"I would even consider prefiltering and chemicals as long as the taste of the water is not like drinking from a rinsed out DOW chemical truck."

Common among lightweight backpackers is Aqua Mira drops (two small plastic bottles, pre-mix drops from each, wait five minutes, add to water and shake). Not too expensive to try out to see if you like this approach --- can always buy a more expensive filter later if you don't. It's what I use, and I don't notice any taste issue, whereas with the old iodine tablets I very definitely did.