Boiling The simplest means of ensuring your water is clean is to boil it. While most cooties are eradicated once water hits 100 degrees Celsius, you’re best to boil for three to fi ve minutes to be safe. This means boiled water used for cooking need not be treated by other means.
Chemicals But scalding water tends not to be too thirst-quenching. Canoe trippers have long treated suspect water with a few drops of bleach or iodine. These old-school chemicals re- quire proper incubation times of up to an hour depending on water temperature and murkiness. What’s more, both have associated health risks: bleach destroys intestinal micro-organisms known to aid in digestion, and pregnant women should not drink iodine-treated water. A better chemical treatment employs a solution of
chlorine dioxide—the same chemical used in municipal water treatment plants. Treatment involves mixing liquid chemical components (like the Pristine drops at right) or by using a battery powered device (such as the MSR Miox) that produces a briny mixture of water-purifying oxidants. Wait times are generally less than 10 minutes.
UV light Battery-generated short-wavelength UV-C units employ light to attack the DNA of microbes, meaning the mi- crobes can’t reproduce and wreak havoc inside you. As is the way with lightbulbs, the units are fragile while not in their case but work in less than two minutes for amounts up to one litre.
Filters Water fi lters force water (by way of pumping or gravity) through microscopic pores. Filters remove all protozoa and, depending on pore size, bacteria also. A typical 0.5 micron fi lter will remove all but a select few (and less com- mon) bacteria; some manufacturers add a thinner-gauge pre-fi lter to screen out all bacteria.
Purifi ers Water purifi ers are essentially fi lters as described above with a layer of iodine resin to inactivate viruses and off er the highest level of protection. Many fi lters and purifi ers feature a carbon core to remove tastes and residual iodine.
Whether you’re using chemicals, UV light, fi lters or puri- fi ers, it makes sense to start with the cleanest water pos- sible. Collect away from shore or fi lter over the gunwale. Allow silty water to settle in a pot before pumping. Over time, fi lter and purifi er cartridges will become clogged with particulates and need to be cleaned by scrubbing, and eventually replaced. The following water treatment products will keep you out of gastrointestinal distress.
34 ■ C ANOE ROOT S summer 2008 K a t a d y n B a s e C a m p
$79 Cdn, $64 US
www.katadyn.com
The Base Camp is for those with better things to do than play chemist or work on their forearm strength. Gravity does the work, drawing water from a 10-litre collapsible bag through a ceramic fi lter before dribbling protozoa- and bacteria- free water out the hose at the bottom.
P r i s t i n e Wa t e r P u r i f i c a t i o n S y s t e m
$29 Cdn and US
www.pristine.ca
Compact, light and simple, Pristine’s two-part chlorine dioxide system rids sketchy water of protozoa, bacteria and viruses in less than 15 minutes. The mixing procedure is foolproof and allows you to tailor the proportions to group size.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52