I've had to draw water from similar streams/rivers. What I use is my ex-US army canvas bucket with a rope tied to the handle. Works fine and, IMHO, the canvas bucket is a required accessory when camping. I even have a smaller, natural coloured (US army one is olive drab, about 10 litre capacity) version which I think is ex-French army.

If we are staying for any length of time at a camp spot by a stream/river/lake, we keep the big bucket for "dirty" use (cleaning etc) and the small one for potable water. Yup, where we usually camp we can drink the water, no cases of beaver-fever caught... yet.

alistair

On 2013-08-20, at 4:18 PM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

> On 08/17/2013 09:19 AM, mcneely4@cox.net wrote:
>> All sounds good, Mr. Squirrel.  When I am at a suitable water source
>> such as your river, I just use a bucket.  Pump is more eloquent, I
>> suppose, but also requires more stuff and more doing.
> 
> Aye, that it does. But the particular bank I plan to camp on on this
> particular river is quite steep and the water hits waist-deep about 6''
> from the "shore." Current's strong, too. There isn't a place to stand
> and dip water. Would need to immerse myself, then somehow haul myself
> and the bucket up the steep bank. Then do it a few more times. Thus the
> pump and hose I will toss in the water.
> 
> The pump and its hose are heavier than water. They would sink to the
> bottom and pump up silt if I just tossed them in. So I'll use a float to
> keep the pump up off the bottom. The pump will dangle on 2' of hose
> below the float. An anchor (a mesh bag of rocks, really) will keep the
> pump and float from drifting downstream.
> 
> I think I've designed this to work. And possibly win an award for most
> complicated way to go about doing anything, ever.
> 
>> BTW, what water treatment do you use?  If I am going to use the water
>> without boiling, I use chlorine bleach.
> 
> I'm going back and forth between chlorine bleach and iodine. Both
> effective, both cheap, both e-z-2-do, but both taste crummy. There are
> other methods but they are not inexpensive or don't easily handle larger
> volumes of water like in the Westy fresh water tank.
> 
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.