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Yep that hydrapak thingy is one option, the thing to check is what it actually filters and what you can do with it. The ones that fit the PET softdrink bottles are bloody handy, as you can squeeze the water out of the bottle for cooking or the like (doing teeth etc or filling other water bottles are other uses).
I never have. But I look a little bit upstream to check for a dead possum. Never had any issues so far so probably won't change until I make a silly decision and get the shits.
Usual common sense applies, anything that looks like a tarn, a wallow or black/brown is no good. anything else that flows clear is good enough for me.
I never have (60+ years), haven’t had a problem but am considering carrying some sort of filter. There’s a lot more lazy dirty fuckers out and about these days who don’t consider where they piss or shit. The one river I’m circumspect about is the Clarence, been quite a few cases of Giardia from Lake Tennyson/ Leaderdale area.
The water up there is mint! If it’s rained and is stained then obviously filter. If there are people in the creek at the hut then take water from above them? Go to MD outdoors next to macpac and get some water purification tabs if you’re worried about it. Weigh nothing and work quickly. Most contaminants water down pretty quickly in flowing water. Just don’t drink from standing water or if there have been animals walking around in it without filtering or purifying water
I've never filtered or sterilised water in NZ but I'm careful that the water looks OK and there aren't any dead animals in the creek. However, when traveling in Asia, I carried two waterbottles: put 2 drops of household bleach per litre and leave for a while, and drink from the other water bottle (which had 2 drops of bleach in it previously). A lot cheaper than special tablets. The taste of the bleach dissipates over a short time and the water becomes no worse than Christchurch tap water.
@Jus. After spending considerable time on Molesworth and St James over the last forty years the Upper Clarence is a known hotspot for Giardia. Never had it but a bit weary of it in that area, Upper Clarence.
I’ve never worried about boiling water when it comes to streams but I am at huts.
Recently we did a school trip, 30 odd kids into a hut out the back of Wanaka where it clearly said don’t drink the hut water without boiling it… well… a couple of kids didn’t pay attention to instructions and were committing during the night.
They were reasonably fine the next day on the walk out
For the weight of it and peace of mind I carry a sawyer filter screwed onto a 750ml bottle, if there's even the slightest doubt in my mind I'll use it.
I tried tablets but they gave me a crook gut which seems to defeat the purpose.
Was a fairly dry arrangement on a Stewart Is. trip a year ago and was caught short for water during a two day hunt away from camp. Resorted to digging wee ponds in barely trickling creeks and sucking on anything remotely damp that I came across. All together, very dodgy but was fine for the rest of the trip till three days after arriving back home. Ended up living on tea and Wine biscuits for about a week as my stomach would launch anything else remotely resembling solid food. As for the other end, well, all I can say is that it was beyond rank. Had all the hallmarks of a Giardia infestation. Wasn’t all bad though, lost 5kg.
Only been crook like that once before back in the eighties in Fiordland. One of those situations where you need to constantly access whether you put your ass on the toilet or your face. If I was lucky, I’d spew on the way to the toilet, negating the need for last minute decision making when I got there.
Anyway, should be all good for another 35 years or so!!
What @rupert said.
I travelled for years and targeted out of the way places - drinking any water was risky and bottled water was never an option.
Use bleach. Cheap, safe and super effective
Only use regular, unscented chlorine bleach that is suitable for disinfection and sanitization as indicated on the label. The label may say that the active ingredient is 6 or 8.25% of sodium hypochlorite.
Do not use scented, color safe, or bleaches with added cleaners. If you can, if the water is dirty / cloudy, let it settle and also filter it through a clean cloth, paper towel etc.
I was "tramping" on a wee island of the coast of Victoria in Oz - where there apparently are Hog Deer , but I can not say that with any certainty.
Any way - it was seriously hot , and I needed water so drank out of a cow pond - filtered the green liquid through my folded hanky. It sure didnt taste great , but I didnt get anything untoward in the parasite range .
How I hate people who can hunt all day and not need water ....
1 bout of gardia is all it takes
Boil it , chuck tablet in it
Think of shitting through a Straw for 6 weeks is worth it
Boil it, pill it , fk it , it's worth it
I had giardiasis in China. As above, not nice. One dose of metronidazole sorted it out after a couple of weeks of misery.
An indication of how much fun it was from the CDC:
- Diarrhea
- Gas
- Foul-smelling, greasy stools
- Stomach cramps or pain
- Upset stomach or nausea
- Vomiting
I'm more careful now!
U can't see Gardua
It doesn't look brown, stained or anything it just looks fkn uncomrfatable about 3 days later. But hey was it 5 of 6 shots make mh day. Tell us how long us how long j shat through s
A straw like a herron.
50c and 30 mins for tablets to work
I've filtered green water through a sovk filled with sand in army makes it look good , boil it treat it if u get lucky 99% of times, 1 bout will let u change your attitude, m8 purifying tablets is ljkd < 50c for a litre , fk I'll buy u some ic j can't afford it. Seen blokes with Bulgaria et. In army. Hunting m8 got gardia in Feb after telling MD its OK to drink water, k pulled it anc boiled it( ki hate coffee don't like tea ) but .. I don't Ike shitting like a herron
Jeez spelling went for crap on that 1
Just don't do it