Know your gear

Clean water — enough of a priority?

Joking about Montezuma’s revenge ceases to be funny when you spend your precious holiday time huddled in a hotel bathroom nursing a cramping stomach. The effects of drinking contaminated water becomes more serious when you have to rush from bush to bush during a 15km hike, doubled-up with diarrhoea and nausea. The consequences can be fatal when you develop diseases like cholera, dysentery, life-threatening gastroenteritis and typhoid fever because you drank water from a contaminated stream.

These are, sadly, not far-fetched scenarios.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 1.8-m people die every year because of drinking infected water. According to a population report on water published by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 60% of infant deaths worldwide are caused by contaminated water and 2.3-bn people suffer from diseases caused by organisms in water. The WHO also says that more than 80% of diseases suffered by travellers are caused by drinking contaminated water.

Whether hiking, picknicking or touring in exotic locations, water containing viruses, bacteria or intestinmal parasites can cause discomfort – if you’re lucky – or serious illness and even death if you are not treated timeously.

Enough to make one wish that you were a camel that carried your own water.

An alternative is to carry some form of water purifying device with you — and a retailer selling travelling, hiking, camping or canoeing gear would do his or her customers a favour by displaying these with the equipment sold for outdoor activities.

There are many different types of devices on the market to treat water, depending on where your customer is going, the quality of the water there and what he or she plans on doing.

Some devices filtrate — kill bacteria and turn murky water into clear water (although the smaller viruses will remain). Other devices purify — in other words, kill all the bugs, big and small, in the water, but does not clear the water. Some combine filtration and sterilization to give you clean, clear safe drinking water.

"The type of product you choose depends on the contamination level of the water source. Is the water turbid or clear? In addition to all bacteria, must viruses also be eliminated? Is the water contaminated with chemicals?" advises Katadyn, manufacturers of water purification and filtration devices (locally distributed by Eiger Equipment).

Other factors to keep in mind are how much portable water will be required, how fast must it be available and will it be stored for a longer period of time.

Purification

A crystal clear mountain stream or water coming out of a tap may look harmless and inviting, but many a traveller can testify to the germs and other nasties lurking in the water that can sabotage a trip. There are three ways of getting rid of bugs in the water: you can boil ‘em, douse ‘em with chemicals, or zap ‘em.

Boiling: Nothing wrong with killing the bugs by boiling water for cooking and cleaning – its cheap and easy. But its not exactly the solution when your throat is parched after a long and hot hike, nor is it much fun to build a fire in wind or rain. The hotel manager also might not take kindly to your boiling efforts in his room. When you are in a hurry, the tedious wait for water to boil and then cool may even tempt one to risk a few sips of dirty water.

Douse with chemicals: The simplest way of sterilizing stagnant water is to add half a cup of chlorine bleach, but the idea of drinking stuff that cleans drains may not appeal to your customers. Therefore most travellers and campers prefer to buy liquids or tablets – usually containing chlorine or iodine tincture – manufactured specifically to purify water. The fluid used to sterilize babies’ bottles, for example, works equally well for adults.

Water sterilizing tablets are small and easy to carry around and add hardly any weight to your pack.

The taste is, however, an acquired one, which can be a problem when trying to convince children there is nothing wrong with the water. Other negatives are that some products have a longish waiting period (up to 4 hours) before you can drink the water and this method will also not clear debris from the water.

Some chlorine tablets have to be crushed and the correct dosage measured – which is not always so easy to control. While iodine is more pH-independent and more readily storable than chlorine, it is not quite as potent and have a short shelf life even when new, and rapidly lose potency after opening. It can be harmful if used over an extended time period. To eliminate the disadvantages of iodine some manufacturers (like Katadyn) only uses iodine with activated carbon filtration systems, which removes the nauseous taste.

Zap with UV: A unique device kills bacteria as well as viruses and protozoa with ultra-violet radiation. It is very simple to use: you place it in a container of water, press the switch once or twice, depending on the amount of water used, and stir until the UV light switches off at the end of the cycle.

It is safe to use, as the UV light only activates when it is immersed in water, which contains the radiation, and it switches off automatically at the end of the cycle. Many US towns now use UV radiation to sterilize their water supplies and this method has been used by oyster and mussel farmers for many years.

Plus factors are that the device is compact, lightweight, fast, strong (therefore unlikely to break) and easy to use. It also does not affect the taste of the water. But, it requires relatively clear water – it will actually not work as well if the water is too murky to allow the UV radiation to penetrate. It also targets living organisms and will therefore not neutralize poisons from chemical spills or pesticides that may be in the water.

Plus factors are that the device is compact, lightweight, fast, strong (therefore unlikely to break) and easy to use. It also does not affect the taste of the water.

But, it requires relatively clear water — it will actualy not work as well if the water is too murky to allow the UV radiation to penetrate – and dirty water therefore needs to be filtered first. It also targets living organisms and will therefore not neutralize poisons from chemical spills or pesticides that may be in the water.

Filtration

Off-roaders, adventurous campers and hikers often have no option but to get their water from streams or dams so muddy or silty that they are glad that they can’t see what’s on the bottom. This is when a filtration system is essential.

Apart from removing the tadpoles, grass and other plant material, filtration transforms brown water into an acceptable colour and removes most of the organic taste. Some systems will even reduce the taste of iodine or chlorine used to sterilize the water. Many manufacturers, for example, recommend that the container is doused with iodine or chlorine before adding water.

The best water systems have a maximum filter size of 0.2 microns (a micron is a millionth of a meter) that is effective against bacteria (0.2 microns up to 10 microns) - but does not catch viruses that are much smaller (0.004 - 0.1 microns in size).

Some systems have a pre-filter structure to remove the worst mess before using the proper filtration system. Alternatively, the worst debris can be removed by pouring the water through a coffee filter, a piece of muslin or even a clean sock. Leaving very muddy water to settle before pouring through the filtration system will also improve efficiency.

Some manufacturers make their micro filters resist bacterial growth by adding silver and other ingredients. It is a good idea to sterilize the container and filter hoses with iodine or chlorine from time to time to prevent bacterial growth and some manufacturers recommend a soaking in household bleach between uses (hikers report no aftertaste when used again).

The cons: Some filtration systems require that you pump the water manually, which can be cumbersome. Filters need to be wiped clean after use as sediments collect on the outside. Otherwise they can clog from the dirt collected, which will require the filter to be replaced … but then, the gunk removed from the filter is a reminder of what could have entered your system!

Spare ceramics can also be expensive.