[at-l] Water filters vs. Tablets?

[TrailR at aol.com (TrailR@aol.com)]

In a message dated 2/23/2005 4:54:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
jehrenf1@yahoo.com writes:

I am  preparing to hike the southern third of the AT come mid-April, and I
was  wondering what yall think regarding water purification. My  outdoors
background is in wilderness canoeing, where we generally shun  water
filtration pumps in favor of the quick and easy iodine tablets. Now  I'd
have no problem with this except that recently I've heard that  prolonged
ingestion of iodine can lead to liver damage. Since I'm heading  straight
from the AT up to Canada to canoe for two months, I am potentially  going
to be drinking a lot of iodine.

What are your thoughts on  water pumps? Are they generally useful? My
parents loaned me a Pur filter  they have, and said they have been happy
with it. Any suggestions? We'll be  on the trail for about 2 months and are
obviously interested in saving  space and weight. Oh, also there will be
three of us, so  we'd be  pumping enough for three each time it was used.



**
 
I did my AT thru hike in 2003 & used Aqua Mira drops the whole way (no  
filter).
It costs about $13 dollars, and treats 50 gallons of water. No bad taste,  
and no 
medical issues (no iodine). It comes in 2 bottles... 1) Chlorine Hydroxide  
2) a
phosphoric acid activator. I love it!! If the water has particles in it,  
filter it through
a bandana. It takes 5 minutes to activate, then 15-20 to clean the  water.
 
Russ (hotdog - AT 03)