Heading back up to Canada in several weeks. Last time I went, I just drank the water from the streams and didn't worry about purifying it. Not really interested in pressing my luck on that again. I don't want to mess with a pump. What tablets would you recommend? Katadyn?

Katadyn knows their stuff. Probably tastes a lot better than iodine pills too. I would go with those if I were to rely on pills only....

If you have to melt snow, a water filter is a good idea to filter out the grit.

Have you looked into getting a filter straw? Much smaller than a pump. Im assuming you are only needing the filter or tablets for drinking water.

Bleach.

katadyn is the only way to go..buy the filter we used them a lot in the USMC

Polar Pure is what i prefer. Small bottle with iodine crystals in it. Rotate two bottles at a time so you always have water and iodine ready. Check it out if you are interested. Used this stuff in the boundary waters and hiking in the mountains.

I like the katadyn micropur tabs when not using a filter. They are not iodine and the only (barely noticable imo) taste is similar to tap water.

8 drops of bleach per gallon of water. kills everything, and is cheaper than dirt / eot

Make it 3 votes for bleach - just plain old bleach. I have used it in the Rockies and in the Boundary Waters, where giardia can be a problem, and all the way up to the northern edges of Quetico in Canada - where the water is so clear you can see the bottom 20 ft down. At worst, it tastes like tap water.

I like a filter too - mostly for grit and if you don't want to carry a pump, you can find a fine cloth to filter grit.

I like the AquaMira drops - tiny and light. Pre-filter with a bandana if needed. http://aquamira.com/consumer/aquamira-water-treatment-drops/product-description