Water Purifiers: what do you use?

[Dr. Nebz]

They're actually both rated exactly the same at 1 liter per minute. Maybe one plugs up easier though.

Chris and Mike have the Miniworks and I always have more to fill then they do, and I always finish pumping before they do. I think the silt stopper I got last year for sure made the job faster and easier.

[Dr. Nebz]

I think pretty much all of the purifiers and chemical options knock 'em out. Curious how prevalent viruses are in water though. Seems like you'd have to be pumping out of some serious nastiness in a third world country or something.

Yeah you have to have some pretty stagnant contaminated water to have viruses in it. Usually spring water or anything filtered by the mountain that is moving is not going to sustain viruses most likely. Anything is possible though. It is why I carry tablets and the solution. If I even question it for a minute, I will just treat it so there is no worry.

[wes242]

You mean I can buy a Filter! no more fish poop....
jk

For years I didn't mind the Tablets, but then I figured I better get on board and buy a filter. I bought a Katadyn Pro a couple years ago and it works great!

After hiking the West Rim last year and getting water out of one of the small water holes, I watched some people with the Tablets fill their bottles up and scoop up some Mosquito larva into it made me realize I must have a filter.

[Scott P]

They're actually both rated exactly the same at 1 liter per minute.

I actually have both. Despite what the ratings say, mine do not pump at the same rate. For me, the Sweetwater is much faster.

[Dr. Nebz]

I actually have both. Despite what the ratings say, mine do not pump at the same rate. For me, the Sweetwater is much faster.

I agree the Sweetwater seems to get the job done quicker. What it seems like to me is the volume of water it can move through the cartridge and to your res or bottle. It is crazy to see how fast it fills a 32 oz Nalgene.

One thing that does occasionally happen, but not too often, even since I got the silt stopper last season, is that the emergency valve spits every once in a while. I am not sure why, I always give the cartridge a scrub after every trip. You have any problems like this with yours? If so, any solutions?

[Scott P]

One thing that does occasionally happen, but not too often, even since I got the silt stopper last season, is that the emergency valve spits every once in a while. I am not sure why, I always give the cartridge a scrub after every trip. You have any problems like this with yours? If so, any solutions?

It's actually supposed to do that, so it isn't a problem. It prevents forcing the water through the filter too fast, which will enlarge the filter openings. Cleaning it and pumping slower will make it not happen as often, but it will still happen periodically anyway since it's designed to do so.

[DOSS]

I either run a DIY gravity filter and aqua muria or use my old Katadyn hiker

[Bad Karma]

I prefer either the HikerPRO, one of a couple gravity filters or aqua mira if the water does not have too many floaties in it.

[Garbanzo]

I have friends who use the Hiker and are nothing but satisfied with it. I was able to use them last year on our trip down Sand Creek. I just purchased the Hiker Pro and haven't used it yet. I do like the In-line connector for my Hydration unit. I'm not sure how much I'll fill it with my pack still on, but at least it's still a water tight connection while filling. I hated wrestling with a hose running freely into the bladder. I'm a Noobie that just purchased all new equipment, so my trial and error is just starting.

[Dr. Nebz]

It's actually supposed to do that, so it isn't a problem. It prevents forcing the water through the filter too fast, which will enlarge the filter openings. Cleaning it and pumping slower will make it not happen as often, but it will still happen periodically anyway since it's designed to do so.

Cool, it has not really been a problem, and the filter works great. Was just not familiar with that. Thanx!

[dougr]

I've had a First Need for years from my strictly backpacking days. But it clogs too easily with desert and canyon silt. I use iodine tablets now. Super light and fast enough. Am I crazy?

[Dr. Nebz]

I've had a First Need for years from my strictly backpacking days. But it clogs too easily with desert and canyon silt. I use iodine tablets now. Super light and fast enough. Am I crazy?

Not a big fan of the taste of Iodine. If you want to go tablet, go with these:

[dougr]

Those are the chlorine 4 hr tabs? I've used those too, but 4 hrs isn't great. For the iodine I use the neutralizing tablets for taste.

[Deadeye008]

I have a Sawyer water filter and a Sawyer water purifier. The filter gets everything but viruses and the purifier gets everything including viruses. I have a gravity system that I mad out of a roll top dry bag and some parts I got from Lowes. I usually take the filter with me and not the purifier because the purifier is slow. The filter runs about 1 liter per min and the purifier about 1 liter per 3 min. I back flush the filter after every trip. Sawyers website says that both the filter and the purifier will last 1 million gallons if properly maintained. I bought both of them from Walmart on the cheap

[gnwatts]

Why would anyone prefer to pump? Fill the bag, take it to camp, connect it to your dromedary, open a cool one and by the time you finish you have 4 liters of water. I am completely done with pumping.

[homerj]

Why would anyone prefer to pump? Fill the bag, take it to camp, connect it to your dromedary, open a cool one and by the time you finish you have 4 liters of water. I am completely done with pumping.

That works unless you need to fill up on the trail. Most of my trips are over 10 miles in and I don't want to pack enough water to make it from the TH to camp so I pack a pump and water up at stream crossings!

[Deadeye008]

That works unless you need to fill up on the trail. Most of my trips are over 10 miles in and I don't want to pack enough water to make it from the TH to camp so I pack a pump and water up at stream crossings!

I use my gravity setup on the trail more than in camp. Just fill the bag with water and hang it on something or hold it up and let gravity do the work.

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using Tapatalk

[Dr. Nebz]

That works unless you need to fill up on the trail. Most of my trips are over 10 miles in and I don't want to pack enough water to make it from the TH to camp so I pack a pump and water up at stream crossings!

^^^Agreed.

My filter has come in handy on many long treks and day hikes. I won't trade my Sweetwater for anything.

[andykrow]

Been using a miniworks for a while now, as have a couple other friends. for nasty desert water they seem to do the best. we've had a couple sweetwaters in the crew and while they seem like they pump twice as fast, they pump less before clogging compared to the mini.

we had two hikers back in the day on an escalante trip. the first one clogged halfway through and couldn't be used (backflushing did nothing) and the second one cracked on a pack haul with two days left. on the last day we had to drink silty iodine water...ughh...that trip taught me to only buy filters that have cleanable cartridges (and be really careful where you stow your filter)

if I ever kill the miniworks I'll probably pick up a pocket filter. i don't mind the weight and that thing will never break.

a gravity filter is intriguing for camps...may need to look into that.

[gnwatts]

As deadeye008 said, on the trail a gravity flow it might be even more convenient. The MSR will do a liter in a few minutes. I have been nervous about not having my Katadyn Pocket these days, so I carry an extra filter cartridge for the MSR gravity flow. I bought a Sweetwater when they first came out, and the handle broke within a year. After that I stayed away from plastic filters.