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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum

Winter Camping and Activities

Drinking Water

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Date/Time: 04/29/2024 03:25AM

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Drinking Water

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Previous Messages:
Author	Message Text
tg	01/04/2013 09:52PM I boil all my water in the winter rather than worry about freezing a filter (which I use in the summer). I have a buddy who works for Katadyn and we are looking into a trip next week. I am curious if he has any thoughts or gear he insists on using. Fwiw giardia doesnt typically cause immediate problems. If you did come down with the illness it might lag 7 days behind exposure at which point unless you take really long trips you may be back home with the comfort of your own porcelain throne. Not that I recommend chancing it. Diarrhea is no fun and can be quite serious. Untreated giardia can also lead to chronic gi tract injury/issues. tg
George	01/04/2013 09:17PM Probably always good to error on the safe side but I have been drinking straight from the lakes on all my winter trips for over 15 years and never had a problem. Just be smart where you get it (away from shore bigger lakes etc).
TuscaroraBorealis	01/04/2013 12:33PM Thanks for the heads up.
walleye_hunter	01/04/2013 10:21AM quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Much the same as summer, dependent on the lake, I'll drink straight from the lake. (we're usually on deep trout lakes) Generally speaking, we almost always boil our water anyways. (for coffee, cocoa, cider etc.) We then just put the excess in our water canisters or thermos. Never had a problem. " Be careful when drinking straight from the lake in the winter TB. I have heard of several cases of giardia in the winter time. Here is my hypothesis on why that is. It should be noted that I am a miner, not a biologist so I might be way off on this. Giardia is more dense than water and generally will settle towards the bottom on deep lakes without a lot of current. However, in the winter the entire water column consists of cold water that does not stratify with warmer water sitting on top of cold water. This might make the little nasties such as giardia more prevalent throughout the water column. Again I'm just a miner so if you need something bulldozed or excavated I'm your guy. I know nothing about parasites so I generally go out of my way to avoid them
TuscaroraBorealis	01/04/2013 09:43AM quote Minnesotian: "quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Much the same as summer, dependent on the lake, I'll drink straight from the lake. (we're usually on deep trout lakes) Generally speaking, we almost always boil our water anyways. (for coffee, cocoa, cider etc.) We then just put the excess in our water canisters or thermos. Never had a problem. " Nice baker tent. Make it yourself?" Actually the guy in the photo (Shawn) did. He got the material from Snowtrekker tent and had it pre-cut, then he (Shawn) put it together. It was his (Shawn) own design & dimensions.
Minnesotian	01/04/2013 09:34AM quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Much the same as summer, dependent on the lake, I'll drink straight from the lake. (we're usually on deep trout lakes) Generally speaking, we almost always boil our water anyways. (for coffee, cocoa, cider etc.) We then just put the excess in our water canisters or thermos. Never had a problem. " Nice baker tent. Make it yourself?
GreatBigCubsFan	01/04/2013 08:09AM quote catfish72: " Look into getting a "Steripen" for winter trips. It is pretty small and you will not run the risk of your filter freezing up! It is not always sunny in the BWCA and keeping an eye on your filter gets to be a little much. I use one on all of my winter trips. Also it works well in the summer. " Thanks Catfish, I'm going to buy one those pens for sure!
TuscaroraBorealis	01/04/2013 07:59AM Much the same as summer, dependent on the lake, I'll drink straight from the lake. (we're usually on deep trout lakes) Generally speaking, we almost always boil our water anyways. (for coffee, cocoa, cider etc.) We then just put the excess in our water canisters or thermos. Never had a problem.
tonyyarusso	01/04/2013 02:55AM Pump filtered out of the fishing hole.
catfish72	01/03/2013 11:17PM Look into getting a "Steripen" for winter trips. It is pretty small and you will not run the risk of your filter freezing up! It is not always sunny in the BWCA and keeping an eye on your filter gets to be a little much. I use one on all of my winter trips. Also it works well in the summer.
GreatBigCubsFan	01/03/2013 11:06PM quote motdur: "Drinking Water-Typically filtered(pumped), Filter is stored in a black water proof bag and kept in the sun when practical. I have also kept the filter inside my jacket. If the filter becomes frozen then its defrosted in warm water. We have not melted snow or boiled for years. Coffee-non filtered lake water Cooking-non filtered lake water" Yeah, I'm planning to camp/ice fish on the lake and was going to bring in a little in my water bottle for the hike. I drink coffee, so I could scoop some out and boil it for that. But for replenishing my drinking water, I guess I should look into buying a filter...
motdur	01/03/2013 10:46PM Drinking Water-Typically filtered(pumped), Filter is stored in a black water proof bag and kept in the sun when practical. I have also kept the filter inside my jacket. If the filter becomes frozen then its defrosted in warm water. We have not melted snow or boiled for years. Coffee-non filtered lake water Cooking-non filtered lake water
GreatBigCubsFan	01/03/2013 10:36PM For the winter camping/fishing trips are you guys bringing your drinking/coffee water in? Or using the lake water and boiling it/treating it or a combo of all three?