Isle Royale Forums

Just received my IR topo map from the park yesterday that included a copy of the Greenstone newsletter. In it, they say filtered water should also be treated chemically.

It was my previous understanding that water should be filtered (at .4 microns or better) and that was it.

Do I also need to treat chemically?

My apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere. Didn’t find anything….

Filters will not remove viruses as they are smaller than the pore size of the filter element. If you are concerned about viruses then treat your water accordingly. I have never used anything but a filter and have never had a problem. I will confess to drinking the water unfilterred out of Superior on occasion when kayaking away from the shoreline. I will not say this is safe nor a good idea. I have never had any problems though. Definitely filter all inland lake water. Again I do not use a purifier on the Island nor anywhere in the US I go or have gone.
By the way I use either a Katadyn Basecamp for kayaking or a MSR Miniworks for backpacking. Both use a ceramic element cartridge which can be cleaned in the field.
Hope that helps!!

Thanx! It was my understanding that a .4 micron filter got the viruses. Mine is rated at .3.

I too have drunk from Superior many times, often close to shore (but away from creek or river mouths).

Otherwise, I always filter surface water, no matter where.

Never had a complication that I'm aware of.

Strike that…about the viruses. Meant to say bacteria.

I as well always filter, both from Lake Superior and inland lakes. I use an Katadyn Vario, which is perfect for Isle Royale...it has two settings...one setting sends water through both the ceramic and paper/carbon filter, and the other setting sends it through only the paper/carbon filter. I use the ceramic & paper/carbon filter setting for inland lakes, and the paper/carbon-only setting for Lake Superior.

http://products.katadyn.com/brands-and- ... _1112.html

I've used the MSR Miniworks for several years now and nothing else. Never had any problems.

Ditto. I always filter but do not boil or chemically treat. So far so good. Here is a tip that has made my filter pumping easier (I use an old Pur, now Katadyn). I purchased a Sea to Summit 8 liter dry sack and pack it in the filter stuff sack along with a small piece of thin rope. Instead of having to bend other the water source and try to keep the prefilter out of bottom stuff, I just scoop the dry sack full and tie it to a limb/tree at the campsite and pump from the sack. Much more comfortable and weighs nil.

That's a cool idea.

I suspect I'll be fine with my Katadin Hiker.

I use a similar idea to Caveman's. I bought a Seattle Sport fold up bucket. Folds up about the size of my fist, and is very light. It will fit in your pocket. Bought it on clearance at REI. Any way, I fill it up with water, and hang it from a tree. Works great!

I filter all my water on Isle Royale. I use a Katadyn Hiker Pro--I've never had any issues. Can't wait to drink that delicious Lake Superior water this July!!

It sounds like quite a few people have had the same idea. My hiking partner purchased a collapsible two gallon water container a couple years ago. When we arrive at camp we filter water and then fill the collapsible container to take back to camp. If we run out of water we can filter more from the container or use it to wash hands etc. We also filter all our drinking/cooking water. He has a Pur Hiker filter but we don't do anything else to the water other than run it through the filter.

He came up with another good idea for the filter. The filter came with a relatively short hose and it always seemed to drag on the bottom or wasn't actually long enough to get far away from the shore. He purchased a five to six foot length of surgical rubber tubing and a small plastic hose coupler. He connected the original hose to the extension and now we have an extra long length of hose to reach further out onto the water. He also got a small piece of velcro that he keeps attached to his hiking pole. If the pre-filter/hose don't want to stay put then we velcro the hose to the hiking pole and while one person is pumping the water, the other person can hold the pre-filter end of the hose under the water where we want it. The extra length of hose did not appear to affect efficiency of the filter in any way.

When backpacking with my scouts, two adults carry the same filter so we can swap parts in case of breakage.

When alone (one filter) I planned for a lightweight backup water purification system...

I wanted to carry Aqua-Mira, but the chemical purifier alone won't take care of the tapeworm eggs that might be in the IR inland water. I researched that tapeworm eggs are over 20 microns in size; so I ordered 10 micron filter element paper (20 CM in diameter) from a scientific supply company, and carried both the Aqua-Mira and filter paper.

The plan is if I need to use the backup system, I fold the round filter element paper in quarters, making a cone, then place it in the top of my nalgene, and fill with unfiltered water (trapping the potential tapeworm eggs in the paper). Then I treat the nalgene with Aqua-Mira .

I haven't had to use it yet, but it's a simple lightweight backup!

I never have boil or chemically treated drinking water from the Island. I do like to us a ceramic filter though, much easier to service/clean. We also use a collapsible bucket to pump water out of, after the first trip to the Island standing in cold water in the morning pumping through clogged filter.

I made the mistake of reading the NPS brochure on group camping:

Water .... must be considered contaminated with the eggs of the
Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm and other harmful organisms. Boil
water for two minutes, or filter through an adequate water filter (pore
size of 0.4 microns or less).

We've been using a "hiker's friend" with a Timberline 1 μ filter element. I did a search and learned that the tapeworm eggs are at least 20 μ. So, what organisms are there on I.R. that will pass a 1 μ filter but not a .4 μ filter?

So, what organisms are there on I.R. that will pass a 1 μ filter but not a .4 μ filter?

You're basically down at a bacterial level at that point. Virus will still get through; but it seems to me that E.Coli is less than 1 micron. It at least increases your probability of filtering it out.
E. Coli can become a problem, at least on Superior, when the water warms up enough in sheltered areas.