milbank or hand pump filter

[Adam Savage]

This got me thinking about a Millbank bag as a "pre-filter" for my Katadyn?
But I guess this does depend on how fine the canvas material filters the water!

Cheers
Tim

The Milbank bags are classed as a coarse filtration method, but all that means is it wont filter out microbiologicals, particles of heavy metal, and things like that.
If there are no chemical/heavy metal particles in the water to start with, anything that does get past the canvas will either be killed by the boiling/steritab, or (with silt) is so small it won't have any ill effects on the digestive tract. Also a lot of the silt like build up in ceramic filters, is often the part of the water that influences the taste as much as anything.

I'm not knocking any filtration systems out there, as some folk have digestive systems that are more prone to irritation, so the nano filters will help a lot with that.
I have a fairly hardy stomach, so have never noticed the difference between Milbank and other systems. I must add, 9 times out of ten I boil the filtered water, rather than use tabs, as I prefer warm drinks. Only on Dartmoor do I use tabs, as it's easier to drink from a bottle on the go

[-Tim-]

the part of the water that influences the taste as much as anything.

To be fair the Spey which I mentioned, has the greatest concentration of malt whiskies compared to the other whisky-producing regions and its all down to the water, which to be fair had a nice peaty flavor.


Cheers
Tim

[Adam Savage]

To be fair the Spey which I mentioned, has the greatest concentration of malt whiskies compared to the other whisky-producing regions and its all down to the water, which to be fair had a nice peaty flavor.


Cheers
Tim

You're absolutely right. I have relatives that live in Lossiemouth, which is just up the coast from Spey Bay. My uncle is always venturing the whiskey trail .
Even the tap water in the area seems to taste nice.
Despite being pretty peaty, Dartmoor water doesn't quite taste as good. Must be the matter contained in the peat itself.
It can put some people off from drinking it, due to the golden brown tint to the water. Most change there mind when you mention the uses of such water in whiskey though lol

[rik_uk3]

Bit late to the party here, but I'd go with Milbank bag.
As Jus points out, water needs to be filtered, then purified. If the water looks clear (i.e. no dirt, debris, small insects, etc.), then there is little point in filtering it anyway. Boiling water for 1 minute, on a rolling boil, will kill all pathogenic/parasitic/bacterial contaminants you will find in UK water. Chemical purification of some kind will be needed for chemical pollution, and heavy metals, etc.
Also as Jus says, check the source of the water. This can be as easy as knowing the history of the area, or looking around the vicinity. For example, if there has been mining in the area, it could have heavy metal content, or even other nasties associated with particular mining processes. If there is heavy agriculture in the area, pesticides and insecticides could be present.
Places like Dartmoor will generally be free from chemicals, or heavy metals, but will contain pathogens and bacteria if animals cross it, or die in/near it. In this kind of situation, if the water is visibly clear (a little brown tint is ok, as it's probably from the peaty soil), then you should be safe to just boil it, or drop a steritab into it.
Water from ponds, lakes, woodland streams, etc, will probably be cloudy with soil/silt/decaying matter (leaves/branches/plants), so filtering is necessary to remove the turbidity before boiling/steritabbing.


Hope that helps a little in your decision making

At UK altitudes you really only need to heat the water to above 70c to kill jimmy germs off, boiling for a minute is not needed. I bring water just up to a boil and its job done and off the heat.

Here is a handy chart showing the various altitudes and the temperatures that water reaches boiling points
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/bo...de-d_1344.html Basically unless you over halfway up Everest getting water to over 70c is fine.

The Millbank bag as said by others removes a lot of the grit and muck from water, heat treatment will kill of the bugs and if you are concerned then also treat with tablets or a (at your own risk) a controlled amount of bleach or iodine.

I'm playing with a gravity fed inline filter and two 10l roll up water carriers and I'll take some pictures of the setup when I get the chance.

[Silverback]

What about spore forming bacteria.....? They can survive 70 deg C althought they may find it sufficiently hard to find nutrients in water to exist thus being less of an issue.

[Adam Savage]

At UK altitudes you really only need to heat the water to above 70c to kill jimmy germs off, boiling for a minute is not needed. I bring water just up to a boil and its job done and off the heat.

Here is a handy chart showing the various altitudes and the temperatures that water reaches boiling points
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/bo...de-d_1344.html Basically unless you over halfway up Everest getting water to over 70c is fine.

What about spore forming bacteria.....? They can survive 70 deg C althought they may find it sufficiently hard to find nutrients in water to exist thus being less of an issue.

I know what you mean. Generally speaking, just bringing the water to a boil is sufficient, but the American CDC (centers for disease control) recommends 1 minute at sea level, and 3 minutes at Everest like altitudes. This is mainly because it's easy to see a rolling boil (you don't need a thermometer to check it's temp), and a minute (or three) will ensure a thorough boiling of even large pots and pans.

Not sure about spore forming bacteria.

[Silverback]

Well I'm highly unlikely to end up at altitude anymore and so far in the 30 years of drinking from streams/rivers with only boiling, milbank and puri tabs I'm not dead or full of parasites so I must be doing something right.......maybe it was the NBC WPU that saved me

[Adam Savage]

Maybe lol.

Upbringing can play a large part in it too. If you used to get dirty as a child, and put all manner of things in your mouth (like a healthy child should), your immune system can deal with some of the minor bugs that others can't deal with.

[Silverback]

Major cause of most vomiting and diahorrea type infections is actually caused by normal flora found on the outside of us. A bacteria called Staphylococcus Aureus (staph A for short). While its outside its ok but when it gets inside us it breeds and causes the V and D

[Rasputin]

I'm playing with a gravity fed inline filter and two 10l roll up water carriers and I'll take some pictures of the setup when I get the chance.

have been using this method albeit a home made rig (not filter) for over 30 yrs before that the finest denier tights/stockings I could get with a hankerchief inside to filter followed by boiling,tabs or bleach. And like Wayne Ime still here to tell the tale.