Been using a Platypus gravity feed for more than a decade now: 3 liters at a time almost effortlessly. A carbon add-on section helps clean up odors and taste, and the main filter takes out everything larger than, say, a single COVID particle.

Ok, that was a joke. Portable filters don't, as far as I know, work against viruses, heavy metals, or natural toxics like arsenic. In most areas those are not what I'm worried about; I just filter vast amounts of tap water.

I really don't like buying single-use water bottles. At 3 liters per day, that adds up to hundreds per trip, which preys on my admittedly-porous conscience.

Mark

Ultraviolet light......from a steripen. Especially if you're mostly purifying hotel water. 90 seconds and you have a liter of drinkable water. Another 90 seconds and you have a liter for the road tomorrow.

My memory is that it kills bacteria (99.99%) outright, and disrupts the DNA/RNA of virus so they can't reproduce.

Steripen is light, small, effective and quick. Without the contamination problems of cleaning a filter. If your source of water is from a river and there is a lot of stuff floating around in it, a filter is probably a better choice, although you can filter out a lot of gunk through a bandanna and then use the steripen on it.

....................shu

Oh dear....
Here we go again. Mark do please offer accurate information especially when it comes to safety and water safety which is, IMHO paramount to well being.
It is all about nanometers and the Lifesaver membranes have a pore size of approximately 15 nanometers or 0.015 microns
For information, please read here:
https://iconlifesaver.com/news/how-t...-water-filter/
Thank you.

How is Mark's comment not accurate? Even the link you gave says the same thing:

'A portable water filter only removes bacteria and protozoa, but NOT virus, which are far smaller.'

If he'd said portable water purifiers (and Lifesaver are big on distinguishing between filter and purifier) don't remove viruses that might have been different.

Anyone any ideas / info on whether out on the road (as opposed to on a company's marketing page) waterborne viral infections are a bigger hazard than bacteria / protozoa.

SOME portable filters DO filter out viruses.
(Marks' platypus does not)

IconLifesaver produce various filters based on the same membrane tech. principle; some are huge (and often seen where humanitarian aid is taking place after a disaster event worldwide) others are small handheld bottles. They also have jerrycans, cubes etc.
If anyone is interested in actual facts (rather than sales & marketing blurb) they can go to their site to get information and seek proof of claims.
For me, water safety is a number 1 priority.
Horses for courses and to each his/her own.
www.iconlifesaver.com
Solid reliable kit but don't take my word for it!
I use the smaller Lifesaver Liberty bottle, its larger cousin the Lifesaver bottle and their jerrycan for good trusted reasons.
Of course where yiu collect your water from will make a huge difference. I avoid anywhere near heavy industry and farms.

Enjoy!

Sawyer 0.1 micron...

Northern Africa more than 90% of the water is ok, with 60% in sub saharan Africa, with DR Congo being the worst. Few filters can take out viruses. As a traveler with money, you have options that locals don't. Learn about your local water sources, and act accordingly. I get that the cost of bottled water can rack up, and that purifying your own is atteactive. But, if you only buy bottled water where the source is highly questionable??

Ionization and UV, I know little about - but a few seconds of a portable UV light? Even boiling doesn't necessarilykill off everything. Chemical treatments such as Iodine and Chlorine, left long enough, are quite effective - if you can muster the taste.

I myself buy bottled water if at all worried. Which includes just about all of sub saharan Africa. Yes it costs money.

Beer works well also

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Thanks for the reply. I don't doubt that filtration technology capable of removing virus sized particles from water exists and is in widespread use. It's just that on their website Lifesaver made the distinction between 'filters' - capable of removing bacteria and protozoa but not viruses, and 'purifiers' which, due to their smaller pore size, can remove them. They may all work by the process of filtration but if Lifesaver themselves distinguish between the two capabilities by using different nouns then, by their own terminology, 'filters' don't remove viruses. To remove those you need their 'purifier'. It may work by filtration but they've chosen not to call it that. It may just be marketing but that's the face they've chosen to present.

I'm also a little doubtful about that. Maybe if the UV source was intense enough but then it would be a health hazzard in its own right - "I'll just have a look at it to check it works before I point it at the bottle ..." Maybe the answer is to leave your bottle next to someone arc welding bicycle frames for a while. There's no shortage of workshops doing that in Africa.

If I may just add a bit.
B-O-B the Lifesaver kit does both.
They do say that to maximise the life of their filters, that you should use the cleanest water possible and if there is a lot of debris to filter it out. Makes sense, same reason people use fuel sock filters in their petrol tanks. If it doesn't go in, less chance of clogging up the works.

I have used and still have, the UV steripen 'freedom' and haved used it with micropure forte tablets (Troclosene sodium 103mg/g and Silver chloride 2.8mg/g). It is the lightest kit I have found and used without any problems. It is micro usb rechargeable; its down side (for me) is that it does not remove any debris hence the need to make a filter of some sort to remove those. The UV light on/off is controlled by the steripen and you use it in a glass swirling the water until the UV goes out. I always did it twice.
What with the arrival of IconLifesaver products, it is now redundant as is my ceramic Katadyn. (Both available for purchase at silly prices!)

There is alas a world wide scam about refilling water bottles with water of unknown origin from a possibly risky source, recapping these with that trusted 'rip off seal' and selling them at some 90% ish profit margin to unsuspecting tourists. Good for business but not so good if its you who drinks it...
Because of this, the massive plastic waste problem and the amazing efficiency of the Lifesaver equipment I've chosen their products for years now and have never fallen ill despite taking water from places I'd rather not 'P' in!!!

For (my) peace of mind, the Lifesaver does it all without chemicals or fuss. The activated replaceable charcoal filters also add another barrier.

p.s The Iconlifesaver smallest Liberty bottle has an advantage over the larger bottle in that you can pump up the unknown water directly into the filter without having to open the rear of the bottle.