Water Treatment

Your health is not worth risking by not treating or filtering your water.  Drinking contaminated water can make a bad situation much worse, very quickly.   There are three main methods of treatment.

1. Heat - By boiling water, you are able to kill microorganisms that could be potentially harmful.  This is one of the safest ways to treat your water.  It is time consuming and requires a heat source.  If you are in an emergency and have no way to make a fire, you need to have a backup.
2. Chemical Treatment - There are several products to treat your water chemically.  My favorite is chlorine dioxide tablets. They take care of bacteria, viruses, and cysts if used properly. They are easy to use, but time consuming.  It can take 4 hours for Crystosporidium.  If you are in an area where you need to deal with viruses and cysts, this is a good option.  I carry them anyway as a backup to my Sawyer Squeeze.
3. Physical/Membrane - This type of filter is best in areas where you do not have issues with viruses.  In the US, most water sources are safer to use with a Sawyer Squeeze or other comparable filter.  It is easy to carry, easy to use, can filter water for years, and is maintainable.  It works by forcing the water through hollow tubes that are small enough to block anything larger than .1 micron in size.  This gets rid of sediment, bacteria, protozoa, and cysts.  Be careful in the cold or you could have your tubes freeze and break.  This renders the unit unsafe to use and is not visually noticeable.  Do Not Let It Freeze!  Always carry a backup like tablets or drops in case you run into trouble or your source of water looks more risky than you anticipated.