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I’m looking for some insight on current water treatment options. I’ve owned a few different filters and used some different chemical options, but my knowledge on the subject is almost two decades out of date, and I see quite a few new to me options so I’m looking for a refresh. What are you guys using these days?

If it makes a difference on the answer, My nearest upcoming use will be an overnight canoe trip on a not crystal clear river followed by an overnight backpacking trip along the same river, both with young kids. Most of my use would be weekend to weeklong backpacking.

I don't like the taste that Iodine tablets leave in the water and I don't like the residue that the neutralizer leaves in water. So no pills for me.

I use a Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter when filtering drinking water for just myself or for two people. That's a pump type filter and it has been the standard by which all other filters are measured for over twenty years.

I use a Platapus Waterworks gravity filter when filtering drinking water for a larger group.

Whenever I am going to boil water, say for freeze-dried or coffee, I gather water right out of a clear fast-moving stream into my pot or metal cup and put it onto the stove. Since I'm going to boil it any way, there's no reason to filter it first.

I've also turned a Sawyer Squeeze Filter into a gravity filter by adding some cheap after-market parts. But I don't use it much since the other two filters seem to fit the respective niches better.

Boil water.


Sawyer MINI.



In emergency, two liter bottle with water in full sunlight for several hours will make it (mostly) potable.

Thanks. I had a version of the hiker filter back when before they were a katydyn product. I liked it well enough but that gravity filter you mentioned looks like a much better option for a group of 4. I have never used a gravity filter so I think I may try the cheaper sawyer version on our trip next week and see how that goes.

The Katadyn BeFree 6L is good for large groups of people, and I like the RapidPure Scout for an inline backpacking filter/purifier.

Tag

Ccard:

One needs to "burp" a gravity filter to achieve max effectiveness. There are graphic instructions on the tag inside the carry bag, that show how to do it. If you don't "burp" the setup it will work slower.

Also be sure to filter only clean water. You are filtering microbes (germs) not sediment. Sediment will clog the filter. The one good thing about a Sawyer Squeeze filter is that they come with a syringe that's used to backflush a clogged filter and the syringe will also work on a Platapus filter. This is important because a replacement PLatapus filter costs $60.

The Katadyn filter also costs about $60 and I'm not sure that you can backflush one. They have a semi-porous membrane surrounding the filter that is cheap and easy tp replace. They catch a lot of sediment and therefore extend the life of the filter.

You can filter or chemically kill the microbes. I went on a long canoe trip down the Sabine river on the border of Texas and Louisiana back in the late seventies and we decided to boil our water. Man building a fire and waiting for that big tea kettle to boil while sitting in 95 degree heat and 90% humidity was torture. In the end I still ended up with an intestinal parasite that took years for the doctors to figure out why I had stomach problems which were cured easily with medication. We were in and out of the river all the time so I might have contracted the parasite that way. After that experience I started putting 2-4 drops of chlorine bleach in a gallon of water and letting it sit for an hour. I have uses several different filters but prefer to use bleach simply because an eyedropper bottle of bleach will do the job for many gallons of water.

Overnight is so short, you could pack water storage on the canoe unless you are porting a distance. For backup, iodine tabs followed by vitamin C is the old standard for parasites.
You'd need to look up effectiveness for giardia since I forgot.
I have a Sawyer brand filter and a Berkey. It's nice to have options that weren't available twenty years ago.
BTW, if you decide to go with a Sawyer, make sure you.slso get their Extractor. Is still under twenty dollars and bee stings are common..they work well when used correctly and immediately.

HC

I have a Katadyn Base Camp filter. They're famous for plugging up. You have to have the filter in place to use the bag so I cut one off just above the bottom plastic. Then I put a Sawyer in the line below the bag. It filters 3x as fast and is easy to unplug.

Life straw for most trips, have a Sawyer kit for more than me. Life straw does 99% of what I need.

Update -

Thanks all for the advice. I purchased the sawyer gravity filter and figured a short trip was a great time to test it. River was up/muddy after a couple days of rain before we got on it. I used a bandana when filling the bag to cut that down a bit. Flow rate was decent enough and overall I preferred it to the pumps I have used previously, especially for a group. Will be using again. I was very glad that this one has the ability to backwash as even with the bandana "pre-filter" The first flush with the syringe sent out an impressive bit of sediment.

I've used (use) just about everything out there. I recently purchased a Steripen Ultralight UV device. I've owned a Steripen Adventurer for almost 10 years and it's worked flawlessly, but it uses CR123 batteries while most of my headlamps use AAA's. I dislike carrying multiple types of batteries. They recently came out with the Ultralight, at a svelte 2.5 oz. It's rechargeable and as I carry a small charger anyways I thought I would give it a go. I also picked up a few rechargeable headlamps too recently, so some trips carrying no batteries.

I like that the UV as imparts no taste (unlike tabs), can't clog, kills everything (it's what municipalities use) and takes 90 seconds to treat a liter of water. I still carry Aquatabs for backup, they weigh nothing.

You do need to use a wider mouth bottle for UV (has to be big enough to put the device in and swirl the water), but I recently went back to Nalgenes, so that's not a problem for me.

I agree with the stripen method. Ive had good luck also

The Grayl water purifier seems to be getting a lot of attention on YouTube and other Internet sites, and the reviews are generally very good. Because it's a "purifier" and not merely a "filter", it also removes most viruses and some chemicals and heavy metals. I've never really been worried about viruses here in the U.S., but I've often wondered about chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. here in PA. I probably drink some of that stuff in my everyday water and don't even realize it.

The Grayl Geopress is somewhat heavy at nearly one pound, but it also doubles as a sturdy 24 ounce water bottle. The Grayl Ultralight weighs about 11 ounces and can do double duty as a 16 ounce water bottle.

I've been getting by with an archaic MSR Waterworks Mini pump for the little bit of water that I filter in any given year, but it's heavy at about one pound and can't serve as a bottle or reservoir. It does have carbon incorporated into its filter, so it does remove some chemicals. From what I've seen of the Grayl, it filters water a lot faster and easier than my MSR pump. I'm thinking of retiring it in favor of a Grayl.

Here is a link to Grayl's website:

Grayl Water Purifier Bottle

^ interesting, have never seen those before

One knock on the Grayl design is the possibility of cross-contamination because the outer container used to scoop water could drip unpurified water near the top of the bottle when you're drinking or pouring it. From what I've seen, Grayl redesigned the top of the Geopress (24 oz.) to help eliminate this potential problem; however, the Ultralight (16 oz.) appears to maintain the original design. I could see where cross-contamination could happen if not careful, especially when using the Ultralight design.

I'm probably over-thinking this. I imagine this could be a potential problem with any design where the filter and container are incorporated into a single unit such as the Katadyn Befree, Sawyer Squeeze, etc.

Mike
Any issues with the replacement SteriPen Ultralight?
If I remember, your first one had some issues.

Ed- My first one was definitely a dud! It worked fine for about 5 liters on a trip, then quit working. When I got home I fully charged it, tested it out and treated two liters before quitting. Katadyn replaced it (never even sent the old one in) immediately. Before heading afield I treated ~ 40 liters (recharging after about 20 liters) and didn't miss a beat. Since then I've treated 40+ liters in the field without a hitch. I get ~ 15-20 liters treated before it needs recharged. Still bring a dozen aquatabs as a backup, but I do that with pumps too

Mike

The Grayl is nifty. Used it this past week in the mtns where knew the hike was barely an easy hour in, ending at a clean mtn lake. Works slick, if a little heavy. The simplicity is nice; needed nothing else to make cooking water or bottle water. So, on a trip where you 100% KNOW you’ve ready access to low sediment water, can see the appeal and plan to keep trying it out for such.

Camelbacks/bladders and i go back to the 90’s and i still find them a hassle - maybe I’m just a prone to mildew guy??? So, any excuse for a bottle i’m there. That said, the Grayl is taller than a nalgene and wants to flop out of my belt holster (unk brand), so need to experiment more there.

Have the platypus 3L setup, too, and really like it. Am sure it will slow with age, but damm is it fast - blows away any katadyn i’ve used, and minimal effort. It is a f’n bladder, tho, so time will tell.

Of course, keep the nasty iodine in the pack in case chitt happens in the way-back.

I just bought a Steripen ultralight. My question is for those of us that don't have clear mountain streams to source water from, do you ever prefilter with like a coffee filter or something for particulates before using the pen or just go with it?

Turbidity definitely reduces the effectiveness of UV light. If you don't want to pre-filter, another alternative is to carry an extra water bottle, fill it, set it aside and let the sediment settle. Then decant the clarified water into another container for treatment.

Solar water treatment is being used a lot in many parts of the world where there is no water treatment available. Simply fill a clear bottle with water and set it in the sun all day. Ol' Sol does the rest.
Home UV water treatment systems do nothing but channel water past a UV bulb. There's nothing elaborate about them.

Yeah, thanks, Cap'n.

Buddy bought one of those when it first came out. His was a dud right out of the box.

I have a Sawer mini in the panier on the motorcycle that I hunt off of.. I keep another in my backpack/canoe camping gear.

Here on the desert stock tanks àre your main source of water .

Bleach

YUK!! been there done that.

Old school.

Two(2) drops/Quart.




GR

Mike- Almost same experience as you. I ordered a SteriPen Ultralight from Backcountry, charged it, treated 1 liter, when I started to treat the 2nd lite, the"needs charging" light came on.
I called Katadyn customer service and was told that I needed to charge it for at least 6 hours to begin with, regardless of what the indicator light showed.(It probably charged 3 hours, before the full charged light came on)
So, I charged it overnight and near the end of treating my 1st liter, the needs charging light came on. I called customer service and was told a new SteriPen would be on it's way to me. They are also sending a mailer to send the defective one back.
That was day before yesterday and I haven't received it yet, but will let you know the outcome.

Yeah I definitely would like to hear how the next one goes. Knock on wood, I’ve had a few more trips since I last posted and still working flawlessly. Hope the same goes for you.

For 2 or more people, platypus for the win. It's all I carry now. The basic setup gives you 4 liters of water storage, it filters quickly and passively, so you don't have to camp exactly next to a water source. Fill it, hang it, get on with other chores. You can fill the reservoir in the evening and have water for drinking and cooking until the next morning. I also carry tablets in case the filter goes south. Problem with all the tablets is they are hell on your GI bacteria.

Steripen is cool and I have one I used for travel in 3rd world so I could drink hotel water, but they take a long time and you still are limited to the nalgenes or whatever that you brought for water storage.

I don't know that I would call it modern but I have been using Aqua Mira drops since they came out and I've never been sick as a result

you guys have me worried about my steri pen now. I'm heading for Utah in a couple weeks. Think I'll take the Sawyer as well.

unless it's a brand new Ultralight, you should be fine; if it is a brand new Ultralight- you can test it at home, that's what I did with my second one- treat 10-15 liters and you'll know if it works as it's supposed or not

I always bring Aquatabs or MicroPur tabs as a backup- that's using a Steripen OR a filter, it's with the 0.1 oz of weight

When reading this thread I think back to all my years back home , Grand County, Co. I never treated my water in the high country, but I new where all the wallows and beavs were residing, usually, and I always got replenished as close to the water coming out of the ground as possible. Never got sick all those years. Incredible! These days, way too many people in the high country for me anymore!

There are a lot of animals besides beaver that carry giardia. It's true that most high mtn water is clean. Most. This whole water treatment thing is just playing the odds of a stream being infected. The higher you get, the lower the odds. However, the odds rarely get down to 0.
The thing is, there's a certain % of streams that are infected and there's no way of knowing which ones they are. It's a low % to be sure. Drinking from them is playing roulette. The more you do it, the greater the chance that you'll get one of the infected ones.

So the new SteriPen showed up yesterday.(Along with a mailer to “recycle “ the defective one)
I charged it overnight then tried it this afternoon.
It purified 6 liters in a row, then flashed low battery on the 7th.
I think I’ll charge it overnight again and tomorrow test the purifying spread out over several hours like I would in real life.
If I get the same results, I’ll send it back to Backcountry.
I don’t need 20 liters on a charge but 12-15 would make me more comfortable than 6.

yeah I did my "test" spacing them out a bit, couple of liters and then an hour or two later a couple of more, etc

definitely need to be getting more than 6 liters on a full recharge!

That's what I did. Tested at home yesterday. I got through about 4 cycles before the needs charging light came on. I charged about 16 hours. I got 6 cycles before the needs charging light came on. What a PITA. I leave on the 6th for a 10 day hunt. Sure hope I can get this fixed/replaced before then.

ETA - what CS # did you call? It says call your local support office. Closest one to me in in Canada but it looks like they have a couple in California?

I called Rocklin CA
800-755-6701

Thanks Ed

Full charge overnight. Treated 3 liters over about 2 hours. Almost at the end on liter #4, the low battery light came on.
It's on it's way back for a refund.

Yeah I got mine from Amazon so they are replacing it. I figured that would be quicker. If the replacement does the same I'll call Kataden.

That sucks Ed. Obviously they have some real duds out there.

My Explorer (6-7 years old) had never had an issue-ever. Sucks the Lightweight is having issues

I’d rather find out at home than in the backcountry.
But it does suck because it’s a useful tool if it works.

So my replacement went tits up after 11 cycles. It's going back too. Question is I want a UV filter. I'm expecting freezing temps and don't want to deal with a frozen filter. Is the Adventurer a solid unit? I can deal with batteries. I just want something reliable

My adventurer is 5-6 years old and never had a hitch. CR 123 batteries are a little spendy, but it’s been dependable

I really like the Platypus/MSR Gravity filters, I have found that they are a lot quicker to filter than the Sawyer ones. They are a bit more money, but seem worth it. would be interested to hear if anyone else has used both, how they have compared for you.