Cryptosporidium and water treatment

For background, I went backpacking this weekend and since I hadn't used my Sawyer Squeeze filter in awhile it was taking forever and a day to prime.

I went with Aquatabs (since Aquamira drops were out at my local shops) which need to be replaced based on date.

When I got home and started shopping, I noticed the Aquatabs don't do squat about cryptosporidium, but the chemical treatments that do(Aquamira, Katadyn, and electro-salt units) all take 4 hours to deal with cryptosporidium. Ended up ordering Katadyn Micropur tabs to have the possibility of being more thorough, but....

Is there any solid info on how much of a threat cryptosporidium is in the US? Just an issue around urban areas and livestock farms, or is it an issue in undeveloped areas as well?

I know that chemical and filtration are both needed to eliminate viruses, but viruses in water is largely considered a non-threat in North America. Some of what i read indicates a similar situation with cryptosporidium, but others list it as a major issue.

Unfortunately there's not a lot of data on what the cryptosporidium risks are in the US but the CDC recommends boiling but that might not always be practical.
The next best option might be filtration then purification but there really is no guarantee.



https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/dri...treatment.html

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I believe you need to filter it.

https://www.pur.com/why-pur/filter-microbial-cysts

https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/water-...-contamination

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Thanks everyone!

Haven't received the Micropur tabs yet. Used the filter today while turkey hunting(no luck) as well as boiling stream water for cooking.

I do prefer using the filter, but that is often a no go during winter between freezing damaging the filter element and just not working with the lines freezing. Sort of an opposite of an on demand water heater.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by RetroRevolver77

Over winter storage tanks below the house, in -40 degree weather it worked.

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Meant outdoor portable filter lines freezing.

Watched a buddy's filter outlet line freeze at 14 degrees. A few pumps and we could watch the water solidify in the line. He stuck it under his coat and thawed it out a few times, but I doubt he ever got a full cup of water before it would freeze again.

Dug a bit more and learned the 4 hour crypto treat time on the Micropur tabs is water temperature dependent. Would share the link to the spec sheet pdf, but it won't work for me.

The 4 hour time is around 40 degree water temp, but at 68 the time is down to 30 minutes.

Using as a back up in mild weather, that isn't a big deal. As a primary in below freezing temps, the easiest work around I have come up with is fill and treat, then stick it in with a heat pack to let the tabs do their thing.

Interesting to me, crypto and giardia were the only temperature affects treat time bugs. Viruses and bacteria are treated in 15 minutes regardless of temperature.

If you are dealing with a virus you need a purifier or chemical treatment. Viruses are much smaller than bacteria, which are filtered out by filters (vs purifiers).

Cryptosporidium are relatively large and easily removed by a filter. They have a shell and that's why they take longer to eliminate than viruses via chemical water treatment.

Many avid outdoors people don't ever use chlorine tablets, but use isoline, which doesn't kill cryptosporidium. I always prefer filtration, due to taste. But if I had to make the decision between iodine or chlorine tabs, say in a large group where equipment weight was an issue, then I would factor in water quality. Are you in a heavily used area? Are you in the backcountry or adjacent to development?

Keep in mind that on a few day trip your concerns regarding cryptosporidium may be overblown. I think it takes a few days for any symptoms to develop -- someone should fact check. Even if you got it, the worst case scenario would likely be diarrhea once you were back home.

I knew a guy who got beaver fever in a national park and nearly died of it. He crawled to a road and just laid there. A woman dared to stop and rush him to the hospital. IIRC, it was guardia. they have to give you a poison that kills the cysts and then you crap them out. It took him weeks to fully recover. It would definitely kill you if you were alone in the woods.