What is the best way to purify and treat water when in remote areas without breaking the bank

purification bottles or boil it.

http://www.lifesaversystems.com/lifesaver-products/lifesaver-bottle

Boiling and straining through at least a coffee filter.In the Marines we used Iodine tablets, not recomended in this day and age.

Charcoal & sand filtration, followed by a brief boil.. Only cost there may be containers, but a plastic bottle and a tin can will do  

Downside is, this takes time..

Katadyne water filter here.

I used the tablets from Wal-mart for a diy pack in hunt last year. The water was always very clear. I also carried a filter bottle in case of rain caused turbidity... but never got any appreciable rain the whole trip.

The tabs I used included tabs to kill the chemical taste after treatment. I also usually added lemon-lime gatorade mix (in the straws) or tang for some flavor/electrolytes.

The fancy filter systems are nice, but VERY expensive. Boiling works if you are not in a hurry... and UV will disinfect it for you if you have some clear 2 liter soda bottles. Just fill the bottles and leave them in the sun for 6 or so hours. Put 'em back in the stream to chill.

oops, dble post

If the water sources are basically clear, rather than cloudy or muddy, a Steripen is the best system out there. It is very light, kills everything and is easy to use. Filters are great, but are much heavier. And using them in cloudy water will clog them too, so its not a given they will work either. All systems should be backed up with tabs or the means to boil(fuel and stove).

Google Steripen and read all the reviews from the last year or two. They have been improved. I have used mine a lot this last year and am very impressed. Where I hunt, filters are extra weight you don't need to carry. A lot of the West is like this in the mountains. Clear water in seeps and small streams/creeks that are perhaps laden with giardia etc, but clear running.
You can find them for under 70.00 sometimes.

Joshua

I don't know how much "breaking the bank" would be, but I love my MSR Sweetwater Microfilter.  They're not cheap at about $90.00, but they do a super job.  I just got back this weekend from an elk hunt in Colorado and used it every day.  I'd get another one quick if this one ever fails.

Bernie Bjorklund

NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin

I use an MSR filter and a steripen combined.  The filters don't catch some of the nasties but the steripen will.  The steripen won't take out suspended particles but the steripen will.  A filter sometimes will be covered in slime after filtering even some pretty clean looking water.  This is one place you should break the bank if you possible can.

i quote from a cyber friend (who's into serious, remote mexican roosterfishing in the surf), todd "high plains drifter" ...

"... the cheapest and most convenient method of water purification is the way the hardcore mountaineers, explorers, and adventurers do it.  Many of them use Betadine.  It is a povidone-iodine 10% solution that can be cheaply bought at virtually all drug stores as a wound antiseptic.  Four drops in one liter of tap water (sixteen drops to a gallon) will kill the nasties in a half hour.  Now here is the secret.  Crushing and dissolving a tablet of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) into the Betadine treated water (after the half hour rest) will completely neutralize the taste of the Betadine.  It will taste like spring water!  Betadine will render even pond, puddle, and river water safe to drink in an emergency.  Additionally, it is a very effective wound antiseptic in its undiluted form."

X2 on the Katadyn filter.  We use the basecamp model for canoe camping.  

It is hard to beat iodine tablets, and the Vitamin C trick will kill the taste.  Another option that works on the same principal is the MIOX device sold by MSR.  Ive used it in the boundary waters many times and carried it for a month in peru with no problems.

Katadyne filter pump here too. Packed it in on 2 backpack hunts to Colorado now. I always keep iodine in my survival kit just in case.

i would say iodine purification pills or a good quality filter water pump. if u decide to go with the pump, wen you buy one watch how many liters per min it will pump some are very SLOW.

Used the Katadyne this summer.  Not the pump, the gavity bag style.  Awful convenient.  Fill it up, 30 minutes later you have a lot of filtered water, no pumping.  I like the tablets when saving weight though.

I use steripen and paper coffe filters for large particles....

The Katadyn pocket filter has been the Gold Standard for a long time.  It isn't cheap but the filter lasts a LONG time and can be cleaned.  But they cost around $280 right now.  You can buy cheaper filters that aren't as rugged for around $80 or so and they work as well.  

I've tried others but always come back to my trusty Katadyn pocket filter....

Sunlight is the cheapest.

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/health/how-to-purify-water-with-sunlight/

See the link - this is how we do it most of the time when backcountry trout fishing because the water out of the stream is so clear you do not need to filter it.  Just put it in a bottle and let it sit all day in the sun.  We use a gallon plastic jug but it sits all day(12-14rs) in direct sunlight.  If it were only going to get 6hrs I would use the smaller bottles.  

A little obvious but overlooked trick is to fill the bottle with the opening facing down stream.  You get almost no floaties in there if you are careful.

Bob Urban