Water Filters
 

Hi all
I'm interested in which Water Filters travellers are using, tell me which you are using good points and bad, cost, and availability of repair and service parts and any general comments you have, and if you take water purification tablets. Many thanks Skip
?c? please

I bought a Drink-Safe inline water filter for use in a Kriega reservoir with quick release valves. I use the Kriega polyurethane bladder inside a larger Kriega backpack.

I used this set-up in India and Sri Lanka and I'm still alive. I didn't have any stomach problems but I can't be more scientific than that.

Pros:
Excellent for individual filtered water on the move.
The filter is economical as you can stop buying bottled water.
It's light and doesn't add much to your kit.
It's a fairly unbreakable piece of plastic requiring little maintenance during its lifetime.
It can be removed; turning the reservoir back to standard in locations where you trust the water
The best part of the Kriega reservoir is that the entire end opens; making thorough cleaning very easy.

Cons:
Drawing water through the reservoir tube is slightly harder with a lower flow rate.
Not the best system for producing larger quantities of safe water.
Stephan

I always bring one just in case, but never really need it. Better to have it and not need it than to not have it and needing it.

It's the Katadyn Hiker because of it's cleaning requirements and because I don't like fragile carbon ones.

Same company Drink-Safe Systems but I have the 'Survivor' - the one that looks like a bike/sports bottle.

Goes in a pocket and is very easy to use anywhere at all. Gives me 500ml in about 30 seconds.

The Katadyn Pocket Filter is still the gold standard as far as I'm concerned. It's expensive and a bit slow, but you won't be replacing cartridges very often when the original is good for 10,000-plus gallons. At a gallon a day that's over 25 years of use.

These water filters seem interesting...but borrow one from a buddy, and pump yourself 1 gallon of water. You'll see the amount of time/work involved.

I'd take a bottle of bleach...3oz..with a dropper. 2 drops per liter, shake, wait 15 minutes and then drink.

On my trip, bottled water was always available and when I found a local deep well source, I drank from there.

Natural
 

I think if camping that using some charcoal in a cloth as a water filter is pretty effective especially if the water's then used for coffee or cooking. That said I was put on a drug a few months ago that had the nasty side effect of weakening my immune system a lot. I planned a trip to north Africa and splashed out on a Katadyn filter. Now I'm off the drug and wonder if I'll bother to carry the filter. I suspect the risks are being stressed by sellers who have gear to sell. Nomads in the Sahara have never carried filters I suspect. I think the most important thing is camp hygiene personally. Linzi.

Are risks exaggerated by filter makers? Probably. Is it silly to be concerned about pathogens in water from unknown sources? I don't think so. Fecal contamination is a world-wide problem, and using a filter on suspect water is a simple way to avoid, at the least, several miserable down-days. Sure, people accomplish major trips all the time drinking anything they find - I've done so myself - but plenty of people have much worse luck.

Boiling works perfectly, but wastes fuel. Bleach works fine too if you're diligent with the proportions, but the taste can leave a lot to be desired. A filter simply removes a lot of doubt.

Thanks
 

Thanks for that. I once read a book about the dangers in water worldwide and it scared me frankly. I shall take the Katadyn and observe the locals' systems. One point that interestes me is the water holes in the Sahara for instance. It would only take one dead animal falling in to make the water dangerous yet these have stayed good for thousands of years. Are they sometimes not safe or does nature have other killers of the pathogens? As an aside the nomads used a bit of pitch in their water urns on camel treks to keep the fresh water safe. Considering it's only millions of trios of molecules its a very complex subject!

Things to note.. that it is not the fact that there is actual pathogens in water supply but NEW and DIFFERENT pathogens. OJE is correct contamination is world wide but the bugs you have been exposed to for a long time in you local water supply your body is used to so they have no effects on you. A person from the developing world can just as easily get sick in Europe as vis-versa.

If you want your filter to be effective you must get the finest filtration size as possible. Filter with pores larger than 0.2 microns will let bacteria through. AS well as the cysts (spores) of Giardia.

Most filters do not do anything for viral loads so it is always best to do a three part kill system, filter to 0.2micons, treat with puratab (e.g bleach or iodine) and carbon filter. There are some filters that do all three in one. They have a iodine treated filter with a 0.2um filter and a carbon end filter.

If you boil your water, remember the rule is 5 minutes to kill protozoa (Cryptosporidiosis and Giardia) and virsus, (remember to add 1 minute to this time for each 1,000 feet above sea level starting at about 3-4,000 feet). Boiling will NOT neutralize chemical pollutants.

Bleach or iodine to kill the nasties in the water works well. This method can be lightweigh, but will also not neutralize chemical toxins. YOU must make sure that water at 25 deg. C (75deg. F) sits for AT LEAST 20-30 minutes with iodine/bleach in it for purification to take place (and before adding any flavor it can react and lessen the efficacy of the treatment). If the water is colder, you will need to let it sit longer - possibly overnight for cold stream water. Used properly, iodine will kill most protozoa and all bacteria and viruses in water. BUT after prolonged use, some people develop thyroid problems, so be aware of this potential side effect.


A carbon filter can remove some/most chemical toxins, and can make the water taste better after all the above treatments.


enjoy!


Oh and beer is safe to drink as it has been treated (boiled) to sterliisation temps to extract the flovors from the grains and to allow the fermintation process to work!!! (so maybe we should all just drink beer all the time)...:smartass:

I came back to make exactly this point, but Xander beat me to it.

It would only take one dead animal falling in to make the water dangerous yet these have stayed good for thousands of years. Are they sometimes not safe or does nature have other killers of the pathogens?

The Sahara is actually very sterile compared to the more humid and populated Sahel. And in my experience the 'dead animal falling' scenario (similar to the 'dead sheep upstream' worry I've often heard in the British hills) is extremely rare. I think it may have happend at the vital Arbre du Tenere well (on the salt caravan route) where they simply dug a new well alongside. But it is one reason desert people never live right next to wells, which are not as old as you think in the Sahara.

Out there animals are of course rare and those that are indigenous (ie: not camels) never actually drink, they get all water from eating plants (or other animals).

I used a Katadyn Pocket on a recent desert trek relying on natural waterholes (no wells). It sure beat the taste of Iodine, even neutralised, and is a solid bit of low-maintenance kit that will last for years. In the short term it is awkward and slow to use for more than a few litres a day (depending on contamination). A crank (as on the Hiker) looks easier to operate.

This effort is all relative. On foot or bicycle I would not begrudge it as the consequences of getting ill are more troublesome. TBH, I think on a motorbike (if that's what we're talking about), as Edde says, getting and carrying enough clean (bottled) water is much less of an issue than people think - on the road in certain countries, what you get fed is as likely to lay you low as what you drink.

Ch

Pure Hydration Water Purifier, Check this out
 

Hi
Many thanks to all those who replied to this thread, i was very interested in which water filter and system you were all using, i myself have used an MSR filter in South America and have been with friends who have Katadyn filters, but in 2007 i started using a purifier/filter from a local company Pure Hydration here in Farnham ( England ) they supply both the MOD in Afghanistan and Iraq and now both the RAF Typhoon fighter squadron and the Saudi Arabian air force with water purifier/filters.They are all ready famous in the Backpacking world for there water purifying bottles. I have just used one of there pumps and purifier for over a year now and i have to say, and this is just my view, that this is by far the best I've used, its light easy to clean and store, and pumps water very fast but the one thing that impressed me the most is that it is a Purifier not just a filter and that is some thing that all the others aren't. this is the link to there web page www.bwtechnologies. com/inline_connectors.html
I have attached in-line purifiers to my friends Hepco Becker panniers, the water he was carrying in the little compartment had started to taste a bit offish, and with a bit of fiddling it worked, this was just temporary but it did take the taste away.
I'm not one who would normally rave on about a product but i think were health is concerned its worth saying something, check out there web site,
at the moment there are know pictures of the pump and purifier that i used but if you contact them I'm sure they will be happy to give you any info you want. I hope this is of interest cheers Skip:clap:

water purifier
 

Just noticed this thread. Another option is the steripen (steripen.com). It uses ultaviolet light to purify the water. They are super small and light and can use regular AA bateries. My wife and I have used ours for all of our water on a one month backpacking trip in Turkey and several backcountry trips around the rocky mountains with no trobles. We are going to bring it as our water treatment for our upcoming Mexico CA moto trip.

Regarding the "dead animal in the well" legend: My wife and I draw all our water from an 80-year-old hand-dug well about 75 feet deep, with a water level that varies between 15 feet below the surface to 50 feet, depending on rains in southern Arizona.

A couple of years ago the cover was knocked loose by cows, and a skunk fell in and drowned, then decomposed to a fine state before I discovered it and fished it out in several slimy pieces. Needless to say we were a bit concerned, and I dumped some bleach in the well and monitored it carefully. Not only did we not get sick, we never noticed the slightest effect from the poor skunk. No taste even. So I don't think there's much to worry about from dead animals in wells.

We choice to filter/purify our water in attempts of not getting sick, but reality is you are more likely to get sick due to poor hygiene/fecal contamination, etc than water. Filters are over rated and over valued IMHO. Hand sanitizer > Filter.

If you need clean water when there is no such thing on a RTW trip I would bring the following 3 things.

A pair of thin dress socks (cheap, 1$ pair at Wal Mart) or panty hose. Place this over the mouth of the water bottle and submerge the bottle. The nylon will not allow water in unless air is being pushed out, so squeeze the bottle. This acts as a “pre filter” to get rid of the “floaties”. Prefiltering is huge and can be as simple as a bandana in a Ziploc.

A “filter”: there are plenty of options in the market. For me I want a gravity filter that is self cleaning. Self cleaning means it never needs to be replaced. Best on the market is the cartridge from MSR AutoFlow Gravity Microfilter. You can buy the whole thing but all you need is the cartridge.

Last but not least is food grade hydrogen peroxide. Here in the US it’s 3% H202 and you need a prescription for it. (The stuff in the brown bottle that is sold over the counter is .03%.) This is the same as Iodine or Chlorine, all are diatomic but H202 doesn’t leave the bad taste and is the strongest oxidizer. You must be careful with this stuff because of this as well. Red Cross used this for a long time, don’t know if they still do.

…..You wouldn’t believe the water I have drank from. From stack cow paddies to catch agriculture run off to scooping dead mice for a spring box to finding leeches in my water bottle. Maybe I should post some pics:rofl:

Just because you carry a filter doesn’t mean it will save you. 10,000 Guardia fit on the head of a needle and they are actually pretty big for evil things in your water. On your filter do you rap the “in” and “out” hoses together when you pack it up? Just a heads up.


Any vitamin C will get rid of the taste. The “nuterizer” is just vitamin C. So Emergen-C or any powder drink mix with C is great.
Been VERY VERY few cases of this and was linked to WW2 when nurses where covered in Iodine for years.

Water filters
 

As for the necessity of water filters, I can only quote a doctor who regularly does volunteer work in Nepal. He regularly tests all the water sources for Kathmandu and they are all contaminated with fecal matter. What makes a gastro attack serious is the habit of (poor) locals who buy only a part dose of antibiotics and the bugs end up being resistant. A gastro in Nepal is always very unpeasant and you may have to walk for a week before getting medical attention in Kathmandu. It's surely best to avoid it.

Guys...nobody is saying to drink the water untreated...but IMHO, I'd take the risk if the water came from a deep bore well.

The point thats important to realize is that the water filter is one method of purifying the water, as are iodine tablets, pens, bleach, etc.

How many people who have posted here have personally travelled for a month or longer and have pumped their own water for their drinking needs during that entire trip?

When bottled water has been available it makes practical sense to take advantage of it....and when its not, the filter is my last choice due to bulk, effort, etc. I'd rather bleach and mask than sit there pumping...

This is not true... for a good review article please see

H Backer and J Hollowel (2000) Use of iodine for water disinfection: iodine toxicity and maximum recommended dose. Environ Health Perspect. 108(8): 679–684. (or a host of others search pubmed or similar)



If you want to get technical it mainly effects people that already have as of yet undiagnosed thyroid problems (e.g. sub-clinical symptomatology) or people who are hypersensitive to it. But the rates are high enough that i felt it my responsibility to point out any possible problems as i was speaking in a clinical means.
for more on the use of iodine as a purifier the CDC has a great summary.


That would be me! (>3.5 months)....

But it is 100% correct that water purification is only 1 step of many to avoid gastointestial problems.. there is no point in cleaning your water if you then stick the pathogens directly in your mouth via unclean hands or food or a million other things... (but that was not what this post was about).

AND Did you pump water daily for your drinking needs during the entire 3.5 months?

I went for a year long trip...through some pretty remote parts and if there's something more prevalent than petrol in these far enough places, its bottled water.

Yeah several times a day too..Drink and hand/face washing.. even pumped the Bottle water when in India because it was a well known scam: that the bottled water was from the tap and just sealed correctly...

The two or three minutes in pumping the water was better then the 4-5 days of the gastro.. the only time i got really sick was when i did not wash my hands before dahl-bat (which you eat with your hands).

more BS
 

I apologize, I should have said. “Been VERY few cases of this and one of the first know was linked to WW2 when nurses where covered in Iodine for years.”

But like your H Backer and J Hollowel article says, “Despite the extensive use of iodine for both pharmacologic preparations and water disinfection over the past 50 years, they are remarkably few reports of resulting clinical thyroid disorders” It also says, “By using appropriate disinfection techniques and monitoring thyroid function, most people can use iodine for water treatment over a prolonged period of time”

Like anything with prolonged use is not always a good thing. I have a better chance of punishing my liver than my thyroid gland on a long trip.

Xander is correct though, if we are getting technical, Iodine should not be used by persons with allergy to iodine, persons with active thyroid disease, or pregnant women.

And since we are getting technical, Iodine will not kill cyclospora/cyclosporiasis. This is the parasite you where mentioning Tim Wood. But due to the size it is easily removed by filtering.

IMHO carrying a pre filter, filter and a chemical treatment is your best bet. Like many other have said, you have a better chance of getting something bad due to poor hygiene.

Outside the US I find myself buying water and drinking a lot more hot beverages and beer. The lady and I road mountain bikes up from Panama City back home to the States on back roads as much as possible and “water” was never a problem for us. I attempted to walk from the China/Laos border following the Mekong to the South China Sea. Dumbest thing I have ever done in my life. This was called off shortly after I started due to UXO’s. I still spent 6 months in SE Asia with no “water” problems. I did treat/filter at times for the first week or so. These are the only 2 trips I have had “third world” where water wasn’t readily available and neither was a problem. The rest of the time I have been on roads and in towns.


Here in the US I have walked from GA to ME twice and Mexico to Canada twice. With over 10k miles hiked I have drank plenty of water that doesn’t come from a tap or bottle. Even though I carried them I treated/filtered very little of this water while others did every drop. I have a total BS saying, I filter with knowledge. If it is an area of poor water sources I will carry more on my back and limit my sources. I try not to drink out of things I cannot step over. I try to drink from springs or sources with flow.

I personally believe it comes down to what your body can handle and your hygiene.

I've traveled for as long as a full year, filtering virtually all my water by hand. It''s not that difficult, really--not compared to maintaining a motorcycle under trying conditions.

Filters are not the only answer, of course, but they're quite workable. Buying water is also workable, though in some areas re-sealed tap water is common. I don't care for the mess of plastic bottles, and I don't care for the expense. Still, I buy water on short trips like the one I'm on now, when neither expense nor waste stream issues predominate.

enjoy,

Mark (from Guerrero Negro)

A filter removes funk (poop), larger bugs and some bacteria. Chlorine Dioxide or a steripen should kill everything in water and is all you need if you don't mind drinking a little sterile poop.

http://zenbackpacking.net/WaterTreatment/mioxGreen.jpg
Zen Backpacking - Water Purification, Filtration and Treatment

YouTube - Make it yourself water filter

The attached link shows how to make one using a Brita Water filter and some 2" plastic pipe. It's easy to use....but you still need to boil or use clorine to kill the nasties. Total price is about $8-10 US

There's are other videos as well.

daryl

Hello!

I don't have any experience with water filters, but I've been looking around for one. The one I have found is gravity fed and does not require any pumping. It's suppose to filter 1,5 liters a minute. And the best thing is it's weight and packing size! At 300grams and rolled up, it's neat.

I don't have a link but the name is MSR autoflow gravity microfilter

Tom

The MSR Tom refers to can be seen here

I use a combination of Katadyn's Pocket filter
then after pumping through I use Katadyn's Micropur Forte Sodium Hypochloride + Silver chloride which disinfects and protects water for up to 6 months-
IMHO, the best combination you can get for reliable, cleaned, high volumes of water (0.2 micron ceramic depth filter -cleanable) and no batteries required.
Let's face it- Katadyn give a TWENTY YEAR guarantee on this filter- which says a great deal -
Tip:
when buying the Micropure Forte Check the expiry date- many shops stock it for a long time and if often it is within a few months of its use by date.
The liquid is way cheaper than the tablets by a very long mile- Not as practical but using a diabetic syringe, you can measure up the right dose and they are tiny! 1ml per 10 litres of water

Interesting, I use a KPF but don't usually bother with extra pills/liquids as the areas where I need it are are unpopulated.

Never heard of Forte pills or liquid. Looks like it's the 'Classic' using silver whatnot but with added chlorine. I also notice Kat sell 'Anti Chlor' additive to neutralise the Forte taste.

Does Forte pill or liquid taste very chlorine-y without it?

On the Kat website 100L of Forte as liquid is not that much cheaper than 100L in pills - but then I noticed 1000L of liquid Forte works out 10 x cheaper as you say.

But AFAIC google, they dont seem to sell liquid Forte the UK.

Looking for something better to easily dose 20L bags for a group. Iodine even with neutraliser was pretty awful unless you cover it with flavoured powders. The KP filter is too slow to do everyone.

Ch

Hi Chris
I buy my KTD Forte (by pre-ordering) from very helpful fellow from a pharmacy in Lille, France. who ensured I had the longest sbd possible. (02-2011 on my batch bought 2 months ago) (p.m. me if you need specific info)
If you have a 4x4 ( bit large for a bike!) , I can recommend a good gravity filter from The Healthy House
The liquid Forte, especially for large groups, provided no one reacts to that chemical, is the way to go IMHO
Tablets for large amounts are very dear.
Forte liquid leaves a very very very faint chemical signature but hardly noticeable when dosed correctly- it takes such micro amounts that the temptation is to add 'just a bit more' which is a mistake and unnecessary. I do not use a neutraliser- the distant /faint taste reminds me the water is safe.
The Healthy House generously donated some of these with spare cartridges all of which I drove to and delivered to an orphanage in Socoura Mopti, Mali.

saw this new filter that doesn't use chemicals on the ted website
 

Now before anyone flames me and goes nope doesn't work etc. Just watch the video. The guy has come up with something seem to work to deal with bug and viruses. Beyond that it seem to made not just another product but something for the third world water problem. Runs between 150 to 400 for the jerry can model.
Michael Pritchard's water filter turns filthy water drinkable | Video on TED.com

katadyn Micropur Forte
 

Just to go one bigger, i have 500grams of this in powder form (MF 50000P) recently purchased from a local French chemist (around 3 week order time) which cost 84euros and treats 50000 litres! Even cheaper than the liquid per litre if you can use it within its shelf life, can't leak/evaporate like the liquid may. This is mainly a good idea for me in my campervan, to both pretreat water added to the camper tank, and keep the tank in a good condition without using a strong bleach type treatment. This is for all the water to be used, not just for drinking, and should last ages in a tub the size of a big coffee mug.
The downside is dosing. The measurement spoon is 10grams sufficient for 1000l obviously, unless I put a big water tank on the roof to fill the campers tank from when it needs a top up ;) I'll only need a fraction of this depending how much water I put in at a time.
My solution is to put 10grams in a litre nalgene filled with clean water. If i put 200l in the watertank, I need to add 200ml of micropur from the nalgene. Since I only got the stuff today, I don't know if this will work, will 1 litre carry 10grams of the stuff fully dissolved, will it eat into the nalgene? We'll see. I doubt there will be a problem since chemical strengths for purification are a lot lower than for cleaning bleaches which I could also be using.
As long as I know how much water I put into the tank though!?! :)

Overland Journal just published what I believe is our finest technical equipment test yet: a review of 12 water treatment systems. We obtained clinically contaminated water (E. coli) and had the treated or filtered water lab tested to ascertain the efficacy of each unit. The issue (Fall 2009) is out now. Some interesting results, and a tutorial that should be of value to anyone shopping for a treatment system, even one we didn't cover.

Katadyn
 

Hi There,

We got very sick by drinking supposedly safe tap water in Bulgaria.. After that incident which took us several long weeks to recover from we pumped ALL water that we took using a katadyn pocket filter. The tool is brilliant however i would give you two pieces of advice..

1. bring some good quality fine cloth to filter the water going into a "dirty bottle".. take out as much fine dust as possible. Coffee filters are great but they are paper and hard to get new ones when they get totally clogged up in remote areas..
2. Once you have the dirty bottle you can pump the water from that into a clean bottle which you can then drink without any issues.

After 6 months on the road we didn't get sick again and the water was always good..

The link to the filter is
Products - Katadyn Products Inc.

back to iodine
 

Since this discussion started the EU have banned the sale of iodine for water disinfecting purposes.

More here, among other places.

An 'EU ban' can lead to a certain amount of scoffing of course, but if iodine gets hard to buy, that may explain it.

Ch

for drinking water i go down the few drops of bleach per litre route, then wait a while and put an efervescent orange flavour vitC tab in it, drinking out of an old evian bottle cos i is posh dont ya know. i had one of those collapsible water bottles from aerostitch and it was great but when it wore out i kept the bottles from water i bought, they are surprisingly strong and last a long time, waisted ones can be tied onto luggage or handlebars easily.

bear in mind this does absolutely nothing to get rid of all the skanky bits of mud, faeces and larvae that might be clouding up the water!

about the food, and poor cooking/personal hygiene issues in eateries, was it sam manicom who wrote that fresh vegetables are nearly always safe to eat, and best to cook for yourself? that makes sense to me, although not being a vegetarian i do have to play salmonella roulette occasionally