[philmont] Micro Pur Contact Time

One thing to consider is using two methods to do water purification -
filtration first followed by chemical treatment. Filtration will
remove a great deal and leave the cemical treatment to deal with
anything that didn't filter. Any single treatment method has its
limitations. Treat the water by two separate methods and you have a
higher assurance that the water is good to go. It is more weight to
take using this approach but it is more certain to get the water safe
to drink. Is it necessary to use two different treatment method. It
will not be necessary in many cases but you are not carrying a mobile
water pathogen laboratory with you to determine what is necessary and
by using two different treatment methods you are more certain to have
the water safe.

Joe Jansen
JAJansenJr@gmail.com
Philmont 1965; 1978

On 1/30/07, Daniel Preston <prestonar@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> I guess we just have different backpacking philosophies. The older I
> get, the more weight-conscious I become. The old adage that if it
> doesn't have two uses you don't need it is a good one to consider when
> evaluating your equipment needs. When you are already carrying Micro
> Pur, a water filter does not have a single use at Philmont. You will
> be required to take the Micro Pur and you will be instructed in its
> use, so why duplicate the function of Micro Pur by taking water
> filters. We use water filters on all of our backpacking trips, except
> Philmont. In 2002, we used filters extensively at Philmont but since
> then, Philmont has installed so many wells and sources of purified
> water that last summer we only had two camps without purified water.
> Ten days of carrying heavy useless items that never leave the bottom of
> your pack will have you cursing your decision to take them.
>
> You shouldn't have to wait on Micro Pur to eat. Just boil the water
> and kill everything.
>
> If you want to take a luxury item, take a frisbee, a beach ball, a
> hackysack, some chocolate or something else that will make the trip fun
> for your scouts.
>
> Dan Preston
>
>
> On Jan 30, 2007, at 8:31 AM, Troop 6 Webmaster wrote:
>
> > I'll going to respectfully disagree Dan, water management, including
> > purification is a required skill at the ranch. I'll agree that water
> > purifiers or filters are a personal preference/luxury item, but
> > suggest that one per crew is reasonable.
> >
> > Most trail camps and several staff camps do not have purified water.
> > Your starting camp often lacks purified water as well as a learning
> > opportunity.
> >
> > Philmont's water purification protocol, like most other protocols at
> > the ranch are designed for Philmont, the instructions on the Micropur
> > package are designed to avoid litigation and apply to the world, or at
> > least North America. Treatment times are a result of several factors,
> > water temp being one, what needs to be treated another. As others
> > have posted Katadyn indicates that all but cysts are treatable in less
> > than 30 minutes. Since philmont does extensive water quality testing,
> > as does the state of New Mexico, they know what they are up against
> > and there are, as of 2006, no cysts in the water at the ranch. When
> > you get your supply of MicroPur at Camping Services, you will get a
> > nice note from Mark Anderson explaining the Philmont protocol, last
> > year 30 minutes was the rule, this year it may be different ... or not
> > ... point is you will know, independent of what the package or
> > wikapedia or the chemist next door says, what you need to do to make
> > your water safe given the conditions at the ranch.
> >
> > In addition, the Scout Motto applies ... in 2004 a staff camp that was
> > supposed to have purified water had instead a broken purifier, this
> > after the climb over Phillips so we were near dry ... in this case a
> > pump made about an hour';s difference as to when we had dinner
> > since in 2004 it was polar pure, not micro pur, which required a much
> > greater prep & contact time. In 2006 we had several camps, staffed
> > and unstaffed, without pure water and several day long hikes with no
> > opportunities for pure water other than the end points ... so I
> > believe that dealing with micopur is a skill that each crew member
> > must be comfortable with.
> >
> > As you make trek selections, and get confirmations begin to figure out
> > where the water is ... use tools like PhilSearch, and get the detail
> > maps from TOTT early. When you get to the ranch they will show you
> > the water board in logistics to give you a sense of the water
> > situation. Even then the situation will change after you have left
> > base camp. 2007 is shaping up to be fairly wet a blessing for both
> > the water supply and wildlife issues.
> >
> > YIS
> > Jim
> > HA ASM Troop 6
> > HA Chair Chester County Council
> > www.troop6bsa.org?cmd=philmont
> > PSR '74(16) '04(4) '06(26)
> > IWTGBTP
> > www.troop6bsa.org?cmd=philsearch
>
>
>

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Received on Tue Jan 30 11:02:07 2007