Touring - Carrying water

Just curious about how you carry water on a multi-day tour. After reading some of the last few posts (trailer vs panniers, how much stuff to take, etc), I'm interested in what you have done.

I've been on several multi-day, multi- tours and one thing that frustrates me is the challenge of finding and carring water.

I have front and rear panniers, two bottle bosses + one clamp-on on the down tube (bottom side). I usually start off by buying water in bottles to get the bottle. After that I'll find a grocery store and hit the cheap gallon and refill the bottles.

Sounds easy enough. Right? Man! Water weighs a LOT! Plus, even though I really don't carry that much stuff, the bottles do take up some room.

Next year I have a ride from Salt Lake City, UT to Tempe, AZ through the Grand Canyon. The water thing has been bugging me a little. Just curious on what you do. Thanks for your input!

Hmmm... are you talking off road touring? On all my road tours, 3 regular bike water bottles on my bike has been plenty, with a very occasional supplement a bottle strapped on top of the rear rack or in a pannier.

When I know it's gonna be a long time before I hit another store to resupply, I carry as much as 2 1/2 gallons. I can carry 2 one gallon jugs and a gatorade in the bag that fits on top of my rack, 1 bottle on the frame, and sometimes a few small bottles in the panniers. It throws the weight out of balance a little going up hills and stuff, but it's easy to get used to.

When I know it's gonna be a long time before I hit another store to resupply, I carry as much as 2 1/2 gallons. I can carry 2 one gallon jugs and a gatorade in the bag that fits on top of my rack, 1 bottle on the frame, and sometimes a few small bottles in the panniers. It throws the weight out of balance a little going up hills and stuff, but it's easy to get used to.

Yeah, that sounds familiar. I know I need to look into what is available around the Grand Canyon. I've actually thought of bringing a filter or iodine, but I haven't decided.

It's kind of funny how much water one can go through. This summer I rode with a friend and camped only two days. One bottle per person for cooking (each meal), a little for clean-up, some for drinking. It doesn't take long to use up a nice water supply quickly!

Thanks for your thoughts.

On my two tours, water wasn't that big of a problem. I have three bicycle water bottles on the bike (don't know how many ounces they carry) and a 72 ounce Camelbak on my back. By the time by Camelbak was drained, I usually found a place to refill. I never touched the water on my bike, except in camp grounds when I was too lazy to walk to refill any empties.

Most people thought I was crazy to carry that much water on a group tour across Kansas. However, there was this one female who was glad I came along because she was suffering from dehydration and the next sag was still a good distance away. I gave her the spare water.

Rarely have I had to carry more than 3 liters of water at a time but the few times I have needed more I found the 1 gallon jugs to be easiest to deal with since they can lashed down to a rack by their handle. Part of your touring kit should include a few feet of heavy cord or web strapping for those times you may need extra water.

What about this: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,99592_Bota-Outback-Water-Bottle-Purification-System-.html?cm_mmc=PaidPlacement-_-Google-_-WGOGB6-_-Bota_Outback_Water_Bottle_Purification_System_

I have not done any touring, but would like to. I'm also an avid mountain biker, so I thought this would be a nice thing to have in case I ever do run out of water. It fits perfectly in a standard water bottle cage.

I taken to touring with 5 water bottle cages and Zefal 1 liter bottles. Three cages on the frame and two mounted on the front rack, behind the panniers. I add a MSR Dromedary bag (usually on top of the back rack when full) I've been using a 3 or 4 liter dromedary bag for solo trips. I'm a water pig, and tend to use a lot making tea and just drinking it. They make a 10 liter bag, which is nice for two people but weighs 20 pounds when full!

For a Grand Canyon ride, across highway 50 and around the Great Basin type of desert touring, I'll have at least 2 1/2 gallons on the bike, if you are unsure as to the next water stop.

Usually, on most tours, around midafternoon I look for a good water source, fill up all my bottles and the drom bag for the nights cooking and making breakie. It's nice to start off the day with full bottles.

I've toured with as much as 20 litres. I have the three standard cage mounts on the bike which hold 1 litre bottles. I used radiator hose clamps to clamp 2 more cages on pointing sideways on the frame up near the steering part of the frame.

I have another 2 clamped on a bracket behind the seat, and modified my water back pack to hold two 2 litre bladders. The rear of my BOB trailer has two oversized cage mounts which each hold a 1.5 litre bottle.

The rest gets carried in 5 litre containers in the BOB trailer. The reason for so much water is that it's hot and a long way between water stops. Carrying this much water, I have come close to running out once.

Water is a sliding scale with heat, you can require 4-5 gallons a day if it's really hot, and I have no idea how much that would translate to if you were exercising at cycling rates. I think one of those large folding 5 gallon jugs in a trailer or on the racks would be a good idea.

The hottest it has ever been when I was cycling on a tour was about 95, and I couldn't keep in the water with 3 oversized bottles on my frame, not surprisingly. I have even been dreaming about making special cages to allow me to carry huge bottles, maybe 2 litter pop bottles somewhere, or the option of carrying a gallon bottle on the rack in some purpose built fitting.

We've been lugging around a whole lot of water here in Southeast Asia. The MSR Dromedary bags have been really quite good. They collapse down nearly flat when empty then expand when full. They can take boiling water and can freeze with no problem. They have a strap around the outside and are easily secured to the back rack.

http://www.woodland-equipment.de/images/medium/masr_dromedary_beg_2l.jpg

I have two cages on the bike, 4 cages ( one is used for MSR fuel bottle) on the trailer, a 3 ltr Camelback MULE, and carry bottles under the cargo net on the trailer

The most I have carried is about 15 Ltrs ( 15 kilos)

I also have a filtration system

And I have still ran out of water. It all depends where you are. And the weather conditions, I did a one route when I used only about 8 ltrs, but the second time I did the same trip it was baking hot and got through all 15ltrs.

There is no sure fast method of working it out, just carry as much as you think you need, and don't be shy about flagging down passsing traffic, and asking for water, holding up an empty bottle lets them know why you are flagging them down. One woman gave me a 5ltr bottle once in Chile.

george

Awesome ideas, all of them! Thank you! I need to look at the MSR Dromedary bags. That sounds like it might be worth checking into. I also like the idea of adding a couple of bottle cages to the front rack. Tomorrow's project.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! Happy Riding!!

I haven't toured either, but like Beko, I'm also water-pig. On a summer century, I'll take a gallon or more along in various spots, and have to get more before I get home.

Carrying a couple of gallons of water is a lot of weight you don't need to haul, plus it takes up a huge amount of space in panners. Your best bet is to get a small camping water filter pump if you run into a situation where you can't find drinking water such as these: http://www.purwaterfilter.com/hikguidpor.html These types of filters are so good you can take water from any stream, river, or lake and be drinking fresh wholesome water in minutes.

Then all you need is to carry 3 or 4 24 ounce bottles mounted on the frame so again not to take up panner space, and a 72 ounce Camelback.

I think the pumps kinda make a lot of sense assuming there is water lying around. On the other hand one has to be careful. There is some evidence people using pumps are sick more often. This seems to be because the water going into the bottle isn't the only source of nasty bugs, you may otherwise contaminate yourself handling the source, and because; people take advantage of the fact they can now render potable water they would otherwise not consider, thereby getting close to bad source; and the filters are only so good. So while the pumps are good, particularly if all your sources are natural, they are not a good thing to rely on in areas where you have access to perfectly good treated water. Also cycling is thirsty work, and you may burn up a ton of water and it amounts to a lot of pumping, maybe we need a pumping system that drags one's wheel like a dyno.

Oh yeah, we are also carrying a Katadyn Pocket Microfilter (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeWaterFilter.html)filter.

-It is field cleanable
-The filter element lasts for 50,000 liters
-The aluminum construction is a bit heavier than others but it is far more durable.
-It filters almost everything from water

While we can purchase bottled water just about everywhere in Thailand, it kills me to throw 20 liter plastic bottles a day into the waste stream. So we pump whenever possible.

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/images/BikeWaterFilter.jpg

If you're riding on roads, then before you go mounting bottle cages everywhere, use google maps or yahoo maps to check for the location of services along your route. Try to find out how far you will have to go between restaurants, convenience stores, etc. If you have a stretch or two where you do need extra water, an expandable water storage like the Dromedary is a good way to go.

A filter is good if you are planning a long trip with very few available services, or an off road trip. But be sure that there are ground sources of water. A filter won't be very useful riding across the desert unless you know where to find a spring. For emergency use, a bottle of iodine tablets should suffice and is cheaper, lighter, and less volume than a filter.

camel backs annoy me at times. .. i used some tri tech.. ... profile design aqua rack

I did 6 gap in the north ga mountains planned as if it was unsuported (but it was) 3 bottles of water 1 bottle with cell phone and food.

put one on the back of the cannondale tandem b/c of the size I only have one up front and with wife has two in the back. we like water on out long rides. so now we carrier 5 bottles.

wife's new lemond was so small and cute but only had one (which had to be side entry) bottle due to the slopeing down tube. added on to her bike. that is all she uses is the rear rack.

While we can purchase bottled water just about everywhere in Thailand, it kills me to throw 20 liter plastic bottles a day into the waste stream. So we pump whenever possible.


I also hate the idea of throwing away plastic bottles. I take as much filtered water with me as I can manage to avoid this. I think a portable filter is a great idea.

We've been lugging around a whole lot of water here in Southeast Asia. The MSR Dromedary bags have been really quite good. They collapse down nearly flat when empty then expand when full. They can take boiling water and can freeze with no problem. They have a strap around the outside and are easily secured to the back rack.

http://www.woodland-equipment.de/images/medium/masr_dromedary_beg_2l.jpg

+1 I have used these for many years. I also have a Shower Kit (http://www.msrcorp.com/hydration/shower_kit.asp) for mine. A black MSR bag left in the sun will get you a nice warm rinse off shower. I have several different sizes and use the one that fits the need. Typically I use the 4l one the most. Nothing says you have to fill it all the way up:p

Aaron:)

here's my Trek 520 with over a gallon strapped to it. The two bottle cages up front are mounted using the midfork thrubolts and some radiator hose clamps. the half liter bottle at the bottom was used as a cup and a mini sun-tea maker. I still had a MSR Dromedary bag for cooking and camping water.

Iodine is also more reliable, though I don't greatly like the idea of eating it myself.

The thing I don't like about the various camel backs is that they are hard to keep clean. That's ok to some extent if the water entering is imaculate, but if it's at all doubtful.

"I also hate the idea of throwing away plastic bottles."

What's the problem? There are lots of them, they aren't valuable or anything. What bugs me is spending huge bucks on water when one needs gallons a day, just another thing that ends up costing a fortune and makes zipping aorund in a car seems economically preferable.

"I also hate the idea of throwing away plastic bottles."

What's the problem? There are lots of them, they aren't valuable or anything. What bugs me is spending huge bucks on water when one needs gallons a day, just another thing that ends up costing a fortune and makes zipping aorund in a car seems economically preferable.

Plastic bottles, unless they are recycled, become litter -- landfill, waste, whatever you want to call it. They take hundreds of years to break down, and were only used once before being thrown away. That is the problem with them.

I think the pumps kinda make a lot of sense assuming there is water lying around. On the other hand one has to be careful. There is some evidence people using pumps are sick more often. This seems to be because the water going into the bottle isn't the only source of nasty bugs, you may otherwise contaminate yourself handling the source, and because; people take advantage of the fact they can now render potable water they would otherwise not consider, thereby getting close to bad source; and the filters are only so good. So while the pumps are good, particularly if all your sources are natural, they are not a good thing to rely on in areas where you have access to perfectly good treated water. Also cycling is thirsty work, and you may burn up a ton of water and it amounts to a lot of pumping, maybe we need a pumping system that drags one's wheel like a dyno.

There are good camping pumps like the Pur that are not just filters but rather purifiers which goes beyond what a filter can do. A purifier can literally take water that has been contaminated by sewage and make it completely safe to drink...I know because I've been able to to this with mine and mine was the same that special forces use a few years back. The PUR Katydyn Hiker is very similar in design that mine is, except I can't tell by the discription if it qualifies as a purifier since they seem to be using the filter description rather loosely. A purifier has to be able to meet the EPA microbial water purification protocol which is far stricter then a filter has to meet. Mine is an older model made in the 80's that is no longer in production. Mine has the prefilter in a ball that you placed in the water that I covered with a coffee filter (an old trick someone taught me), micropleated main filter that removed almost everything including living organisms, with an Iodine resin to kill anything that may have made it past the filter, then a carbon filter to remove the taste of the Iodine and any other tastes; all this was about 10 inches long and 3 inches across.

Other brands of water purifiers are made by: Pur Katadyn Exstream; MSR called the Miox Water Purifier; and First Need Deluxe. Of these the MSR one is now the one that the US Military uses. First Need probably (note I said probably) does the better job but is not as portable as the MSR (7"x1") which can fit into your pocket, whereas the First Need can fit in a pannier since it's only 6"x5". But the MSR runs on batteries and has wait times of up to 4 hours to destroy the worst bugs, whereas the First Need uses no batteries and has no wait time. The reason the military liked the MSR is because it's so small, and military people in the field are always looking for the smallest lightest thing to carry because the carry so much stuff now; but for a bike tourist the First Need would be more practicable and less expensive.

You can do just as well as the very expensive Miox by using a little bleach, which is easily available to the bike tourist.

If there is a reluctance to using iodine, backpackinglight.com sells a couple solutions that work well without iodine. Aqua Mira is one of these. There is no aftertaste from them, though they are certainly more expensive that iodine tablets from walmart. You can also buy iodine tablets along with a bottle of tablets (vitamin C, I believe) that eliminate the iodine taste.

Although you should not use iodine on a regular basis, for occasional use, it's perfectly fine. I would hate to carry a pump on a long trip when it would be used very seldomly. I have an MSR water purifier pump that I have used on offroad trips. the biggest advantage of the pump is it's fast so you don't have to wait before using the water. But it's heavy compared to the chemical purifiers, and like any tight filter, susceptible to clogging. so, I'll likely not use it very much anymore. Aqua Mira is my current first choice for backcountry purification.

"Plastic bottles, unless they are recycled, become litter -- landfill, waste, whatever you want to call it. They take hundreds of years to break down, and were only used once before being thrown away. That is the problem with them."

Why do people throw them away, sounds like they last mostly forever?

Anyway, the backcountry aside. Pumps are just another form of conspicuous consumption. That's Why I prefer free water. Thopugh I did ask at a picket line for water once, and what di they kindly give me? Bottles of water. Seems circular.

Thanks, guys, for the run down on new products. I am out of date. I think the main concern with pumps is that you have to get something into the water to pump it, so now that is wet, so what do you do to clean it, carry rubber gloves, alcohol? It's like double bagging to work in a SARS ward, you're fine until you pick it up from a door handle on the way home. In Special Opps the stakes are high, and if a water system allows one the element of surprise or more options for evasion, OK. Those guys are so dopped up on one thing or another, it's hardly the advert for a healthy lifestyle. They are also a whole lot healthier than I am. I just don't generally regard that as the touring operating environment. You can't even find people cold enough to shoot dogs. Still totally accept it's great technology when one needs it.

Pumps are just another form of conspicuous consumption.
Long term they are probably cheaper and more environmentally friendly than using bottled water. Of course given the choice I just use tap water to fill my water bottles and water bag.

In some situations filters make complete sense; in others not. I have not yet used a filter while bike touring on road, but depending on the location would definitely consider it. I did find the filter very useful on a MTB tour.


I think the main concern with pumps is that you have to get something into the water to pump it, so now that is wet, so what do you do to clean it, carry rubber gloves, alcohol?
Again I don't get it. I guess it depends on where you are filtering the water from, but I usually have used the filter with sources that I would have washed with, but not drank from. I doubt most people are filtering raw sewage. I usually just shake the intake hose and strainer dry and maybe keep it segregated from the clean water hose. If the water source is particularly nasty I rinse the intake hose and strainer with filtered water.

I think the main concern with pumps is that you have to get something into the water to pump it, so now that is wet, so what do you do to clean it, carry rubber gloves, alcohol?

If you were really concerned about it, you can rinse off the intake with some of the filtered water. However, in general, it's not a problem. Just use basic common sense. It's not like a tiny amount of untreated water is going to hurt you. After all, people go boating on lakes and get very wet from the untreated lake water without getting sick.

If you are traveling in the third world where you need to protect yourself from viruses, perhaps it would be a different story, but most water purifiers do not have tight enough filtration to trap viruses. fortunately, in the US/Canada, viruses are not a significant concern in ground water. It's bacteria that are the main problem.

A 100 oz Camelbak and three water bottles - 2 filled with sport drink and one with water as a spare. I pack the Camelbak with as much ice as it will hold each morning (around 6 pounds depending on the size of the cube) and top with water. Even riding in 103 F heat along the Columbia in 2005, I had ice water for up to 6 or 7 hours. Well worth the sweaty back;)

Try to plan your route through towns on a regular basis. All of them have some regular source of water or they wouldn't be there. Even in the mountain west, towns aren't so far apart that you'd be days from water on a bicycle.

filters are heavy and seem not to be worth the weight for on road touring; off road or fire road tours, definetly handy.

When I was testing gear for MSR I took a prototype of the Miox purifier out for field testing - it was definetly a DARPA funded project...

Bleach, Aqua Mira and the Miox pen all use chemical process from chlorine compounds to 'purify' the water. a mechanical 'purifier' like the First Need or Katydin filters give you better quality, better tasting water.

I think a purifying filter is handy but heavy for on road tours. a prefilter definetly helps cut down on the clogging, I'm going to start using a coffee filter on top of my prefilter, great idea!

What I found usefull to conserve water and I do that by using trangia, or any, non stick pans to cook on. After eating I use a tissue to wipe all the utensils and then a very little bit of water, on to a sponge, to wipe clean. Its amazing how much water you save.

my favorite way to conserve water by washing dishes is to lick your spoon or other utencils clean, then put a small splash into the pot and plates, swish it around, use your finger and fingernail as a sponge and scraper to clean off anything stuck on the pan, and drink the dishwater. No soap needed. Wash the pots and utencils the next time you get to running or plentifiul water.

For most of my bike touring, 2 water bottles in the bottle cages is enough. However, for that rare occassion when I need to carry more, I have a collapsable Nalgene canteen that I fill and strap on the luggage. Otherwise, it's stowed empty with the rest of my gear. Lightweight and takes up very little room when empty.

I have done several tours with the temperature in the high 30C and low 40C. All off road and only rarely passing by towns. Water was something we thought about and carried plenty. 10 litres each and we also took the oppurtunity if we passed somewhere we could fill up not far from where we intended to camp to get another 4 or 5 litres, as you can use lots in camp. Even with so much and filling up every time we passed a supply point somewhere several times we got down to our last water bottle and were worried about running out. We now always fill up everything as we go and only empty excess out when we know we are going to reach a refill point quickly.

I have a 2-litre camelbak and two water bottles. I haven't needed anything more than that as yet. If I did, I'd think about going for a stove or something with which to boil/purify water.

You can't boil water you don't have. boiling water for drinking water requires a lot of fuel and is hardly realistic for bicycle touring. Not to say I haven't done it. I've definetly melted SNOW for water on bike tours before. None of that is going to work in the desert Southwest.

I've also pulled water out of mere mud puddles along the side of the road with a First Need filter for potable water on tours before. Clogs up the filter quick though, which explains my interest in that coffee filter prefilter idea..

filters are heavy and seem not to be worth the weight for on road touring; off road or fire road tours, definetly handy.

Bleach, Aqua Mira and the Miox pen all use chemical process from chlorine compounds to 'purify' the water. a mechanical 'purifier' like the First Need or Katydin filters give you better quality, better tasting water.

I think a purifying filter is handy but heavy for on road tours. a prefilter definetly helps cut down on the clogging, I'm going to start using a coffee filter on top of my prefilter, great idea!

Those "filters" pump systems are not heavy, no where near as heavy as carrying a gallon of water (nor near the space) that some here report doing! In fact these are so light that I carry mine in my backback when I go places where water may be an issue and forget I'm even carrying it.

You can't boil water you don't have. boiling water for drinking water requires a lot of fuel and is hardly realistic for bicycle touring. Not to say I haven't done it. I've definetly melted SNOW for water on bike tours before. None of that is going to work in the desert Southwest.

I've also pulled water out of mere mud puddles along the side of the road with a First Need filter for potable water on tours before. Clogs up the filter quick though, which explains my interest in that coffee filter prefilter idea..

The Pur that I have and the First Need you have work very well. And the ability to take water from mere mud puddles or downstream from a cattle discharge and be able to drink fresh clean bug free water in mere minutes is great. I've used mine for years in many foreign countries where the even tap water could make you very ill and possibly die, and never had a problem.

And your right, boiling water is not aways practical, either due to fuel restraints, not enough water to boil, or stealth problems; plus boiling water always waste some water to steam if you don't capture it, and that waste may be precious to you.

Yikes!
That thing weighs more than my tent!


Oh yeah, we are also carrying a Katadyn Pocket Microfilter (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeWaterFilter.html)filter.

-It is field cleanable
-The filter element lasts for 50,000 liters
-The aluminum construction is a bit heavier than others but it is far more durable.
-It filters almost everything from water

While we can purchase bottled water just about everywhere in Thailand, it kills me to throw 20 liter plastic bottles a day into the waste stream. So we pump whenever possible.

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/images/BikeWaterFilter.jpg

Yikes!
That thing weighs more than my tent!

Oh man your not kidding that thing is heavy, at 1 pound 4 ounces for that pump, why heck I rather carry several gallons of water!

Are you kidding? 1 litre of water weighs one kilo! A pound 4 ounces is nothing!

"gain I don't get it. I guess it depends on where you are filtering the water from, but I usually have used the filter with sources that I would have washed with, but not drank from. I doubt most people are filtering raw sewage. I usually just shake the intake hose and strainer dry and maybe keep it segregated from the clean water hose. If the water source is particularly nasty I rinse the intake hose and strainer with filtered water."

I'm not anti filter, but I think there is some self dillusion going on. A lot of us just drank the water years ago. And an industry has since grown up to convince us (with some reason) that the water isn't fit to drink, so we have all these pumps etc... To give an example a few decades back trout fishermen used to say if it's clean enough for trout, it's clean enough to drink. Folding cups were really popular in catalogues back then, you just dipped in. Then someone wrote an article on beaver fever, which would be a legitimate risk to people almost right up into the alpine zone, and lots of people started to worry. I was working in the backpacking industry at the time. So sure, if you are in an area where the surface water should be clean but you might have a beaver taking a dump... makes sense.

It still is reported that a fair number of people are getting sick using these things. Ray Jardine wrote in his book that on their trips when they used filters they had more trouble than in cases where they just looked for clean water and didn't treat it. So while people are saying they aren't pumping raw sewage there is evidence that pumps seem to make it sound like a good idea to exploit even lower quality sources of water, like standing pudles. I know some of the advertising used to show just those sorts of water sources. But that kind of thing is probably not my concern in most bike touring. It's more industrial polusion and the polusion that comes from human sewer systems. I'm in the Great Lakes basin downstream of the Love Canal. One of the largest poluted fresh water sources in the world. Driving down the saint lawrence river one has one of the worlds largest open sewers running the whole way, it looks nice, but there is both heavy industrial polution and heavy sewer use. I just don't think the pump is a primary water option, it has to be minicipal type water. On the other hand there are many small lakes that are clean enough for people to spend a fortune for the cottage and the swimming so water collected there is as OK as it likely gets.

I guess my feeling is the water is either fully treated municipal water, or proven poluted, in which case the pump isn't much use. Or it's probably good to drink and the pump is giving a false sense of security, though it may reduce the concentration you take in which is wonderful. I think given the options the best choice is free treated water, which is usually there for the asking. It's too bad they seem to have rolled up the municipal fountains...

I'm Impressed the pumps worked well in the third world. I would have thought the water too heavily used for that to be reliable.

"Are you kidding? 1 litre of water weighs one kilo! A pound 4 ounces is nothing!"

It's not either or though is it? You are carrying heavy water and the thing required to take it at source, and you are pumping it also. It's a lot of work just to avoid tap water. Now if the water suppply is uncertain, you probably need a few options, and a pump might have to be one of them.

"Are you kidding? 1 litre of water weighs one kilo! A pound 4 ounces is nothing!"

It's not either or though is it? You are carrying heavy water and the thing required to take it at source, and you are pumping it also. It's a lot of work just to avoid tap water. Now if the water suppply is uncertain, you probably need a few options, and a pump might have to be one of them.

What your saying is correct! The pump is only used for emergencies when tap water may not be availableor in poor quality; it's not for avoiding tap water...at least in America. If you use tap water in third world countries you better filter it or your might be visiting a third world hospital which means you might leave that hospital in a box not on your bike! I've used my filter in many third world countries where tap water was very bad and would make you very sick or dead and never had any ill effects. Some of my partners would their boil water to eliminate bacteria, viruses Giarda, cysts and parasites AFTER they filter it; but my Pur Scout unit is a purifier thus I didn't have to boil the water. Once my partners saw I wasn't getting sick they all bought the Pur system and stopped boiling the water.

I've also used in lakes, rivers and streams both here and abroad when carrying in water would have been a big hassle and very impractiable

When I said down stream from a cattle discharge I was trying to be brief, I should have mentioned the stream was a natural creek fed from a river and the cattle discharge area was about a mile upstream, thus the water was contaminated but diluted enough to be drinkable IF purified first. In fact my instructions say not to use in raw sewage-that shouldn't have taken much common sense to figure that out.

The instructions for my unit also says not to use in scummy or algae water BUT that's only because that kind of water will clog up the acorn ball filter that goes into the water, but using a coffee filter to protect that filter will prevent it from clogging.

Are you kidding? 1 litre of water weighs one kilo! A pound 4 ounces is nothing!

You all need to take comments a little bit less serious....I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!

Sorry man, you are far too subtle for me!

3-5 liters in panniers, and as many on-the-bike bottles as it can manage. In the past, that's been one bottle. My touring bike now has braze-ons for three cages, and I fully intend to make use of all of them next time I go on tour. The last tour I went on, I carried three liters in my panniers in a 1 liter Nalgene bottle and four .5 liter plastic water bottles. My touring partner carried two 1 liter Nalgene bottles in his panniers, and each of us had a small bike bottle. Altogether, we had more than 5 liters between us, and it wasn't enough for two people. We were forced to refill from a river in the remoter part of north western Massachusetts. This is all the evidence I could ever need that carrying iodine tablets along, even on a road tour where you don't expect to need them, is cheap insurance! It took us some three hours or so before we got to a place where we could dump the nasty iodized water in favor of gas station bathroom tap water, so I'm very glad we had the stuff.

Boiling water with your camp stove isn't an option. We didn't realize at first that we had the iodine tablets (we had very cleverly stashed them with our first aid supplies, and brought them along by accident!), and we wasted half of our stove fuel boiling perhaps a liter and half of water.

I've been keeping up with this thread for a while now and while I was out riding today I thought of an easy solution for this problem. Simply make a pannier frame using PVC plumbing pipe as a support frame for whatever material you plan on using and fill the pipe with water. It would be very easy for anyone to do. PVC pipe is easy to cut and glue. It's available in plentiful quantities at your local building supply store. It's also inexpensive. While I was pedaling I came to the conclusion that you only need one cap for filling and removing water from the pipe. Simply use a screw on cap on a "T". I considered a small valve for draining the pipe but having it get broken or leak would be a disaster! You would never know you had lost part of your water supply. Filling would be easy. Getting the water out from just the cap on top would not be very hard to do. Simply carry some 1/4" tubing and use it as a straw to drink directly from the pipe or start a siphon to drain it into a water bottle. As for the pannier material, I think using plastic straps and Coroplast to fill in the frame so you can carry your stuff would be easy and cheap. Sewing a bag that would fit around the PVC pipe frame would make it look very nice.

[QUOTE=grolbyBoiling water with your camp stove isn't an option. We didn't realize at first that we had the iodine tablets (we had very cleverly stashed them with our first aid supplies, and brought them along by accident!), and we wasted half of our stove fuel boiling perhaps a liter and half of water.[/QUOTE]

A lot of people are allergic to iodine so a system like First Need or the Katayn is idea.