Water Purification

What do YOU use?

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Orange Alex Ford
31/03/2002 at 20:43
I am currently using the last of my stash of "free" water purification tablets (ex-military compo rations).

What is the general concensus over what to use when out walking here in the UK?

What do you use when you fill up your Platty mid-walk? What do you recommend? Where do you get them from? Do you even feel purification is necessary here in the UK?
Ben Hedley
31/03/2002 at 20:49
erm, well i find that my 3ltr camel bak lasts me all day, even in summer and on the bike so i don't ofter refill it. However, my mum bought one of those filter bottles from the show the other week and i would filter water in popular areas like the langdales etc where sheep (live and dead) dogs and people pollute the water. Tho in the highlands i wouldn't bother, esp in winter, ive drunk out of streams up there with no ill effects (well, not that ive noticed)

BTW. you can get Platty/Camel bak filter adapters for those little pump thingys where you remove the bite-valve, plug it into the filter and pump it straight from the source, throught the filter into the bladder, saves removing it from your sack :) think there about £50 though:(
Orange Alex Ford
31/03/2002 at 21:48
cool of to the Platty website!
Drew
31/03/2002 at 23:32
I currently use tablets sometimes. If I have time. Sometimes I just drink straight from the stream. Depends on how clean it looks. I am thinking of getting the First Needs Water Filter. £100 1.7 litres per min, removes everything. Filter lasts about 500 litres. Good for if needed. Best in Trail review!
Dan G
01/04/2002 at 00:31
I've/we've drunk from streams and lakes many times. The only pollution you'll get in upland streams is sheep excrement and urine feeding bacteria in the water. If ou make sure there's no sheep around and genrally take water from high up (700m+), you'll be fine.

Don't drink from lowland rivers, they're literally full of crap
joan collins
01/04/2002 at 15:01
Most of my UK outdoorsing is in the mountains of Scotland or North Wales, and I rarely feel it's necessary to purify water. I look for plants such as wild watercress which can only survive in the purest of water and take my supplies from there. Often what initially seems to be a puddle is actually a spring if you look closely.

If I can't find any reliable plant evidence, and think there may livestock upstream, then I add iodine drops. These work out a little more expensive than the tabs, but dissolve straight away and double up as a wound disinfectant.

When I'm camping, I boil water. This kills more germs than any chemical treatment, but mid-walk it's pretty much a last resort, except in snowy conditions.
Orange Alex Ford
01/04/2002 at 15:05
Thanks all keep em comming.

I heard a good trick to get rid of teh Iodine taste recently (ok...Jon told me), drop your Iodine in the water and thenmix in a small amout of Vitamin C. It removes the taste perfectly and is a lot cheaper than the "propriety" additives for this purpose.

(It sounds a bit like a Viz Top Tip don't it!)
Dan G
01/04/2002 at 20:19
Has anyone ever gotten ill from drinking dodgy water in the UK? I haven't, yet...
joan collins
01/04/2002 at 20:53
Good point, Dan. No doubt there are loads of germs in the water we drink, but we may well have developed some natural immunity to them through eating unwashed fruit and veg, eating in restaurants and so on.

An interesting story - the parents of a friend of mine recently visited England for the first time from Northern India. Now that's an area where we'd all dose our water up to the nth and probably still get 'problems'. But they just drink the tap water at home. Needless to say, after only one day of luvverly Thames water they had serious digestive difficulties, and spent the first few days of their visit here enjoying the delights of daytime TV in between bathroom visits. A lot of it's just what you're used to, I'm sure.
Dave Moseley
01/04/2002 at 22:16
let us know what you think of the kit fom the show Ben, I've taken water from upland streams in Wales & Scotland but I'm a bit wary of standing water in the high tarns of the lakes.
Rob Sutherland
02/04/2002 at 10:07
According to a recent survey tap water in Glasgow is the worst in Europe - with Edinburgh coming in at 6th worst! And to think we allways used to drink bottled water on holiday!

Back to the thread though - you actually purify water in the UK's uplands? I can't think of a single occasion I have ever done this!!!
Jon Doran
02/04/2002 at 11:38
Couple of things - if you add vit c powder or tabs to iodinised water then you must let the iodine have time to work first. The asorbic acid changes it to iodide (or something) so it no longer works as a purifier.

In the UK, high up, I've never really bothered with purifying water. Lower down iodine crystals in small bottle to produce iodine fluid are superb (but try not to break the bottle...) Boiling is highly effective.

Most water filters and purifiers are ruinously expensive. Maybe worth the expenditure abroad, but over here?

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Orange Alex Ford
02/04/2002 at 18:16
I am soooooo paranoid about it...I just don't trust it...
Dan G
02/04/2002 at 18:47
I wouldn't worry about drinking from high lakes either. The water is so cold and there's so few nutrients in the water there's little bacteria in it.
Dave Moseley
02/04/2002 at 23:48
what about the folks who keep washing their dogs in it?
neil rich
03/04/2002 at 08:15
If you're ever without a drink on a hot sunny day with a few miles to go then drink whatever is available.
It's unlikely that even dog rinsings will kill you in a couple of hours, dehydration on the other hand just might.
Rob Sutherland
03/04/2002 at 14:49
I wouldn't suggest drinking my homebrew though in those situations. That will kill you far faster than dehydration ever could :-)
Dave Moseley
03/04/2002 at 19:20
I've seen a golden labrador go in a tarn in the Lkes and come out a very nice shade of black.......... luverly!
neil rich
03/04/2002 at 21:42
the good thing about the upland tarns is that if you use the water to make tea you don't need to put a tea bag in as the water is already brown!
Ben Hedley
03/04/2002 at 21:48
yeah, but when water drains through peat, isn't that supose to do a good filtering job?

Also, brown tap water just tends to have picked up iron along the way
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