Ian Ray has already jumped in with one solution - filters. There are plenty on the market and most do an acceptable job. Main advantages of filters? Instant water (no wait time) and no chemical taste/ingestion. Disadvantages of filters? Usually a mechanical system that may fail or clog rendering the filter useless; higher weight than chemical filtration; most filters do not treat viruses (that requires water purification/chemicals). Because of the possibility for filters to clog or break, I always carry chemicals. Some filters are field maintainable/cleanable - that is a plus.
Chemical methods are different - these chemically purify the water. My current favorite is Aquamira. Chemical purification methods are usually light weight and dependable. You do have a wait time that ranges from minutes to hours depending on the dosage, temperature of the water source and quality of the water. Since I always used to carry chemicals anyway as a back-up, I stopped using filters altogether and now just bring chemicals. Most US water sources in remote areas can be adequately treated with either method. In places where there is a lot of animal or human life using and contaminating the water source I usually choose chemical purification, though some fetid pools I've used have made me wish I had a filter as well! Lastly, it is possible to boil your water. In places where I can find or carry ample fuel and for modest quantities of water (solo trips in temperate conditions), this works well. I usually boil the water I need for the next day at night so that it can cool. It is important to note that simply bringing the water to a full boil is all that is required in order to treat it. There is no need to boil for any specific number of minutes. Dave On Apr 6, 11:00 pm, Ian Dickson <iandicks...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for the offer, Dave. What's your advice for getting safe > drinking water on remote trips where you can't possibly carry enough > and you have to get water from streams? > > Ian > > On Apr 6, 9:36 pm, Dave Craig <dcr...@prescott.edu> wrote: > > > > > It is that time of year again. Many of us have probably started > > planning or dreaming about a summer tour. I'd like to offer my > > commitment for the next 5 days, until midnight on Sunday, April 11th, > > to address questions from anyone who is curious about loaded touring, > > has questions about gear, or other topics relevant to traveling and > > camping by bike. Riv related content - I tour on my RBW bikes and I > > don't meet many other Riv riders on the road! > > > My motivation: I'm going through a difficult time right now with an > > aging and ill parent and I'm seeing my own opportunity for a summer > > tour slowly evaporate. I would love to have the productive distraction > > of helping others to realize their own dreams of travel by bike. I am > > not selling anything. > > > My background: I work as a professor of adventure education at a small > > southwestern college. My entire adult life has been dedicated to > > teaching others how to enjoy and travel safely in the outdoors. I am a > > League of American Bicyclists Bike Ed instructor. I have traveled > > thousands of miles as a bike tourist and have spent years of my life > > living outdoors in remote wilderness. I have a Quickbeam, a Bombadil, > > and an Atlantis. I've toured with the last two. > > > Rules of engagement and disclosure: Ask a question or questions via > > this forum or via a personal message to me. I clearly don't know > > everything and will say so when I don't know. If I don't have direct > > experience with something, I'll also say so. No BS. I expect to learn > > as well as share. As an open forum, anyone else with direct experience > > on a topic should feel free to weigh in or answer a question. If I get > > a question via email that I can't answer, I'll post it back to the > > group after asking permission from the sender. Please, don't answer a > > question with info that you've only heard or read about. Internet > > forums are already too full of that kind of second or third hand > > advice. That's one of the problems with getting good answers to bike > > touring questions. However, if you know of a great resource that's > > relevant (like RBW), please share it. I will try to check in on the > > RBW Owners Bunch no less than three times a day in order to answer > > questions. > > > Moderator Jim: The RBW forum is the only internet forum I care to > > participate in. I appreciate the quality of thought and the civil > > discourse I find here. If you believe that my offer isn't an > > appropriate use of this forum, let me know and I'll retract my offer > > without a fuss. > > > Professor Dave -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
