Water Filtration

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retired jerry
Posts: 14395
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Water Filtration

Post by retired jerry » February 27th, 2016, 4:46 pm

Steripen doesn't work good on really silty water, like from glacier run-off. The silt blocks the UV light from getting everywhere. You can double the treatment time if it's a little silty. Sometimes, you can let the water sit and the silt will settle. Silty water isn't good for a filter either, because it plugs it up.

I don't think it matters if water quality in PNW tends to be better. It's a statistical thing. If you drink a lot of untreated water, you'll likely eventually get sick, but maybe not. And some people get sick without significant symptoms. You have to base the decision on testing of the filter or Steripen. Testing of what parasites are out there and whether the treatment works. Studies of a bunch of people thru-hiking the PCT are good because there's a lot of people-days.

Treating with Steripen or Sawyer weighs about 3 ounces and both are pretty easy so you may as well do it. Maybe it will prevent an illness from ruining a trip some day.

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Koda
Posts: 3466
Joined: June 5th, 2009, 7:54 am

Re: Water Filtration

Post by Koda » February 27th, 2016, 5:09 pm

retired jerry wrote:Steripen doesn't work good on really silty water, like from glacier run-off. The silt blocks the UV light from getting everywhere. You can double the treatment time if it's a little silty. Sometimes, you can let the water sit and the silt will settle.
Steripen also doesn’t treat at all any of the water on the lip and threads of the container.... the part you put your lips to or pour from.
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

madrone
Posts: 4
Joined: March 19th, 2016, 8:56 pm

Re: Water Filtration

Post by madrone » March 19th, 2016, 9:35 pm

I use the Sawyer Squeeze on every hike. Never had a single problem with it (and I have struggled with other filters in the past. It is easy to clean and very affordable. Not to mention also that 1 or 1.5 liter water bottles last forever and are about the lightest option out there. Totally recommend the Sawyer Squeeze.

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trog
Posts: 2
Joined: March 28th, 2016, 8:57 pm

Re: Water Filtration

Post by trog » April 13th, 2016, 9:03 pm

Yep, the Sawyer squeeze and the mini are both good. In my experience the squeeze has faster flow.
And if there is any possibility of freezing at night, I put it in a zip lock an in my sleeping bag with me. Freezing the filter is sure death to it.

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jalepeno
Posts: 150
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: far north Forest Park

Re: Water Filtration

Post by jalepeno » May 14th, 2016, 8:50 am

I use a MSR Mini-works.
It is relatively heavy but extremely reliable.
It screws onto the top of a water bottle or my MSR dromedary bag.
If it clogs after pumping cloudy water, I can clean it in the field.
Previously, I used a water filter that was not field cleanable.
When it clogged, I was out of luck.

I have been with people who used the Lifestraw.
It seemed reliable, except that you can't pump a quantity of water.
Been on many trips where others' Steri-pens failed.
I wouldn't trust those.

Chazz
Posts: 321
Joined: May 26th, 2013, 12:53 pm

Re: Water Filtration

Post by Chazz » May 15th, 2016, 12:42 pm

Amazon currently has a deal going on for the Sawyer filtering products: Mini and the PointOne.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8745723-sawyer- ... 13-55-more

mreha
Posts: 81
Joined: July 26th, 2015, 7:51 pm
Location: Portland

Re: Water Filtration

Post by mreha » May 30th, 2016, 8:19 pm

I'm a big fan of the Sawyer Mini, you can't beat it for weight...it's a little slow, maybe, but I'm patient. I've never had a problem with it clogging, but I take the syringe along with me (very lightweight) and backflush it every time I use it. Once when I was filtering glacier run-off near Elk Cove I had to flush it after every liter or so because it would start slowing down, but the water was exceptionally silty - you could see a spray of darkish brown water come out when I would flush it so obviously it was just doing its job :lol:

Do yourself a favor though and replace the bag it comes with, which is very stiff plastic and can be difficult to fill - I use a Platypus bag and it is SO much easier. Threading it onto the Platypus can be a little tricky so I turn it upside down for a few seconds and make sure it's not leaking dirty water before I start filtering.

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alpinista55
Posts: 25
Joined: June 30th, 2016, 1:44 pm

Re: Water Filtration

Post by alpinista55 » July 6th, 2016, 11:11 am

Has anyone tried the Katadyn BeFree filter and bottle system? Lots of talk over on the BackpackingLight forum about this filter system, better flow (2.5x) than the Sawyer mini, easier cleaning, but a 43mm thread that is hard to match up with collapsable bottles. It comes with a .6 L flask, and will supposedly fit on HydraPak Seeker containers 1L, 2L, 3L.

https://www.rei.com/product/100537/kata ... filter-set

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/top ... /#comments

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