Part 2, the 4 P's of Selecting Water Treatment Gear

PREPAREDNESS

The primary aspect of preparedness is recognizing what hazards exist to your water supply, and selecting treatment processes that address the hazards. So, preparedness is anticipating hazards that apply to a particular scenario, and selecting technology and treatments that will adequately address the hazards.

On a backcountry trip, often the primary hazards are bacteria and protozoa in the water. At home, in a city, unwanted chlorine and chemicals may be the primary hazard. Preparedness can also take the shape of being ready for natural disasters that could compromise water supply and quality.

PURSUIT

Pursuit is about mission. What kind of activity are you engaging in? Are you traveling? Are you enjoying the outdoors? Are you competing?  What vehicles are involved? Maybe survival is the pursuit.  Maybe the pursuit is just everyday living, or a healthy lifestyle.

Pursuit often dictates the form factor of our water treatment. 

If you are doing a through hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, you will want different gear than if you are operating out of a hunting base camp.

PERFORMANCE 

Performance addresses personal performance and health. Do you need to supply an NFL team with water that is going to sustain a playoff level performance? Or are you just trying to get your 32 oz water bottle filled for your day at school. Do you have health requirements or goals that dictate things you might want to reduce in your water? Performance is about, what does your body need out of your drinking water system, and how can your health and hydration be supported best. Other lifestyle performance requirements may include not using single use plastic bottles, or chemicals for water treatment. Or we may want to be able to function 100% off grid.

PEACE OF MIND

Drinking water is something everyone needs to survive. What level of robustness, and redundancy do we need around our drinking water treatment, its storage, and its sources. This is a factor that is often traded based on Pursuit and Performance needs. Most times, in our civilized society, there are many sources of water available, but often our Pursuits take us into the wilderness, or occasionally the systems of civilized society break down. Peace of mind can mean having the ability to access multiple sources of water. Does storage of water increase our security?

 

Check out our first post in the series, Selecting Water Treatment Gear: Preparedeness, Pursuit, Performance, Peace of Mind - Part 1, Water Treatment Basics

And the last post in the series...Part 3, the 4 P's of Selecting Water Treatment Gear: Scenarios