Jump to content

What do you do for drinking water on wilderness fishing trips?


Tomcat

Recommended Posts

Our group has been fishing together for 30 years. Normally, our trips have been to drive-to outfitter locations where we can unload everything directly into the cabin. On many of these trips we’ve taken two 18 liter car buoys of drinking water.

 

However, this Aug, six of us are signed up for a week long walleye trip into a more remote cabin location. Everything we want/require must go into 16 foot aluminum boats and be transported over 2 portages (using a flatbed on rails). To avoid the weight and space requirements of two 18 liter car buoys of drinking water, I plan instead to take in a portable water filter, a MSR MiniWorks EX Filter – see http://www.rei.com/product/47575396.htm capable of producing 1 liter per minute. The resultant filtered water is acceptably clean of any bacteria but will still require further treatment (boiling or chlorination) to kill any viruses.

 

I’d appreciate learning how others address the provision of acceptably safe drinking water on such trips. Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We use the chlorine water treatment when we're on backcountry camping trips. Two small bottles, mix the solutions together in a water container and you've got safe drinking water in 15 minutes. You can probably pick it up at a lot of different places, I buy ours at MEC.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For my remote fishing trips, and backpacking trips I have one of these: CLICK HERE

 

Works well, packs small and light too! I've been using this for several years, and have pumped the water into a bottle and drank....never any problems.

 

dk

 

I have this same unit. It works great, isn't too big or heavy. :thumbsup_anim:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use that MSR MiniWorks EX and drink it right away. no further treatment. i have the 94 (?) ounce bladder that attaches to the bottom of it. its only 1 lpm but it goes by fast. before you know it you have 4 gallons filtered.

we used to boil water continuously, putting it in nalgene bottles and lowering them into the lake on a rope to cool them off. :wallbash:

From my research, as long as you arent filtering water in a third world country, the miniworks required no further treatment....

this is my recommendation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive used the same MSR filter for a while now. Never had a problem and never did any secondary type of treatment. Great point on the drink crystals if you have to boil or use the tablets its helps out alot. I bring gatorade powder....helps in the morning after campfire antics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Chlorine Dioxide treatment that Setomonkey mentions, IMHO is superior to filtering or chlorine/iodine tablets. You simply have to mix the CLO2 solution with the second solution (a weak acid)...after a relatively short wait for mixing and treatment, an entire carboy will be ready for consumption (rather than going through the time consuming and tiring motions of manually filtering large volumes of water). Unless the lake in question has a very high level of suspended solids, you'll won't even need your filter in the first place. The free chlorine that is produced not only kills bacteria but protozoa (such as cryptosporidium) and viruses and since it is short-lived does not leave any unpleasant taste the way iodine tablets do.

 

More info...

 

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail....D=1174502420771

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto on the MSR filters. I've had two different models over the years and tehy work great. Never been sick. I don't use any secondary treatment, just pump and drink.

Edited by Raf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a much much better solution....

 

Boil the water well... let it cool a bit and run it through a brita... its what we do all the time up at camp and on our flyins... its easy and your not ingesting any chemicals...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the majority of lakes and rivers around here, I don't worry about it. If I get thirsty, I scoop up a cupful and drink. Done that for years and years and never had it bother me. If I'm not carrying a cup, I stick my face in and suck up what I need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a unit I have used in the past for remote canoe trips into Algonquin Park.

 

http://www.purwaterfilter.com/purguidpursy.html. Quite effective in removing 99.9% of all impurities, including viruses.

 

Also remember, any illness that you would pick up ie: "beaver fever" ( a virus) will not show for several weeks after your trip, and by that time, you will have a difficult time remembering where you picked up the virus.

 

Always use boiled water to clean your dishes, rinsing or washing in the lake water could have the same effect as drinking unfiltered water.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an MSR Miniworks as well and have had no issues drinking water after putting it through the filter. I have had the rate of flow reduced by not cleaning off the filter part with the scrubbing pad, however. Make sure you clean it between trips and don't put the intake near the bottom or close to shore.

 

Jon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events

    No upcoming events found

×
×
  • Create New...