Water filters/purifiers

[mttgilbert]

I use a first need water purifier. It weighs around 18 ounces but filters down to .01 microns. It claims to take everything (including viruses) out of the water and I haven't had a problem yet. It costs around 80 bucks. I have also used iodine tablets and bleach, personally I like the purifiers (not just filters) better.

I would like to upgrade to a unit thats lighter and has a higher flow rate. Of course I want to retain the purifying aspect of the unit, any suggestions?

[berkforbes]

I have used a Katadyn hiker for a couple years now, pretty solid product.. but it does run about 60-70 bucks. cheap, lightweight and trustworthy i would go with simple iodine tablets and bank on not having to filter silty water.. I really like the new gravity fed filters, just not too stoked on the hollow fibers they use to filter with.. the technology should catch-up to itself in the next couple years id assume. id say just fork out some dough on a proper filter (msr, katadyn etc)

[te_wa]

its five to six drops of clear household bleach (NO lemon scented or any other oddball flavor, it can kill you) per Liter of water. you must let this react for 15-20 minutes also.
my new method is pro'lly going to add the Frontier Pro inline filter to a platypus for a gravity feed system. Add 2 micropur tablets to a 4L resevoir to get purification of viruses and bacteria, with the Frontier below it and the filter will get the larger, harder to kill protozoa.

total kit weight for a weekends' supply of CLO2 pills and frontier pro is 2.2 ounces. filter also removes much of the chlorine-ish taste.

note* i wouldnt even bother with iodine, it is inneffective against protozoa such as giardia and other amoeba, cryptosporidium etc... plus it is not good for your system to use anything more than emergency. or so it says on the packaging.

also, interesting to note if you are adamantly opposed to drinking safe city water, then you need to realize youre getting your healthy dose of chlorine dioxide every time you inhale the steam from a hot shower. enjoy!

[big_load]

Using bleach long-term is bad news, though.

[berkforbes]

Ya id prefer keeping bleach and as many other chemicals out of my body as much as possible.

[Sredfield]

Keeping the water pure is pretty important. If you are hiking in very high country were the steams are all flowing and clear, it's probably not an issue, but in the desert some of the sources are pretty skanky.
https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emer ... rifier.htm

[kevinweitzel75]

The whole bleach thing scares me. I think I will just use the tabs and bandana filter method till I get some money put together for a unit. Some things you shouldn't just skimp on. I was just looking at the Katadyn filters, think the hiker is the one I'm going to get. Tankx for all the advice from everyone. Damn I love this site. Thanks Joe.

[azbackpackr]

I have used bleach, it is yucky. I have a katadyn

[big_load]

I have used bleach, it is yucky.

I cleaned a Camelbak once with bleach solution that was probably too strong. I rinsed it a jillion times and thought it was OK, but the residual flavor the next time I used it made stomach gurgly, and I had to keep using it for another four days.

[johnlp]

Not sure why you would be afraid of bleach. Most tap water in the valley is disinfected with it. Just be careful about the concentration of it.

[azbackpackr]

It doesn't make me sick, but we did used to use it in our Scout troop, as it is very inexpensive. If the water was not clear you had to use more, and that was truly nasty. I was glad when I got the filter, since it doesn't taste so bad.

My son in the Marines says they have a new kind of filter they are using that is very small and compact and light in comparison to the Katadyn. I think it is commercially available but I forget what it is called.

[johnlp]

I heard the Marines use the MSR filter. Filter then disinfect is the safest method of treatment.

[dysfunction]

Not sure why you would be afraid of bleach. Most tap water in the valley is disinfected with it. Just be careful about the concentration of it.

it's disinfected with chlorine dioxide, not sodium hypochlorite though.

[johnlp]

Chlorine dioxide is used in a pretreatment process by some cities like Phx. If I remember correctly it helps reduce TTHMs. Chlorine dioxide is generally not used as a primary disinfectant. Most cities use sodium hypochlorite (bleach). Some larger plants still use gas CL2 as it is much cheaper than hypo. But since 911 most plants have changed from gas to hypo use.

[big_load]

I don't know anybody (except me sometimes) who drinks Pheonix city water. If they did, Fry's and Basha's would probably go out of business.

[te_wa]

i edited my above post, and to be sure if i did indeed use a water filter, which i sometimes do, it is the katadyn hiker.

[Jeffshadows]

Bleach is recommended by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Homeland Security for use as a water disinfection method. Their context is generally one of use for disinfection of water during a disaster, but any unsupported environment is really just the same thing under different circumstances.

[azbackpackr]

Remember Mr. B. and the story he told (over and over) about the kid who got convulsions from iodine-based water treatment tablets, and that is why he recommended the bleach? Plus, it is cheap. The trick is getting an eyedropper that doesn't leak too badly. If you use an old Visine bottle you are inviting trouble...someone could think it is Visine. Last time I used bleach, I used an old Visine bottle, though! I painted it bright red and put a big black X on it, so it would not look like a Visine bottle. Then I put it into two small ziploc freezer bags, the heavier ones. Stuff is nasty if it leaks...

[joebartels]

If you don't wish to deal with the containment issues of bleach there's always miox. However then it's like setting up lab each time you need water. You have to pay attention. You can't use really cold water and there's three factors to your success as opposed to one.

[te_wa]

steripen/bandana system works too.
dropper bottles of very high quality:
http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gos ... ttles.html
and here:
( dead link removed )

[joebartels]

I use the steripen and have found out a couple things. It is designed for lithium batteries. If you have the model with the blue seal and it leaks (you'll know by constant red flashes with brand new batteries) call and send it back to the manufacturer. They have more flexible seals than just a year ago. I think you have to pay the shipping costs, I don't know cause I've been too lazy to do it.

Bandanas are too heavy, use your ballcap and don't let that salt go to waste.