I agree oldranger... I guess I am guilty of the same

My opinion on the issue is water treatment is much like having a first aide kit. I asked a while back what people have used the FAK for and several people much more experienced than me said they have never used it. The problem with leaving it at home is it could become life threatening if you don't have it.

I think the chance of getting sick in the high country from drinking well selected untreated water is minimal, however getting severe diarrhea out there is potentially life threatening. It is probably bad public policy to tell people not to treat their water, however I think it is also bad public policy to over-blow the threat. You could scare some people into treating their water... you could also scare some people into becoming so fearful of untreated water that they literally die of dehydration before they would sip out of a stream.

I always treat back-country water, but I don't think it is necessary to have back-up methods if my treatment technique (filtering) fails.