Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Water Filtration

Does anyone know of a good UV Water Filtration product that is reasonably priced?


Kent

None of those products are cheap, but are well worth the price. I use a basic Steripen in the Sierras and in Europe.

http://www.steripen.com/

I ran across this website the other day:

http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/uv-w...ters-1704387492

I have a SteriPEN Traveler Mini Water Purifier sitting new in a box that I've never used, not sure if I will use it after reading this article (need to look into the validity of the claims in the article above).

Thanks for the info.

$36 shipped
use code NXR4809W
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/steripen-traveler-mini-water-purifier~p~3543c/
Code expires tonight I think.

Just so people know, there are quite a few who dip and drink -- untreated.

Here are old water discussions...
(Drink untreated, or filter/treat/boil/etc.)
  Water and Giardia around Mt. Whitney
  60,000 Liters of Water Consumed -- Untreated
  Filter question (links to studies, etc.)

I am one. Ok, I treated with chlorine one time. Sunrise Creek, August 2014, in deference to the still water and dead fish lying around. After that though, I got a kick out of the Boy Scouts who watched in horror as I dipped and sipped from Duck Creek, and then at Purple Lake offered to go for help when they found me snoozing by the outlet. No thanks, I said as I dipped again and offered them my water bottle. Didn't see em after that. I think they bailed due to protein deficiency from relying on filtered water.

I'm a highly selective dip and sipper, treating roughly half of my water. The new Sawyer filters are so light and easy its not even a big deal anymore, just plumb it inline with your hydration system. For family trips I use drops in large batches. But I do enjoy the freedom and wilderness feel of drinking cold fresh water from an obviously low risk source. Its liberating and perfect simplicity.

In heavily used areas like Whitney or any popular camp area I take the extra precaution, besides, the appeal isn't the same knowing hundreds or even thousands of people camped there a season. The greatest risk seems to come from cattle, so I assume they've mucked up all water downstream. That's just my personal risk/reward tradeoff level, but a lot of people can't get past the mentality of treating every drop like it's poison. Do some research and keep an open mind.

Forgot to include links to more links - most new research info on Sierra Nevada water quality is coming out of UC Davis, and supports what Bob Rockwell has been writing about the high country wild areas being safe, and the popular lower areas not so much. The risk is correlated with the amount people, and definitely correlated to stock use. No surprise. Dip and sip wisely.

Summary from Mono Co SAR

Nature Notes - Water Quality Links

Yeah, its called the sun and its free. Seriously, the water near the surface of lakes gets hours of steripen-like treatment every day. It's counter-intuitive, people tend to think moving water is always the best, but the data does not support that in all cases. Of course a stagnant pond full of algae is another matter, but the upper part of a clear lake is basically solar UV treated. SPF-99.9999, baby.

Used a steripen on my summit last year. Worked fast...just don't use it with a blue Nalgene bottle because you can't see the blue light...make you think it's not working

Your Sierra cup. Just hold it out in direct sunlight as you sip.

Spent the day today using my 600 ml Snow Peak cup, dipping from the Merced River in Yosemite above Vernal and Nevada falls, and in Little Yosemite Valley along the JMT. I filled a quart and a half using the cup at the spring along the trail, which lasted me all the way up and back down.

That 600 ml Snow Peak really works for finding pure, clean water.

My buddy carried at least 3 quarts in his pack. Guess who was more worn out at the end of the day.

You're just in better shape, Steve.

The nice composting toilet there at LYV does a lot to protect the water quality, and its probably just fine downstream. But with thousands of rookie campers there each season, its just not as appealing to me. Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I'd take this one extra step after dipping a bottle downstream.

Of course many on this board do not believe it is necessary to treat the Sierra water. However, I am from the school of "an ounce of prevention", and I would gladly pay $100.00 to avoid a case of the "green apple quick step".

I use a Camelback UV filter. Cost is $99.00 at REI, or perhaps less from another online retailer. It takes one minute to treat .75 L. The UV filter will treat many many times on a single charge, and is charged with USB. I had my first unit for only 3 years, when the button started acting "wonky". I called Camelback, and they said send it back. It has a lifetime warranty. I sent it back, they sent me a new one. Gotta love Camelback.

I normally hike with one liter in my backpack, and when that is gone just dip, treat, and drink. If hiking Whitney I follow this procedure until I get to the switch backs, and then I stop and treat two liters (bladder capacity), treat another .75 Liters in my camelback container, and I'm set to go. I also carry a 12 oz gatorade, and either drink it, or fill it with treated water if I have already consumed the contents.

As the saying goes, everyone should "hike their own hike." As yet another personal example to share for consideration, there's one spot on the heavily used Whitney main trail where I personally feel comfortable dipping and sipping - the spring that is often flowing (but unlikely late this year) at the start of the switchbacks, a few turns up. This spring is above the crowds at Trail Camp and appears to be protected from hiker contamination.

Its a shame to miss out on the enjoyment of a quick fresh cold drink of untreated water because of the myth that every drop of water is poison. I wonder, would this folklore still be considered an "urban myth" in the wilderness?

Wilderness Myth

There is a spring on the trail, but its not at the switchers. If that were a spring, it would not turn on and off so quickly in response to snowfall and melt. Its just surface runoff from the snowfield immediately above. It gives the appearance of a spring because it runs under the talus in places, giving the appearance of emerging from below grade.

The real spring is just below Outpost Camp and feeds the stream at the first crossing when entering Bighorn Park from the east. It is recognizable because it flows all out of proportion to winter snow and current pack/melt conditions, and its source looks like solid rock a little upstream of the crossing.

Yes, I can see it I found the pic at:

This Page

Where it is linked from the following text:

Spring, south side of Bighorn Park A 3.7 10,360 Spring from the north slopes of Candlelight Peak (photo)

(Also did not see a copyright notice.)


I also found it Here with nice shots of all the usual water suspects courtesy of Some Guy.:

[img]https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockwellb/509961614/in/album-72157600246922628/[/img]