I have been a "heavy" filter user in my pre-BPL life and am making the transition to Aqua Mira chemical treatment for the first time. What I am worried about is how to physically collect water to treat when it must be sourced from a very small stream, etc. where the syphoning ability of the filter pump made collecting it a breeze. How do I gather the water to treat in very shallow areas?

In shallow areas where the flow is decent I will use my cook pot to scoop up water and fill my bottles that way. It takes some time but works well. On my last hike the water was so shallow that I followed it for a little bit and found a little water fall it went over and collected out of that.
I've also heard of using a sponge or towel to soak up water from little pools and wringing it out. I've never been that desperate though.

Adam

Very good question. I was also wondering that same particular situation. Can anyone else elaborate? I just realized that there is a thread 10 down from this one.

However, I've been in situations where my MSR Miniworks EX was a life saver. We got water out of a crack with water moving just the slightest. But I am also experimenting with Aqua Mira. 1 0z. VS 16 OZ.

John

Edited by jrowling on 08/28/2007 08:27:10 MDT.

personally, i've been carrying a small big mouth 20oz pop bottle and a big mouth liter pop bottle. i find this helps if the sources is a smaller puddle, i can get the smaller bottle in there and at the very least collect what i can and pour it into the bigger bottle, during this pouring process you can also use a coffe filter or what have you if thiers some solids.
mike!

A ziplock bag will work too for shallow areas.

> how to physically collect water to treat when it must be sourced from a very small stream
With a small plastic drinking cup used for morning coffee...

Does Aquamira treat cysts? The AM website lists an EPA reg number, but the epa website is awful.

Rob,

As I recall, Aqua Mira indicates that it kills cysts in their 4 hour time frame of treatment.

Rich

Edited by naturephoto1 on 08/28/2007 16:00:09 MDT.

I use a .5 liter platy cut in half. It folds away easily and I can collect water from seeps and springs with it. I just pour the water into my 1 liter platy and fold it away until I need it again.

I simply find somewhere with a good sized divot in the ground and use my cooking pot.

You also have to take into the weigh-savings account the amount of water still in the filter! The MSR filter can hold, at least on my scale, 3 oz of water that it cannot purge.

Edited by johnatha1 on 08/28/2007 16:56:07 MDT.