[forest gnome]

I was hoping for some discussion/ comments on these questions. How many here have actually gotten sick? Have any studies on mountain streams/lake water been done in washington state? Recently? Other studies? do the brita cartridges filter out the bugs? I like to use filters for getting lake water, or when hiking w/ a partner.but have never had a problem with stream water , and usually don't use one when going light or by myself. the one i take now is the sweetwater brand. but am going to an in-line filter (gravity) THANKS YAA'LL I forgot to search the archives but will try SEARCHED and found some great input/ thanks again.

[Tom]

I say be "responcible" and filter or treat (don't forget to use treated water to your wash hand and rinse with). Offers more protection and weighs less than

[MtnGoat]

I've had it, and it sucks big time. A couple years later, my wife got it as well from one of the inlets to Hyas lake.

[tasslehouf]

I got a nasty bug and was it ever miserable I say treat all the water you're not boiling for food. After that episode I wanted to treat all stream crossings before I stepped in them!

[marzsit]

from 1976 to around 1985, hiking in the cascades and olympics we rarely treated or boiled our water. standard procedure back then was to look for a fast-flowing, small creek or stream and avoid any stagnant water like lake or pond outlets. heck, when i was in 4th grade our class spent a week at waskowitz in north bend. when we went on hikes in the camp we were encouraged by the camp counselors to drink from every creek we passed olong the way, and they gave us cups to carry with us. no filters, no iodine or chlorine.... i must have been very lucky because i've never gotten sick, then or now. dozens of times i've witnessed people washing their dishes and clothes directly in creeks, using plenty of detergent and having a great time... it's the human presence in the backcountry that is the source of the water pollution, so in theory if the area is really remote then the water could be safer to drink than, say, the water in the duwamish river.... no guarantees however, and hepatitis can destroy your liver. these days i filter all water and also carry a polar pure iodine bottle as a backup. i also use a sweetwater, and they sometimes have problems with the pump plungers snapping off. and no, water pitcher-style filter cartridges (brita, culligan, pur, etc..) won't work for outdoor use. they are basically carbon absorbers. they remove chlorine and odors but the tiny bugs pass right through.

[Slugman]

The fact that some people are immune to giardia does not give any protection to those who are not. Water filters meant for backcountry use are light, easy to use and reliable. I have never heard of anyone who used one who got sick. My sister in law got giardia once, and to hear her describe the symptoms and the cure would make you think twice about taking any chances. I use a sweetwater or boil method, whichever is more convenient at the time, and I have never had a problem. I am not going to risk getting giardia just to find out if I might be immune and could then leave the filter at home. The risk/reward ratio is no good from my perspective. My filter has never broken, but if it did, I would attempt to finish the trip using the boiling method as a backup plan. Both methods assume the water is unpolluted by human or industrial waste, which cannot be completely removed or neutralized by such simple methods.

[Steve]

To me they are a must. I got sick on the lake water on Waptus many years ago, bacteria most likely. I woke up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache and subsequent fierce diahrea We did not have filters back then and my friend, "I thought these two year old iodine tablets were still good." was not informed enough to know to throw those things away after one season. I always carry a filter now.

[forest gnome]

Looks like I 'll be filtering , and only occosionally drinking from the streams that I feel are safe. I only started filtering the last 4-5 years. Cant people learn to not wash in the creeks? I think if I see this I will just scoop the food particles out and spread it on their tent. Thanks for the input/ I'll tell my partner to be careful w/ the pump!

[Gordy Comer]

You don't need to filter. Jeez, this is one more sign of all of us getting worried about the boogyman, through exposure of the media and someone that knew someone who got sick. How many of these backwoods, I drank the water and got sick stories were really from drinking the water. Some may be folks who started out from home sick. hygiene and using your brain plays into this. OF COURSE you won't drink from a stream downstream of other campers. Thats why you go for water upstream of everyone else. I was on a college trip in 1971, camped on Mosquito Creek, on the coast. This one guy was sick to his stomach all the way to La Push, didn't want to miss the trip, went anyway. (thanks a lot). He made others sick by washing in the creek. We didn't get it, we walked up aways and got water. Is a water filter something we can leave at home and hike lighter? I read a very good report on the subject in Adventure Magazine, June 2002. The author, "a retired biomedical engineer" , "spent 15 years obsessively researching Giardia in the Sierra Nevada". He has hiked the Sierra since 1959, never filtered. never sick. "Up to seven per sent of the U.S. poputation at any given time is unknowingly infected with guardia, personal hygiene is a common camping casualty. In other words, don't blame the water; blame the grungy hands of your five friends all fumbling about in the same bag of gorp". Do you wash your hands every time you use the toilet? How about when you camp? If you ask, I'll send you a photocopy of the article. See you on the trail. (or drinking from a fast moving stream from melted snow)

[MtnGoat]

All I know is according to poop samples from both of us at the differing times, we in fact had the nasty bug. I was in the it's a myth school of thought too, until I spent a week horking and crapping at the same time with a blinding headache and fever, too sick to eat and loving every minute of all the dry heaves. If'n one wishes to risk a week of the most misery I've ever had in my life, (and in some cases chronic recurrence) because a filter weighs too much or is too much trouble, hey, go for it. It's definitely your choice wether to roll the dice on the mythical horrendous poop blasting.

[salish]

I drank from creeks from my earliest memories (1957?) until about three years ago, and never got sick. I started boiling or filtering water about three years ago based on what many people told me and what EPA and other entities reported. My wife works at the State Public Health Lab and tells many stories of people getting ill from drinking unfiltered water. I sort of straddle the fence on this issue. I know folks who drink unfiltered water and never get sick, and we're in agreement that the drinker of said water is probably carrying giardia. If it doesn't bother them, that's fine, but what scares me then is infecting other people. My understanding from medical professionals is that most hikers get sick from bacteria passed along from another hiker who has improperly washed their hands, or not washed them at all, after taking care of his business, thereby passing along the bug. I would love to return to those days of drinking from clear fast moving creeks, but I'm just a little too worried about catching the bug and having adverse reactions to it.

[Timber Cruiser]

[-lol-]

[kleet]

[MtnGoat]

Good one 2DRX! Can you make the stuff being eaten blue? (like water supposedly is? ) As for taking a leak in the water, years ago I saw a guy peeing into Chiwaukum lake. Not usually one to upbraid strangers of unknown disposition, in this case I lost it and found myself chewing this guy out. He said he figured since all water goes into a watershed anyway, he figured he was helping by diluting it in the lake to begin with! We were extremely happy we'd been getting our water from a side creek entering the lake, no insurance there either, but it felt better after seeing what we could have been drinking for certain, diluted or not.