Water

Obtaining water on the Appalachian Trail is more than a matter of turning on a faucet While there are a few faucets, mostly in National and State Park tourist areas, water is generally found in a stream, creek, or spring. As this water may contain disease causing protists and bacteria it should be treated before drinking. There are three main water treatment methods used. each is described below with their advantages and disadvantages. No treatment method can be considered to be 100% perfect. Not even the Louisville Water Company can guarantee 100% perfect water 100% of the time. The best that can be said is that treated water is safer than untreated water.

Boiling- Bringing the water to a rapid boil for several minutes will kill any disease causing bacteria and protists that may be in it. It is a simple, safe, effective method. However, boiling water for drinking consumes a lot of stove fuel and boiled water just doesn't taste very good. The taste can be improved by letting it cool and then aerating it by pouring it back and forth between 2 containers. Consider this scenario, you are a thirsty hiker that has just discovered a small stream. First, you have to unpack your stove and fill your pot to boil the water. You then have to bring it to a boil and let it cool. Finally you aerate the water. The whole process can take an hour and a half to 2 hours. This makes boiling an impractical choice for long term use.

Chemical Treatment- Either Iodine or a Chlorine compound are added to the water. These chemicals will kill any disease causing protists or bacteria. You fill up your water bottle, add the chemical, and wait. The waiting time varies depending on the water temperature. The colder it is the longer you have to wait. Determining the proper waiting time is difficult because you first have to somehow be able to judge or measure the water temperature and judge or measure the time. You will also have to memorize or read a chart that shows the waiting time. This makes the method a little less reliable than the boiling method. The other alternative is to wait an hour which will give the chemical time to work regardless of the water temperature.

Iodine does give the water an odd taste. The taste can be reduced or eliminated by adding citric acid (a vitamin C tablet). Iodine can also cause problems for people with certain health conditions. It also turns blue in the presence of starch. This means that if you cook pasta, potatoes, or any other starchy food in iodine treated water they will turn blue.

Chlorine treatment is similar to that used in commercial water treatment facilities. There are no known negative side effects if the chemical is used in accordance with instructions.

While both methods will eliminate protists and bacteria they do nothing to actually clean the water. The water will retain any silt, sediment, and insect bodies that you had when you scooped it up. This problem is eliminated by use of a water filtration system

Water Filtration or Purification System- These systems use a ceramic or paper filter that traps any dirt, bacteria, and protists and prevents them from passing through to the water that you want to drink. Filters are used to trap protists and purification systems can trap protists and bacteria. The difference between filtration systems and purification systems largely lie in the pore size. Purifiers have a smaller pore size so they trap smaller particles. Some purifiers also contain a chemical cartridge that releases iodine into the water. They are very effective in what they do but there are some drawbacks. Pumping water through such small pores requires exertion and you can get very tired if you are trying to get much more than 2 quarts at a time. The second involves the possibility of contamination. Using the system generally involves the use of 2 hoses, one that goes into the untreated water and one from which the filtered water comes out.. If the "clean hose or the entire filter for that matter is dropped into the stream than the system becomes useless until it is disinfected generally with a bleach solution. Finally, the entire filter may clog making it almost impossible to get water through it. Some filters are field maintainable and can be unclogged while in the woods. Others require that you remove and replace the cartridge.