt can be added, since water and food are sometimes the lack of iodine. That said, the drinking-Aqua-PackagingInfo says: "It should not be used continuously for emergency short-term or limited only .." Some literature recommends the use of iodine tablets for 6 weeks or less. Although iodine is rapidly metabolized and excreted from the body, you should not use iodine tablets if you are allergic to iodine, an overactive thyroid, or pregnant.
Iodine tablets are available in a brown bottle to his face temperature fluctuations Main. Keep the tablets will help you stay dry longerstable. The tablets are sealed up to four years and seem to work faster when they are fresh. Construct exposed to air, water or electricity, but because they are inexpensive, can easily be replaced each year. The manufacturer of the tablets against the proposed amendment for a smaller bottle. So, with this warning when you switch, be sure to use a thick brown bottle containing the tablets dry. The original cotton in the bottle to absorb the moisture thatbe present. If you use the new package the tablets in a smaller bottle, try to keep some 'of cotton.
If you treat the water in a container with a lid, let the treated water to clean the threads of the cap.
Of course, do not remove the particles of boiling water with iodine tablets or chlorine-based systems or UV rays. So if the water looks murky, you can use a pre-filter, which is as simple as a coffee filter or cloth began.
TheWeight of a bottle of iodine tablets is 1.1 ounces. If you purchase the PA Plus neutralizes the taste and smell, you get twice the weight. If you repackage the pills in a single DRAM (8.1 oz) bottle of Brown, the weight of the bottle is only 0.2 grams and 40 tablets to maintain, for a total weight of just 0.3 ounces. If you add your own vitamin C and you want to keep the weight down, keep in mind that small ziplock bags of powder are in the closing of resealable bags and make it more difficult to obtain,to operate. You can find and use the smaller, lighter plastic container you.
Another treatment of iodine is iodine crystals. This product is available in the U.S. under the brand name "Polar Pure". About 30 small crystals of iodine crystal in a 3.2 oz brown glass bottle come. If the bottle is full of water, the weight is 4.9 ounces. The retail price is $ 12.95. Add water to the original bottle just for an hour in water before placing them on the needsto be treated. Of course, this treatment can do while you wander. If you pour from the bottle of iodine crystals remain in the bottle. You can use 2 to 6 liters of treated water at a time. After adding the solution to the treated water, wait 20 minutes before drinking.
To treat water that is colder than 68 degrees F will require more time. A hot solution of the original mixture from the bottle has a higher concentration of iodine. Closures will be in a lessand more water can be treated before refilling bottle of Polar Pure. You can place the bottle in his pocket or under the hot sun. Dosing instructions, as well as heat reactive ink on the bottle to say how much liquid from the bottle, pour in water to disinfect.
Pure iodine crystals are stable and easily soluble in water, but evaporates quickly. The Polar Pure bottle should always be filled with water and tightly closed. Water that has been treated should be closesealed, too. After the necessary contact time can drink powder, vitamin C added the flavor to be enjoyable. Polar Pure is unlimited. One bottle treats up to 2,000 liters of water, so it is very inexpensive. Some hikers have long used the same bottle for the entire journey.
3 Chlorine Dioxide
Additional chemical treatment of water, chlorine dioxide. The most common brand is "Aqua Mira." The lightest version of a package of two one-ounceBottles, which have a total weight of 3.1 ounces, including a cap blend. The retail price is $ 13.95. This kit to treat up to 30 gallons (120 liters) of water. The benefits of Aqua Mira are its light weight, low cost, compactness and good taste as well as its ability to kill pathogens such as Cryptosporidium. Chlorine dioxide is treated municipal water supplies around the world, and is known to a Spurlockerer of bacteria (E. coli, salmonella, legionella), viruses (rolio,rotovirus, hepatitis) and protozoa (Giardia and Cryptosporidium). Oxidation kills pathogens by degrading their cell walls. There is no chlorine in Aqua Mira. Although chlorine dioxide has the word in its name, the chemical structures of the two completely different substances. A part of the kit contains 2% stabilized chlorine dioxide in an aqueous solution containing phosphoric acid and B activator.
For the treatment of a liter of water, place 7 drops of A and 7 dropsPart B cap in the mixture. When the water is cloudy or colored, use 15 drops of each. They left the mixture for 5 minutes and then add a liter of water. Stir to mix. Let stand for 15 minutes. If the water is very cold, cloudy, or colored, let stand for 30 minutes. Some people report a smell of chlorine. The promotional material, and some testers have reported that the treatment improves the taste of water. Chlorine dioxide does not discolor the water. The kit includes four years shelf lifeeven after it is opened. Chlorine dioxide is available in compressed form to the brand Aqua Mira and some other brands, but it takes much longer to use.
4 Filtration
You can filter the treated water quickly, without any chemical taste. They work by trapping pathogens in a microporous screen. Some viruses are too small to take. Only filters with an array of iodine are able to kill all viruses. All filters should be cleaned at some point, sometimes on the field. Filter Lifedetermined by the amount and size of particles in water. The filters can also block the growth of organisms in the filter medium. Some filters can be rinsed again. Some may be dry-cleaned. Some need a replacement filter. Ceramic filters can be cleaned and may take a long time, but make sure you do not break, especially when it is cold. As water filters, has a device to remove the Environmental Protection Agency standard of 99.99% of all identifiable meetBacteria, protozoa and viruses. The finer filters usually means slower and more difficult to pump.
The filters can be as small and simple as coal "McNett / Aqua Mira Emergency Frontier" is activated filters used to filter up to 20 liters of water. It's like a straw is used, it weighs less than an ounce and retails for about $ 10. Lightweight "bottle-filter" of companies as "Bota of Boulder", "H2O On Demand" and "Katadyn Exstream" are about 5-8 grams of light andinexpensive at around $ 20 to $ 50 List some incredibly high to remove impurities and microorganisms, including 99.99% removal of Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Of course, these filters are not free flowing. You have to suck the water through.
Pump filters are well known brands such as "Timberline", "Katadyn", "First Need" and "MSR / Sweetwater." You can easily and inexpensively as the Timberline Eagle to 5.6 grams and $ 25. This filter is one of the fastest and works well in wateris not difficult to particles. The Katadyn Hiker is not lighter than 11 grams, but it is popular because it is so easy to use. It retails for $ 60. The Katadyn Mini Ceramic Microfilter is one of the easiest to 8 ounces and is known for its quality. The price is $ 90.
Backpackers like gravity filters because of their obvious advantage of having filtered water without pumps. The Katadyn Base Camp weighs 12.1 ounces and has a suggested retail price of $ 65.
5UV devices
UV light is more popular because they take effect quickly kills all microorganisms. The ultraviolet light destroys the DNA, which prevents them from multiplying. The first models were expensive and not work with a variety of containers for water, but that's all changed. The "SteriPEN Adventurer" weighs 3.6 ounces and comes with two CR123 batteries. Rechargeable batteries are also available. Nickel-metal hydride batteries are recommended for the coldWeather use. This style or disposable lithium batteries will give you more than 200 applications. The fugitive can purify a quart of water in 48 seconds. The cost is $ 129.95.
The "MUW water filter" or "AquaBobber," Meridian Design, Inc., weighs 2.4 ounces and costs $ 49.99. It works with an internal battery that attaches magnetically attaching the door to almost any external battery with AAA, AA, C and D dimensions can be charged. The unit floats and can be used inalmost any container, including bottled water, open standards. A liter of water can be processed in 90 seconds. You may be charged for 20 treatments.
Bring the water gently, until the light tells you it's over. UV Cleaner does not work in turbid water, so if this is the only water you have, you must pre-filter, not until the sky is cloudy. You must also ensure that not a UV machine.
6 Sodium hypochlorite (bleach)
A large number of agencies, includingthe Red Cross, she said that normal bleaching agents, such as Clorox or Purex, the water can be treated in an emergency. The Clorox site lists the following instructions:
"Disinfection of drinking water (drinking water)
When the boiling water for 1 minute is not practicable, safe drinking water, using this product. Removed before the addition of the product, all suspended solids by filtration or to sell on the floor. Decant the clarified contaminated water into a clean container and add 8Drops of this product to a liter of water (2 drops to 1 liter). Allow the treated water for 30 minutes before use. Water should be treated appropriately a slight smell of chlorine. Otherwise, repeat the dosage and then feel the water another 15 minutes. The purified water can be made palatable by pouring between clean containers several times. For cloudy water, use 16 drops of this product per gallon of water (4 drops per liter). If no odor of chlorine is clear after 30 minutes, repeatDose and wait another 15 minutes. "
The recommended dosage is treated water city, lake and stream water, you probably have a greater amount. Only use bleach that contains 5.25% to 6% sodium hypochlorite, and has no perfumes, dyes or other additives. Be sure to read the label. Treatment with bleaching agents should be considered as a method of emergency. Despite countless websites, the list method of treatment, the data do not show activity against giardia,Cryptosporidium and other pathogens. And those sources do not list the long-term impact on the body.
There is a wealth of information on water treatment by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control.
Now we have a variety of options for water treatment equipment. Their region and style of the camp will tell you what the water treatment is right for you. Slightly uphill. Have fun.
| Price : $88.95
