Water, water, everywhere

[PS_Bond]

And all the boards did shrink.
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

That's quite enough of that.

Does anyone have any recommendations or comments on water purifiers/filters for bushcraft & general use? I'd like something that will handle a bit more than 50l, and preferably something that doesn't need a frequent resupply of consumables, so some of the scrubabble ceramic cartridge types appeal.

Best prices would be good too :D

Added - despite the quote, I don't want a reverse osmosis unit!!!

[Carcajou]

I use the MSR Waterworks filter and have found it durable and easy to use. It has a replacable ceranic filter and I add a pre-filter to it if the water has sediments. I hook it up to the MSR Dromedary water bags when we canoe. I carry enough water for my immediate needs plus then we fill up the water bags at camp. In heavy beaver population areas we may add either iodine or chlorine to our drinking water as a failsafe, some of the more cautious members will rest easier but it is not needed. Canada about $150.00

[leon-1]

I have had a number of units recommended to me before, so far the best have been the Katadyn mini, Katadyn Bottle and a design by pre-Mac called the MWP, all have been used by the special forces in jungle conditions and Katadyn have been a leader in thier field for years.
Costs vary greatly so I am not going to go into it too much, the MWP should cost around £60 any more and you are being taken for a ride, the katadyn mini if I recall correctly is about £70 and the bottle is about £40.

[PS_Bond]

That covers a couple of the units I was looking at...

What are the pros & cons of the Katadyn Mini vs the Pre-Mac MWP, for example?

I see that refills for the Pre-Mac are £25, with a life of 200l (which doesn't seem much, TBH - 2l per person per day, plus cooking and ancils depending on climate); the Katadyn Mini seems to have a life of 7000l, with replacement ceramic filters costing £38.

[Tantalus]

Sorry to state the obvious but isnt boiling the best way to sterilise water any more?

I have a deep mistrust of chemicals and gadgets when it comes to my diet

Bout the only one i would use in a pinch would be iodine solution

Iodine solution is made by dissolving iodine crystals in a solution of potassioum iodide

I know they use chlorine often but it comes in many forms
Does anyone know for sure what is in the tablets?
Also chlorine evaporates rapidly when subjected to heat and or sunlight leaving the "purified" water wide open to becoming "un-purified"

Oh and a steady supply of iodine in your diet will help flush radioactive iodine (one of the common contaminants in fallout) from your system, further adding to my choice of iodine over chlorine

Last but not least, iodine is cheaper

Tant

[Ed.]

I have a pre-mac, a great little thing. Its a two stage device, it steralizes the water first by filtering, then passing it through an iodine resin, then it passes through a second stage filter which also filters out traces of the iodine**...... filters and steralizes all in one. On a side note, on their website they state in indeependant tests the pre-mac MWP's have been tested to 400l with no loss of water quality...... ummm strange they then say to replace after 200l.

**edited: ooops Just check the website and it seems the MWP does leave residual traces of iodine in the water to keep it sterile when in storage.
Ed

[larry]

Couple the iodine and/or boiling with a millbank bag to get rid of solid particules and you have a cheap and cheerful, not to mention lightweight system.

I've never used one of the ceramic filter systems, sound good though!

[Ed.]

Couple the iodine and/or boiling with a millbank bag to get rid of solid particules and you have a cheap and cheerful, not to mention lightweight system.
Unfortunatly this does not deal with pestersides or other chemicals that run off the land..... only a good filter can help with this...... I believe that the ceramic ones do the best job of removing these.

Ed

[larry]

Ahh thanks ed, I was wondering what the advantages were apart from the convenience. I guess it all depends where the water source is as to what contaminants are in there.

[Tantalus]

i'm still dubious about the ability of filters to take out pesticides and mysterious "other chemicals"

perhaps the best bet is to source your water well away from land that has been obviously cultivated

evidence seems to show that a buffer of trees followed by a tree free riverbank is capable of removing many chemicals which fall with the rain. Trees nowadays are deliberately planted further from the riverbank to help stop acid rain raising (edit doh "lowering" even) the pH of rivers. I'm told with considerable sucess too.

Tant

[PS_Bond]

Unfortunatly this does not deal with pestersides or other chemicals that run off the land..... only a good filter can help with this...... I believe that the ceramic ones do the best job of removing these.


I'll have to look into that, but given the filters only remove particulate matter, I can't imagine that they'd strip out anything in the way of dissolved chemicals. Not sure, my knowledge of things sub-micron is limited to silicon these days... I *thought* that the removal of such delights is best effected by an ion-exchange resin.

[Tantalus]

make a still and distill it.......................

"It's for drinking water officer, honest"

:cop2: Tant :alcoholic

[Alick]

I've got an MSR miniworks - scrubbable ceramic with activated charcoal core. I'm happy with it. Quality and design are good. It doesn't take long to purify a litre or three, and though it's big, you can argue that carrying a 500g filter is worth it if you're going to purify several kilo's of H2O with it.

Personally I do want a unit with a mechanical filter, and since one of my grandparents had thyroid trouble, I don't want something that automatically doses all my water with iodine. The activated carbon core should be of some help in case of chemical runoff into the water course.

For chemical purification to go with this, I like the idea of the aqua mira two part steriliser, or for real high tech, I've seen MSR's tiny new electic gizmo for making activated oxygen steriling solution for under £50 on ebay. A steal compared to a list price of over £100. This is the way domestic water supplies are sterilised.

Cheers

[Alick]

Oh, BTW... US seller "mickies_place" on ebay will sell you a new miniworks for £35 plus shipping. Bit better than £75 to £80 in the UK shops. These guys are sound. I've had great deals from them a couple of times and they do an uninsured, gift wrapped delivery service to reduce the chances of being hit by customs.