I'm still getting stuff together for a trip about a month or so away. Water is what I want to know about. I know a person needs about a gallon a day to drink and use. Cooking hygiene ect.
There is a creek close to were we are camping. What kind of water filtration would be needed to make the water safe?
I'd prefer not to use the pills. Filter then boil if needed. Two and a half day trip.
What water filtration would y'all recommend ?

I got a Sawyer Mini for myself, because it was inexpensive and comes highly recommended. I used it ten days ago on flooded muddy nasty creek water, and I'm not sick yet. However, I'm sure that's just one of many viable options.

The water quality of creeks can vary from pristine to hopelessly polluted with heavy metals from mining slagheap runoff or pesticides from farmland runoff. There's nothing you need to do in the first case and nothing you can do about the second one. While industrial pollutants are not frequent in the backcountry, you should determine if you might encounter them in the area where you would like to hike.

Generally speaking you don't need to worry about viruses in surface water in backcountry areas. The commonest hazards are bacteria or cysts such as cryptosporidia. Any of the filters commonly sold to backpackers and hikers will do a good job of removing these, if you use them with care.

I've recently switched over to using the Sawyer Mini. It is small, light, fairly inexpensive and easy to use. In the past I've used the Katadyn Hiker filter with good results. These are the only two I have direct experience with. Both worked fine.

How was it for filling say a cooking pot to rehydration of food ?

I would like to echo what aimless said.

First you should understand that water treatment is a personal choice and should be based on evaluating the water source you want to treat. My answer may not be the right answer for you. In that vein you need to try to determine what you are trying to protect yourself from/remove: cysts, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, radiation contamination, silt, smells?

Not much you can do about chemicals/radiation contaminants (sometimes can be a problem in the back country due to long gone mining activities). Silt usually requires pre-filtering (through a bandana). If you don't get rid of it, it can clog filters and reduce the effectivity of chemicals and UV treatments. Smells can be improved with active carbon filtering (think Brita but hopefully smaller). Most people say viruses tend not to be a problem in the backcountry in the US (filters usually won't get rid of them, UV and chemical will).

That leaves cysts and bacteria as the main concern to most people. Most techniques are pretty effective at getting rid of the stuff. I have a steripen. It is light (and it doesn't weigh much either) and fast. Some of the earlier models were a bit quirky but they have improved. If you choose this method, you should try it out before you get into the backcountry.

Many people express concern about relying on electronics for water sterilization. They did a study on hikers coming off the AT and found no correlation between water treatment techniques (including no treatment) and stomach problems. They found a good correlation between cleanliness techniques and stomach problems. In other words most people who say they got sick from backcountry water actually got sick from self contamination. I still treat water because the steripen is light and easy, but I don't get overly worried about backup techniques.

You asked about treating water for rehydrating food. If you bring it to a boil, you have treated it. I don't do anything else for water I am going to boil.

I was asking if I filter is with a filter then do I boil it too kill the viruses or bacteria?

The filter takes care of bacteria and protozoa. Viruses are not a concern in North America unless you are downstream of a town or other human settlement. In the last case (highly unlikely in most areas you'd be backpacking) I would double-treat the water by using chlorine dioxide for the viruses (for viruses, it takes only 15 minutes to do the job--the long times on the label are for protozoa). Frankly, for a large river I'd be more concerned about agricultural and other chemicals from upstream. Boiling water uses a lot of fuel (think weight), and you have to wait close to an hour for the water to cool before it's drinkable. Chlorine dioxide is used in many municipal water systems, and is quite safe.

On one trip my filter clogged beyond redemption and I had forgotten my chlorine dioxide pills. I had to boil the water for two people for three days, and it was a definite pain in the podex, requiring lots of extra time. I was just glad I'd brought extra fuel in case we caught a lot of fish (we didn't).

If your water source is a creek, with no upstream settlements (your map will tell you), don't worry about viruses. Any decent filter will take care of bacteria and protozoa, and the chances of virus contamination are basically zero.

You don't need to do anything for cooking water because you're going to boil it anyway.

Here is the CDC guide to backcountry water treatment. It mentions the filter size you need.

As mentioned by others above, keeping your hands clean is probably more important. Wash or use hand sanitizer after all toilet functions and before handling food. Don't let anyone else put their hands in your gorp bag. If you want to share food, pour it out. Just say "no thanks" if someone wants to share their food with you, since you don't know where their hands have been or whose hands have been in the bag. There has been close to an epidemic of norovirus along the Appalachian Trail the past few years, and it appears to be entirely due to inadequate hand sanitation, not to water contamination.

You can get by just fine using an inexpensive charcoal filter and boiling your water. That's what I do.

Here's a link to the filter I use.

They have a bottle they sell to use them with, but I use one of these from the "Dollar Tree" stores. They're a lot lighter and pack smaller.

That combo cost less than $10 and works great for me. I really don't think you can get much cheaper, or lighter weight, or anymore effective in the practical sense.

I used a Katadyn Hiker filter for a few years, but those are pretty heavy and the filters are rather expensive. The Sawyer previously mentioned is a good filter, but I've heard those can lock up if they're not cleaned and stored correctly, so if you get one be sure to follow those instructions to the letter.

Unless you've taken antibiotics recently, if you're going somewhere that has pristine water, drink it, enjoy it, and treasure it. It's the best you can get and the minerals and bacteria you'd filter out are good for you, so don't filter it. Most places I go here in the Ozarks I do not filter the water, I seek out good sources instead. Locating a spring is always high on my list of things to do while I'm backpacking.

Finally, I appreciate what others say here, but I personally would not use chorine dioxide or iodine. Chorine is poison. It will kill the good gut bugs that thrive in your stomach and intestines that are your 1st line of defense against those viruses, bacteria, and cysts you're intending to kill with it, and it kills everything that's good in the water too. If you do use it, then filter your water afterwards with a good filter, like the Sawyer or a charcoal filter to remove the chlorine (or remaining chlorides, chlorites, etc).

Honestly, I'm probably not experienced enough to be answering these sorts of health and safety related questions, but I figured more knowledgeable folk would chime in, and I see they did! Listen to them.

Chlorine dioxide releases oxygen when dissolved--that's the purifying agent. Don't confuse it with chlorine bleach, an entirely different chemical (sodium hypochlorite)! Admittedly, I use it only as a backup (I won't backpack in places where I have to use river water downstream of inhabited areas).

I agree about iodine, having had a nasty reaction to it only a few weeks after I started using it in the mid 1980s. I still have scars from the deep-seated rash, and I still cannot eat seafood, anything prepared with iodized salt or multi-vitamins containing iodine.

One important caveat: If it's an emergency, go ahead and drink the water, regardless. Dehydration will kill you, or at least incapacitate you, within a day. Giardiasis won't hit until long after you're safely home and close to medical care.

I agree OM, chlorine dioxide is not as bad as bleach, but I'm pretty sure they both convert to chlorites or chloramines or something like that when they react with bugs, and those are bad for you too. And either way it'd be about the same to your gut bugs if you drink it.

I'd opt for sunlight as a disinfectant before that if I could wait it out, but I'd use it an emergency if I had to as well.

Honestly, bleach isn't bad if you stick to the Red Cross recommendations. It's like drinking swimming pool water.
For years, I've filtered through a bandanna, or coffee filter, then added a couple drops of bleach per 1.5 liters and have never gotten sick. My daughter bought me a Life Straw for Christmas and I plan to use it on my next trip. But...mountain/desert spring water or desert creek water is crystal clear and bleach is all I've ever used. Sometimes I just drank it and never looked back.
I worry most about ag runnoff and river water at city level. Viruses and chemicals are my concern. Filter, charcoal filter, and bleach should take care of it. Municipal water departments probably don't go that far.

If you charcoal filter water after you treat it with chlorine or iodine it's pretty darn good. I can't taste either of them when doing that.

I've got a life straw. They're pretty cool. I haven't used it yet, but I keep carrying it with the intention to.

Maybe I'll try it this weekend. The Witch Hazel is blooming here right now and it's going to be in the 60ºs this weekend. I found a hollow in the Hercules Glades Wilderness last year that's filled with it. I need to go there and wallow in it.

I use the Platypus Gravityworks 4.0l and added the inline charcoal doohicky for about $12. Frankly, even my first few runs through it just to clean it up in the kitchen amazed me. The water is actually clear compared to tap. I mean, amazingly clear with zero taste. This has been my 100% go-to since I got it a year and change and roughly 30+ camping trips ago. I just use it, no tablets or anything around east TN. So far zero issues.

(scratches back with the random arm I don't remember having before but I swear I have no issues...)

lol thats funny ^^^ extra arm

Sorry, I live next to Oak Ridge, TN (aka the Manhattan project, Neutron Collider, a few spacialation projects, and lots of nuclear bits including the origianl A-bombs (see also Manhattan project). There are running jokes about getting diet water so you don't get tentacles, etc. I guess I just have a very oddly twisted sense of humor.

Twisted senses of humors are highly welcome here!
I noticed a strange glow to your writing.

No sense of humor here and I have no idea what you are talking about... What glow?

Hmmm.. Should have had the tentacle more to the right I think...

Oh, it's not that bad. I've heard that, on average, everybody has two eyes. Sounds normal enough to me.

Besides, that glass-paved, self-lighting parking lot at WalMart would seem to be a nice amenity for the town.

You know, I'm a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I could help you with that tentacle.