We're thinking of some 2-3 day paddling/camping trips on the Namekagon, St Croix rivers, Turtle Flambeau Flowage, Chippewa Flowage..primarily NW Wisconsin this summer. Trips would be during the week.

How is the (filtered) water quality for drinking? We'd be using a Sawyer filter, but Sawyer removes bacteria and protozoa only.

I wouldn't be concerned with drinking filtered water from the Boundary Waters or Sylvania. It's just that the waters mentioned above see much more human contact..

thanks..

This article may help you.

Water quality St. Croix River

I have canoed and camped these rivers so many times over the decades I couldn’t guess the number. I got girardia once, in the bwca before all the fancy equipment came along. Once is enough. So I have never drank water from these rivers. Maybe I have been overly cautious. The above link suggests I have been

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We did a 5.5 day ~65 mi unsupported through paddle on the upper st Croix (gordon dam to hwy 70 ) a couple of years ago with a sawyer gravity filter system. The 1st few days you could barely tell it was filtered river water but by the last couple of days there was some color and flavor after filtering, not enough to be off putting but still noticable. Here are emails from NPS from my trip planning that say you can filter to carry you between available water sources;

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On Tue, Feb 5, 2019 at 11:46 AM Kern, Jamie wrote:

Hi John,
...
As far as water, the landings with drinking water are marked on the maps, however, there aren't very many of them along the Namekagon and upper St. Croix. Many people do use filters on the river for longer trips. It is pretty clean water, but obviously there is a risk of Giardia and other pathogens. Filters work well and can hold you over until you reach the next landing with drinking water available.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

On Tue, Feb 5, 2019 at 10:51 AM John Beary wrote:

Jamie,
...

On a unrelated note if we are looking at planning a multi day unsupported through trip is there a handy way to figure out where we can get water or do I need to bother you guys for info like that? We have filters but I assume that filtering isnt recommended on either river system. Since we dont have any set itinerary yet I dont need you list where water is available through the entire section either.

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My assumption of not filtering was based on nasty IA rivers (all ia rivers...) . I didnt realize how "N country" NW WI is.

I found Jamie from the NPS to be super helpful for trip planning assistance. I have multiple email threads talking to her for planning and when I told her I was probably done contacting her she told me to let her know how our trip went after we got back.

Appreciate the info guys..it's very helpful in our trip planning.

Your welcome, 2 additional things worth pointing out are that the sections listed as impaired in those websites are a significant distance downstream from the upper area. regarding my comment, when the water was unnoticeable we were above where the the Nam comes in and when it was more noticeable we were below the nam mouth (increased "basin" more towns "connected"), the town of Danbury which while not huge is on a bluff directly above the river, and St Croix state park which seemed pretty busy.

Wow, very interesting thread. I don't know that I would even camp or trip where even filtered is questionable.

Would it be practical to bring 2.5- gal jugs of water? That plus a couple 1-qt bottles per person gets you 3 days worth. Or, you could stash water near a road crossing or something like that. Then filtering is not as suspect as it would with river water. From Hayward to Danbury, the only portage I remember is the dam that is a short drag-over, at Hayward so the weight of carrying water would not be a show-stopper.

For weekend trips I bring 2.5 gallon jugs of water. That having been said without knowing what chemicals are in the river, it is one of the cleanest, clearest rivers in MN. If I were on a weeklong trip I would not hesitate to filter and drink the water.