Sourcing Safe Drinking Water

Recommendations for optimum health on a trek

Posted on

August 25, 2024

Written by

Maninder Kohli

Water management is an important issue on a trek both in regard to avoiding stomach bugs as well as ensuring proper acclimatization. Juniper recommends going into a trek with 2 bottles with one being a Regular Water Bottle and one being a Lifestraw Bottle with a built-in filter.

Regular Water Bottle : It is recommended to use one packet of mineral supplements per day on a trek as it prevents dehydration. Prior to adding the mineral supplement to the water it is important to ensure that the water is treated. The water can be treated with water purification tablets or by boiling as and the support staff does this activity. As you move above the village level it is not necessary to treat the water, as the chance of contamination of the water is very low.

Juniper recommends use of a one-litre, hard plastic bottle.


Lifestraw Bottle: Juniper strongly recommends the use of Lifestraw bottles. These bottles comes in with a built-in filter which can treat water on the go without having to wait half an hour as is the practice when we use water purification tablets. The filter runs for 1000 liters, which even for active trekkers would translates to use for 5 years for an active trekker.

Key benefit of Lifestraw bottles is the reduction of build up of plastic generated from water bottles.