When you refill a water bottle in the great outdoors, you don’t want to take any chances.

To drink or not to drink? That is the question. The problem with water is that you can’t tell whether it’s safe just by looking at it. There are ways, however, to make sure it’s potable – and you don’t need a lab coat and a microscope to do it. 
You get chemicals in tablet or liquid form that purify water, ultraviolet light devices that kill bacteria, and water filters that remove sediment to take away that muddy taste. If all else fails, you can always use your camp stove to boil water – which remains the safest method of all.
To pick the right tool for the job, read on…

Ask yourself these questions before you go shopping:

1. Lightweight or heavyweight?
If you’re a hiker you’ll want to go for something light – such as chlorine tablets or an ultraviolet (UV) pen. For an overland trip a combination filter and UV steriliser might be more suited to the task.

2. Cheap or expensive?
A box of chemical tablets costs about R35, and a top-end combination filter and UV treatment kit will leave you little change from R6 000.
Should you spend the extra money? It depends. The biggest threat to drinking water is bacteria, which are easily killed by even the cheapest tablets. But contaminated water sources can also contain holiday-spoiling micro-organisms such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, which are more resistant to chemical treatment.
Our advice? For local hiking trails or camping, a basic chemical treatment should be adequate. If you plan to head overland to Egypt, we strongly recommend you stump up the money for the more expensive kit.

3. How much time do I have?
Are you prepared to wait or do you need clean water straight away, before your hiking mates disappear over the next horizon? Some systems purify water as quickly as grass through a goose (filtered and UV-treated water can be drunk immediately), but some chemical treatments can take hours to work properly.

There’s a good chance the water in that clear, fast-flowing mountain stream is perfectly safe, but who knows for sure? Even in seemingly pristine areas there’s a chance the water has been contaminated by natural means, like animal droppings or even a dead buck upstream. Because you’re carrying everything in your backpack, you’ll need something small and light, and you’ll want to save the fuel in your camp stove for cooking.

Pop a pill: Cape Union Water Purification Tablets
The advantage of chemical purifiers such as chlorine and iodine is that they’re inexpensive and easy to use, and they kill most bacteria. They come in tablet or liquid form, so they’re easy to carry in a backpack.
The downside is that they are not effective at removing protozoa (larger organisms that can give you an upset tummy). Chemical treatments also don’t remove sediment, and some leave a bitter aftertaste.
A box contains 50 tablets, and each tablet purifies one litre of water. Cape Union Mart recommends you wait for 10 minutes to give it time to work properly (20 minutes if you’re really worried about water quality).
Price: R35 from Cape Union Mart.
Contact: 0860 034 000; www.capeunionmart.co.za
Go! says: You can mask the aftertaste by adding a cooldrink mix (Game works well).

Shine on: SteriPEN Classic
Like the cellphone, this type of ultraviolet (UV) light device is getting smaller with every new model, making it a convenient choice for hikers. It kills micro-organisms very quickly, so you don’t have to wait very long to slake your thirst.
The SteriPEN Classic is roughly the size of an electric toothbrush and weighs about 220g. (If you’re doing the Fish River Canyon, there’s also the smaller SteriPEN Adventurer, which weighs just 100g, the same as a big Bar One).
To use it, dip the glass head into the water, press the button to activate the UV light and stir. It’s fast too. SteriPEN claims that just 90 seconds of light treatment eliminates all micro organisms.
It runs off four AA batteries, which will treat anything from 35 to 200 litres of water off a set, depending on the quality of battery you choose.
Price: R880.
Contact: RAM Mountaineering 021 532 0549; www.rammountain.co.za
Go! says: Muddy water blocks the UV light and makes the treatment less effective. SteriPEN also makes a “prefilter” (which costs about R130) to clean the water before you treat it.

Take no chances: MSR Miox
If you’re planning a hike on the Wild Coast but you wonder about those rivers, the Miox might be the purifier for you. This is because unlike other chemical purifiers it destroys bacteria and protozoa (bigger bugs that can resist ordinary treatment).
How does it do it? Every time you need to treat water, the device creates a potent dose of fresh chemicals. You pour some salt and water into the Miox, shake it a few times and press the button. This sends an electric charge through the salt/water mixture, which generates a solution that kills bacteria in 15 minutes, Giardia in 30 minutes and Cryptosporidium (the most resilient protozoan, the one that causes diarrhoea) in four hours.
Best of all, it’s only about the size of a chunky marker pen and weighs only about 100g. It runs off two CR123 lithium batteries and MSR promises 200 litres per set.
Price: R1695.
Contact: Outward Ventures 021 683 3638; www.outward.co.za
Go! says: Lithium batteries are less common than penlight batteries, so pack spares if you’re bound for outer spaza space.

Visit any popular, well-established campsite in South Africa and the municipal water should be fine. But when you head off the beaten track, especially beyond our borders, you can’t be as sure.
Space and weight are less of an issue if you’re driving a vehicle, but remember that you need a large volume of treated water to keep everyone in your group well watered.

Good and clean and fresh, tra-la-la: Katadyn Micropur Classic Drops
This product is popular because water treated with it does not have an unpleasant aftertaste (this is because it uses silver ions instead of chlorine). It’s ideal for a group of 10 people or more – 25 drops will treat 10 litres of water.
Price: R175 (100ml bottle).
Contact: Eiger Equipment 021 555 0781; www.eigerequipment.co.za
Go! says: The downside is you have to wait two hours. For faster treatment time, try Micropur Forte, which works in 30 minutes.

Belt and braces: Pure Terrain
This is the mother of all portable purifiers – a six-stage system that comes in a jerry-can-sized PVC container and runs off your vehicle’s 12V power source. It is basically a combination device that filters the water to remove sediment and treats it with chemicals and UV light. It pumps about five litres per half hour, which is plenty if you have a large party. The downside? It’s expensive.
Price: R5500.
Contact: East Midlands Water Company 021 887 8555; www.emwc.co.za
Go! says: Literally a portable municipal treatment plant!

Although it feels like the middle of nowhere when you’re floating down the Orange River, that water has come a long way and has been in contact with lots of nasties. It’s best to steer clear of chemical and UV treatments, because they don’t work as well with muddy water, and your drinking water ends up tasting like bad Turkish coffee.
Instead we suggest a ceramic water filter to remove sediment and trap micro-organisms. All these water pumps require is a little elbow grease.

For the Camel man: MSR Miniworks Ex
The MiniWorks EX has an extremely fine ceramic cartridge for filtering out sediment and micro-organisms, plus a carbon core that removes bad tastes and odours.
And because it can filter a litre per minute, you won’t be stuck on the shore for an hour after your mates have already packed up and started paddling.
What we really like about this filter is that you can fix it yourself, right there on the bank of the Orange, should it break (MSR sells a spare parts kit too). And when the filter becomes clogged you simply scrape off the outer layer of ceramic with the supplied scourer, which means this filter will keep going for years.
It comes with a little plastic calliper so you can check the thickness of the filter. When it gets too thin, you just buy a new one.
Price: R1 100.
Contact: Outward Ventures 021 683 3638; www.outward.co.za
Go! says: It’s the filter of choice for the US Military. Enough said!

Gravitas: Katadyn Camp
Pumping water through a filter is fine if you need to refill your water bottle, but it becomes a problem if you need enough water for eight people. The Katadyn Camp should spare your arm muscles, as it works with gravity. All you have to do is fill the 10-litre water bag and hang it in a tree.
It has a very fine (a fifth of a micron) ceramic filter that can remove both bacteria and protozoa. To give you an idea, a micron is one-fifteenth the thickness of a human hair.
Price: R1 250.
Contact: Eiger Equipment 021 555 0781; www.eigerequipment.co.
Go! says: At a claimed five litres per hour it’s hardly quick, so you’ll have to be patient and enjoy a beer until your water is ready.

Hans van Kamp of the East Midlands Water Company lifts the lid on some of the main culprits found in contaminated water.

Hidden chemicals
“Stay well away from ground water close to mine dumps,” says Hans. “These contain chemicals from the extraction process as well as heavy metals, and are the biggest polluters of drinking water in South Africa.”

Too small to see
There are three basic nasties to watch out for in water: bacteria, cysts and viruses.

1. “Bacteria are the main hazard because they grow in standing water. They include cholera, typhoid and salmonella, and are directly linked to contact with sewerage. The good news is that they are quite ‘large’ (1 micron), so they can be easily removed by filtration. They are also killed by chemical and UV treatments.”

2. Cysts. “These include Giardia and Cryptosporidium, which are carried by animals, so are usually found near animal droppings. They are bigger than bacteria (around five to six microns), and are also easily removed by filtration, but they are more resistant to chemical treatments.”

3. Viruses. “These are rarely found in water so they don’t generally pose a risk. You’re more likely to pick up a viral infection from other people.”