We choice to filter/purify our water in attempts of not getting sick, but reality is you are more likely to get sick due to poor hygiene/fecal contamination, etc than water. Filters are over rated and over valued IMHO. Hand sanitizer > Filter.

If you need clean water when there is no such thing on a RTW trip I would bring the following 3 things.

A pair of thin dress socks (cheap, 1$ pair at Wal Mart) or panty hose. Place this over the mouth of the water bottle and submerge the bottle. The nylon will not allow water in unless air is being pushed out, so squeeze the bottle. This acts as a “pre filter” to get rid of the “floaties”. Prefiltering is huge and can be as simple as a bandana in a Ziploc.

A “filter”: there are plenty of options in the market. For me I want a gravity filter that is self cleaning. Self cleaning means it never needs to be replaced. Best on the market is the cartridge from MSR AutoFlow Gravity Microfilter. You can buy the whole thing but all you need is the cartridge.

Last but not least is food grade hydrogen peroxide. Here in the US it’s 3% H202 and you need a prescription for it. (The stuff in the brown bottle that is sold over the counter is .03%.) This is the same as Iodine or Chlorine, all are diatomic but H202 doesn’t leave the bad taste and is the strongest oxidizer. You must be careful with this stuff because of this as well. Red Cross used this for a long time, don’t know if they still do.

…..You wouldn’t believe the water I have drank from. From stack cow paddies to catch agriculture run off to scooping dead mice for a spring box to finding leeches in my water bottle. Maybe I should post some pics

Just because you carry a filter doesn’t mean it will save you. 10,000 Guardia fit on the head of a needle and they are actually pretty big for evil things in your water. On your filter do you rap the “in” and “out” hoses together when you pack it up? Just a heads up.


Any vitamin C will get rid of the taste. The “nuterizer” is just vitamin C. So Emergen-C or any powder drink mix with C is great.
Been VERY VERY few cases of this and was linked to WW2 when nurses where covered in Iodine for years.

As for the necessity of water filters, I can only quote a doctor who regularly does volunteer work in Nepal. He regularly tests all the water sources for Kathmandu and they are all contaminated with fecal matter. What makes a gastro attack serious is the habit of (poor) locals who buy only a part dose of antibiotics and the bugs end up being resistant. A gastro in Nepal is always very unpeasant and you may have to walk for a week before getting medical attention in Kathmandu. It's surely best to avoid it.

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Tim ('91 R100GSPD)

The only baggage you carry should be in the panniers

Guys...nobody is saying to drink the water untreated...but IMHO, I'd take the risk if the water came from a deep bore well.

The point thats important to realize is that the water filter is one method of purifying the water, as are iodine tablets, pens, bleach, etc.

How many people who have posted here have personally travelled for a month or longer and have pumped their own water for their drinking needs during that entire trip?

When bottled water has been available it makes practical sense to take advantage of it....and when its not, the filter is my last choice due to bulk, effort, etc. I'd rather bleach and mask than sit there pumping...

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

This is not true... for a good review article please see

H Backer and J Hollowel (2000) Use of iodine for water disinfection: iodine toxicity and maximum recommended dose. Environ Health Perspect. 108(8): 679–684. (or a host of others search pubmed or similar)



If you want to get technical it mainly effects people that already have as of yet undiagnosed thyroid problems (e.g. sub-clinical symptomatology) or people who are hypersensitive to it. But the rates are high enough that i felt it my responsibility to point out any possible problems as i was speaking in a clinical means.
for more on the use of iodine as a purifier the CDC has a great summary.


That would be me! (>3.5 months)....

But it is 100% correct that water purification is only 1 step of many to avoid gastointestial problems.. there is no point in cleaning your water if you then stick the pathogens directly in your mouth via unclean hands or food or a million other things... (but that was not what this post was about).

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2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com

AND Did you pump water daily for your drinking needs during the entire 3.5 months?

I went for a year long trip...through some pretty remote parts and if there's something more prevalent than petrol in these far enough places, its bottled water.

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

Yeah several times a day too..Drink and hand/face washing.. even pumped the Bottle water when in India because it was a well known scam: that the bottled water was from the tap and just sealed correctly...

The two or three minutes in pumping the water was better then the 4-5 days of the gastro.. the only time i got really sick was when i did not wash my hands before dahl-bat (which you eat with your hands).

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2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com

I apologize, I should have said. “Been VERY few cases of this and one of the first know was linked to WW2 when nurses where covered in Iodine for years.”

But like your H Backer and J Hollowel article says, “Despite the extensive use of iodine for both pharmacologic preparations and water disinfection over the past 50 years, they are remarkably few reports of resulting clinical thyroid disorders” It also says, “By using appropriate disinfection techniques and monitoring thyroid function, most people can use iodine for water treatment over a prolonged period of time”

Like anything with prolonged use is not always a good thing. I have a better chance of punishing my liver than my thyroid gland on a long trip.

Xander is correct though, if we are getting technical, Iodine should not be used by persons with allergy to iodine, persons with active thyroid disease, or pregnant women.

And since we are getting technical, Iodine will not kill cyclospora/cyclosporiasis. This is the parasite you where mentioning Tim Wood. But due to the size it is easily removed by filtering.

IMHO carrying a pre filter, filter and a chemical treatment is your best bet. Like many other have said, you have a better chance of getting something bad due to poor hygiene.

Outside the US I find myself buying water and drinking a lot more hot beverages and . The lady and I road mountain bikes up from Panama City back home to the States on back roads as much as possible and “water” was never a problem for us. I attempted to walk from the China/Laos border following the Mekong to the South China Sea. Dumbest thing I have ever done in my life. This was called off shortly after I started due to UXO’s. I still spent 6 months in SE Asia with no “water” problems. I did treat/filter at times for the first week or so. These are the only 2 trips I have had “third world” where water wasn’t readily available and neither was a problem. The rest of the time I have been on roads and in towns.


Here in the US I have walked from GA to ME twice and Mexico to Canada twice. With over 10k miles hiked I have drank plenty of water that doesn’t come from a tap or bottle. Even though I carried them I treated/filtered very little of this water while others did every drop. I have a total BS saying, I filter with knowledge. If it is an area of poor water sources I will carry more on my back and limit my sources. I try not to drink out of things I cannot step over. I try to drink from springs or sources with flow.

I personally believe it comes down to what your body can handle and your hygiene.

I've traveled for as long as a full year, filtering virtually all my water by hand. It''s not that difficult, really--not compared to maintaining a motorcycle under trying conditions.

Filters are not the only answer, of course, but they're quite workable. Buying water is also workable, though in some areas re-sealed tap water is common. I don't care for the mess of plastic bottles, and I don't care for the expense. Still, I buy water on short trips like the one I'm on now, when neither expense nor waste stream issues predominate.

enjoy,

Mark (from Guerrero Negro)

A filter removes funk (poop), larger bugs and some bacteria. Chlorine Dioxide or a steripen should kill everything in water and is all you need if you don't mind drinking a little sterile poop.


Zen Backpacking - Water Purification, Filtration and Treatment

YouTube - Make it yourself water filter

The attached link shows how to make one using a Brita Water filter and some 2" plastic pipe. It's easy to use....but you still need to boil or use clorine to kill the nasties. Total price is about $8-10 US

There's are other videos as well.

daryl

Hello!

I don't have any experience with water filters, but I've been looking around for one. The one I have found is gravity fed and does not require any pumping. It's suppose to filter 1,5 liters a minute. And the best thing is it's weight and packing size! At 300grams and rolled up, it's neat.

I don't have a link but the name is MSR autoflow gravity microfilter

Tom

The MSR Tom refers to can be seen here

I use a combination of Katadyn's Pocket filter
then after pumping through I use Katadyn's Micropur Forte Sodium Hypochloride + Silver chloride which disinfects and protects water for up to 6 months-
IMHO, the best combination you can get for reliable, cleaned, high volumes of water (0.2 micron ceramic depth filter -cleanable) and no batteries required.
Let's face it- Katadyn give a TWENTY YEAR guarantee on this filter- which says a great deal -
Tip:
when buying the Micropure Forte Check the expiry date- many shops stock it for a long time and if often it is within a few months of its use by date.
The liquid is way cheaper than the tablets by a very long mile- Not as practical but using a diabetic syringe, you can measure up the right dose and they are tiny! 1ml per 10 litres of water

Interesting, I use a KPF but don't usually bother with extra pills/liquids as the areas where I need it are are unpopulated.

Never heard of Forte pills or liquid. Looks like it's the 'Classic' using silver whatnot but with added chlorine. I also notice Kat sell 'Anti Chlor' additive to neutralise the Forte taste.

Does Forte pill or liquid taste very chlorine-y without it?

On the Kat website 100L of Forte as liquid is not that much cheaper than 100L in pills - but then I noticed 1000L of liquid Forte works out 10 x cheaper as you say.

But AFAIC google, they dont seem to sell liquid Forte the UK.

Looking for something better to easily dose 20L bags for a group. Iodine even with neutraliser was pretty awful unless you cover it with flavoured powders. The KP filter is too slow to do everyone.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Hi Chris
I buy my KTD Forte (by pre-ordering) from very helpful fellow from a pharmacy in Lille, France. who ensured I had the longest sbd possible. (02-2011 on my batch bought 2 months ago) (p.m. me if you need specific info)
If you have a 4x4 ( bit large for a bike!) , I can recommend a good gravity filter from The Healthy House
The liquid Forte, especially for large groups, provided no one reacts to that chemical, is the way to go IMHO
Tablets for large amounts are very dear.
Forte liquid leaves a very very very faint chemical signature but hardly noticeable when dosed correctly- it takes such micro amounts that the temptation is to add 'just a bit more' which is a mistake and unnecessary. I do not use a neutraliser- the distant /faint taste reminds me the water is safe.
The Healthy House generously donated some of these with spare cartridges all of which I drove to and delivered to an orphanage in Socoura Mopti, Mali.

Now before anyone flames me and goes nope doesn't work etc. Just watch the video. The guy has come up with something seem to work to deal with bug and viruses. Beyond that it seem to made not just another product but something for the third world water problem. Runs between 150 to 400 for the jerry can model.
Michael Pritchard's water filter turns filthy water drinkable | Video on TED.com