Which Water filter do you use.

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Which Water filter do you use.

Postby John Sheridan » Sat 19 Nov, 2011 11:09 pm

I have been looking for a water filter for a while now, but have not been able to decide, I need one that does at least 1 litre a minute and as pretty light, 300 grams would be nice and has a good filter in it with a carbon filter as well.

http://katadynch.vs31.snowflakehosting. ... ker_EN.pdf

I kind of like the Katadyn Hiker PRO, but I know there are other options maybe better, can you guys and gals give me some help.

One thing worries me about this filter is the Cut Model in the PDF it seems to show the water intake directly connected to the carbon core, which means it totally by passes the external filter to get to the water output, this seems weird, unless I am missing something ?>????


Cheers.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby etrangere » Sun 20 Nov, 2011 2:48 am

I have a Katadyn Pocket filter and a Hiker Pro

The water enters the bottom and fills the whole outer casing/body and is then forced through the ceramic filter into the inner core of carbon and the out through the oulet at the top. The actual bottom of the filter is sealed, the diagram makes it look otherwise and can easily mislead
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby etrangere » Sun 20 Nov, 2011 2:53 am

If you look closely you can see the raised section at the botom of the outer casing to the filter has openings on the sides where the water fills the whole cavity to then get pumped through the outer ceramic of the filter
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby John Sheridan » Sun 20 Nov, 2011 4:53 pm

Ceramic filter, I thought the Hiker pro only had a paper filter, also can you replace the carbon core with new carbon or is that not needed.


So how does the hiker pro perform for you, pump fast enough for you not problems ect.

Thanks for the feedback.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby etrangere » Sun 20 Nov, 2011 9:52 pm

Oops my mistake was thinking of the ceramic in the Pocket filter, the Hiker Pro is a 0.3micron glassfiber filter with the carbon inner core, the paper aspect is just the filter protector that wraps around the filter to prevent it getting clogged. The katadyn website claims 1 liter per minute which in my experience is about right.

Personally to use I prefer the Katadyn Pocket filter (0.2 micron ceramic filter) combined with the bottle adapter with activated carbon, but its about twice the weight of the Hiker Pro.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby JohnM » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 7:18 am

Used to exclusively use a MSR Miniworks, pretty good gear. I found that I'd only get a litre to a minute when the filter was absolutely clean though... Slowed down a bit in between cleans. Averaged out to abbot 90 secs per litre I'd reckon.

But now for most of my walking I've switched to a steripen. unless the water is really murky, it's perfect. Zero effort, small, lightweight, 90 secs per litre with no pumping. Downside is batteries, upside is no cleaning of filter necessary. Great for alpine creeks where the water is clear. I've got a pre-filter for it, but hardly ever need it.

It's good for traveling to countries where you're not sure of the tap water. Often gets a workout in hotel rooms for brushing teeth.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby Dale » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 7:38 am

JohnM wrote:But now for most of my walking I've switched to a steripen. unless the water is really murky, it's perfect. Zero effort, small, lightweight, 90 secs per litre with no pumping. Downside is batteries, upside is no cleaning of filter necessary. Great for alpine creeks where the water is clear. I've got a pre-filter for it, but hardly ever need it.

It's good for traveling to countries where you're not sure of the tap water. Often gets a workout in hotel rooms for brushing teeth.


+1 - weight is negligible eg. the Steripen Adventure Opti is 103g. I've also never used the prefilter.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby russ752 » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 7:52 pm

Aquamira, never let me down during a Through hike of the AT this year, and only 2 oz and $15.
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Which Water filter do you use.

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 8:41 pm

russ752 wrote:Aquamira, never let me down during a Through hike of the AT this year, and only 2 oz and $15.

where can you purchase this?
Last edited by ULWalkingPhil on Mon 21 Nov, 2011 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Which Water filter do you use.

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 8:41 pm

Phillipsart wrote:
russ752 wrote:Aquamira, never let me down during a Through hike of the AT this year, and only 2 oz and $15.

where can you purchase this? I've only seen them available for sale at the USA, freight over 40.00
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby russ752 » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 9:46 pm

Purchased in the States. Campsaver have them for $15 and their shipping to Oz is not too bad. I also think that Bivouac outdoor in NZ have them at a good price. Fortunately I stocked up, along with a bunch of other goodies before I came home. The way we are ripped off here for hiking kit (along with everything else) is atrocious
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby Aushiker » Mon 21 Nov, 2011 10:03 pm

Hi

Not trying to hijack the thread but wondering if anyone uses gravity filters? I have a Pura Hiker from way back when but was never impressed with the speed of it for the effort required. I have been considering a Sawyer 2L Water Treatment System or similar. This will mainly see use on a bicycle tour in Kimberlys and in the NT as they are generally not needed walking in the south-west of WA where I normally hang-out. Thoughts?

Regards
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Which Water filter do you use.

Postby oyster_07 » Tue 22 Nov, 2011 6:00 am

Either MSR Hyperflow or Katadyn Combi.

The MSR is great for water that is pretty good to start with. The filter is hollow fibre and is good against bacteria. It's 209 grams with an output of three litres per minute.

The Katadyn is awesome for water that is stagnant and completely disgusting. The Combi uses a silver impregnated ceramic filter and also a carbon filter. As such, it is good against bacteria. It's 580 grams and has a one litre per minute output.

On paper, both are as effective as each other. I love the MSR with its small size and weight.
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Which Water filter do you use.

Postby JoshT » Tue 22 Nov, 2011 7:42 am

I use a gravity filter I cobbled together using a Sawyer filter, a Platypus bladder and Gatorade bottles. Has worked with everything I've used it for, but haven't thrown anything really dirty at it.

The main risk with hollow fibre membranes is that there's no way to measure if it still works, fibres can burst and you would never know. If you look after them and make sure they don't get down near zero degrees you should be ok

One thing to note is that the membranes used in the Aquamira Frontier Pro have a much larger pore size than the Sawyer and MSR Hyperflow filters, and in my opinion don't provide adequate protection against bacteria
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby downunderhang » Tue 22 Nov, 2011 8:29 pm

I've just ordered a Sawyer Squeeze filter after reading great reviews on it. It is a fairly recent addition to their range that seems to be a variant on their gravity filter. It's only about 85grams and comes with a million gallon guarantee. Fits all my criteria - lightweight, simple to use, minimal maintenance. Planning to give it a field test over Christmas so I'll try to give some feedback then. That's assuming it arrives before then :lol:
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby Aushiker » Tue 22 Nov, 2011 8:35 pm

downunderhang wrote:I've just ordered a Sawyer Squeeze filter after reading great reviews on it. It is a fairly recent addition to their range that seems to be a variant on their gravity filter. It's only about 85grams and comes with a million gallon guarantee. Fits all my criteria - lightweight, simple to use, minimal maintenance. Planning to give it a field test over Christmas so I'll try to give some feedback then. That's assuming it arrives before then :lol:


Will be very interested in hearing of your experience. May I ask where you got it from?

Edit: Found a bit of a review here and if you are a BackpackingLight member there is a lengthy discussion here

Thanks
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Sun 27 Nov, 2011 12:05 pm

downunderhang wrote:I've just ordered a Sawyer Squeeze filter after reading great reviews on it. It is a fairly recent addition to their range that seems to be a variant on their gravity filter. It's only about 85grams and comes with a million gallon guarantee. Fits all my criteria - lightweight, simple to use, minimal maintenance. Planning to give it a field test over Christmas so I'll try to give some feedback then. That's assuming it arrives before then :lol:


This could be just what i'm looking for.

Just explored there website, I do like the looks of the gravity filters, except there a lot heavier than the Squeeze filter.
I think the Squeeze filter might be just what I need. There is the option of the 2L Gravity filter, as it has the option of being used as a water bladder, the water bladder I own now is a bit to heavy for my liking, the included clean water bladder is only 85 grams. What I'm currently using now is almost 200 grams. decisions, decisions.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby John Sheridan » Tue 29 Nov, 2011 2:27 am

Any idea where in Australia where I can buy the Katadyn Hiker PRO, I have been looking and found plenty of places to find the previous version, but not the Pro version.


Thanks if you can point me to a few websites in Australia.

Cheers.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby John Sheridan » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 1:58 am

I just bought the Katadyn Mini water filter, was wanting the Hiker Pro, but no one in Australia sells it, the Mini will do and it's light at only 200 grams, which is always nice :)

Anyone got the Mini, would like some feedback on it, problems, Maintenance ect.

Cheers.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby Aushiker » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 11:29 am

I have taken the plunge and ordered a Sawyers Squeeze. Will be interesting to see how it performs.

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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 11:42 am

I've been doing a lot of reading online in regards to the Sawyer Filters, as I'm looking at purchasing one in the next couple of weeks. The sawyer squeeze i've read reports on the bags that's supplied to be of low quality, many have had the bags bust during use out in the field, some have upgraded the bags. I'm keen on the 2litre gravity water filter, weight is 250grams for the 2litre gravity filter.
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Which Water filter do you use.

Postby JoshT » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 4:43 pm

I've got a Sawyer gravity system I cobbled together which I've used successfully a couple of times. I bought just the filtration unit and used a Platy bag for the unfiltered side, and drain straight into Gatorade bottles.

It works as it should, though I still use chlorine dioxide tabs after the filter if the water might be dodgy as the filter can't get viruses out.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby Aushiker » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 4:55 pm

Phillipsart wrote:The sawyer squeeze i've read reports on the bags that's supplied to be of low quality, many have had the bags bust during use out in the field, some have upgraded the bags.


Do you have any links to discussions of this? I didn't find much evidence of concerns with the Squeeze in my research.

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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 6:33 pm

Aushiker wrote:
Phillipsart wrote:The sawyer squeeze i've read reports on the bags that's supplied to be of low quality, many have had the bags bust during use out in the field, some have upgraded the bags.


Do you have any links to discussions of this? I didn't find much evidence of concerns with the Squeeze in my research.

Andrew


I found a forum that mentioned it. I'll see if I can find it. I didn't save the webpage. I was interested in the Sawyer Squeeze till I read this. Apparently the water container supplied breaks easily is off very poor quality and not to be relied on. Many had converted platypus container to use with the Sawyer filter.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby buggeriamold » Mon 16 Jan, 2012 9:16 pm

I have started using one of these things... http://www.lifestraw.com.au.

Probably used it for about 10 days out in the bush now & would use it in preferance to the other filters / sterilisers I have (3 diferent brands).

The first couple of times I used it I thought it was a pain in the *&%$#!, due to high resistance to sucking the water through, but with persaverance this proved to be user error.

The filter will air lock if you suck a bit of air once the filter has water in it, so the trick is to blow all the water out ( easy ) & start again if you break the surface & suck air. Its also much easier to scoop water up in a cup or bottle & suck from that, as the head down *&%$#! up isnt the most condusive position for easy operation.

I have got to say that I am not sure about the claimed 1000L of filtered water, but even if it blocked up on me now I would feel that I had got my $30 worth & buy a new one.

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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby bernieq » Tue 17 Jan, 2012 8:43 pm

I’ve used Katadyn and MSR filters and now have a Sawyer squeeze filter.
Phillipsart wrote:The sawyer squeeze i've read reports on the bags that's supplied to be of low quality, many have had the bags bust during use out in the field, some have upgraded the bags.

I can attest that the components of the Sawyer filter (squeeze bags, filter, syringe) are of quite acceptable quality. Even if the bag (it came with 3 bags of sizes 16, 32 & 64 fl.oz.) were to split, it’s not an issue because the screw attachment is a standard 25mm PET bottle – you could a 1.25L bottle as a squeeze bag (or any standard bladder eg platypus).

The filter is indeed 85g (wet) and the field weight (filter, screw top, squeeze bag) is 112g. I find it easy to use, robust and effective - I don't use any additional treatment.
JoshT wrote:... the water might be dodgy as the filter can't get viruses out.

As for JoshT's concern about not filtering viruses : 1. no water-borne viruses in Australian water so it’s not a problem here 2. viruses are not filtered out by any portable filter system – viruses are too small (a sufficiently small pore size to exclude viruses would require unachievable pressure in the field).

Because it can be reverse-flushed, the filter should last indefinitely – the 1 million gallon guarantee is quite believable.

So, less than A$60, 112g field weight, unlimited life - works for me !
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby JoshT » Wed 18 Jan, 2012 9:46 am

bernieq wrote:1. no water-borne viruses in Australian water so it’s not a problem here 2. viruses are not filtered out by any portable filter system – viruses are too small (a sufficiently small pore size to exclude viruses would require unachievable pressure in the field).


Sorry Bernie, I don't think that's entirely true. In practice, there are effectively no waterborne viruses in Australian waters, and there have been no reported cases of viral contamination linked to water. However viruses are present in sewage, so there is some risk that there is virus in the water if there is the possibility of human faecal contamination, such as overflowing septic systems or a effluent from an sewage treatment plant. It's a tiny risk, and you would be unlucky to get sick, but the risk is there.

Also there are a couple of products on the market that claim to remove viruses using low pressure ultrafiltration membranes. I haven't used any myself, but they meet US EPA guidelines which are pretty stringent. Not really practical or necessary for use in Australia, they are more designed for use in developing countries. The problem with these products is that there is no way to ensure the integrity of the membranes, if a few membrane fibres burst you would never know. Again a tiny risk but a risk nonetheless.

http://www.lifesaversystems.com/lifesav ... ver-bottle
http://www.sawyer.com/SP194.htm
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby Son of a Beach » Wed 18 Jan, 2012 10:52 am

I use a four stage filter: Teeth, tongue, pharynx, oesophagus.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby bernieq » Wed 18 Jan, 2012 11:59 am

Thanks JoshT for the links – some impressive claims being made. Even if filtering, one should choose one’s water source with a little care – downstream of a popular campsite is less suitable than a side-stream.

I’m inclined to be sceptical. The Lifesaver doesn’t specify a pore size – the Sawyer gravity system specifies 0.02 micron. As Enteroviruses (the major risk from human sewerage) are single RNA strands (ie at the molecular scale), 0.02 micron filters are not going to be effective. However, I suspect that, as viruses can be enveloped in cellular material, these could be filtered at the .02 micron level. If concerned, use chemical or UV sterilization methods.

Anyway, I’m not sure I’d rate the Lifesaver (at 600+g, 750ml capacity) as ‘field-useable’ – heavy, slow, bulky (and, I suspect, expensive).


Actually, Son of a Beach, add another 2 stages – stomach and intestine – where most ingested nasties get treated.
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Re: Which Water filter do you use.

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Wed 18 Jan, 2012 4:08 pm

I own a Lifesaver bottle and don't agree it's slow. Heavy yes it is and for this reason only I'm looking at a new lighter filter. “ The smallest bacteria are about 200nm (200 nanometers) in size, the smallest viruses are about 25nm. The holes in LIFESAVER membranes are 15nm.”
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