Water Filters & Purifiers

[JD Spydo]

I find it kind of puzzling that the Swiss made "KATADYN" water filters are rated so high in Europe but yet don't seem to get the same fanfare here in the USA as they do from across the pond. I've been told that even the Swiss Armed forces uses the KATADYN units almost exclusively. With the Swiss being so strict with their quality standards I'm amazed that those KATADYN filters are not more popular.

I recently ordered a couple of the LIFESTRAW filters that you can use to sip water out of almost any fresh water source ( even mud puddles). I've never yet heard anything negative about the LIFESTRAW filters. Everyone should have at least two of the LIFESTRAW filters in their survival kits.

[ladybug93]

I find it kind of puzzling that the Swiss made "KATADYN" water filters are rated so high in Europe but yet don't seem to get the same fanfare here in the USA as they do from across the pond. I've been told that even the Swiss Armed forces uses the KATADYN units almost exclusively. With the Swiss being so strict with their quality standards I'm amazed that those KATADYN filters are not more popular.

I recently ordered a couple of the LIFESTRAW filters that you can use to sip water out of almost any fresh water source ( even mud puddles). I've never yet heard anything negative about the LIFESTRAW filters. Everyone should have at least two of the LIFESTRAW filters in their survival kits.

i never went with lifestraw because i read that they wouldn't filter leptospirosis and i was living in hawaii. that's actually why i got the grayl geopress.

i'm guessing europeans have extra space in their packs for their bigger filters because they aren't carrying bigger knives or guns in their packs. haha

[vivi]

I have a lifestraw I got in a subscription box. IIRC it has a filter that has 10x larger pores than the sawyer mini and retails for about the same price.

Mine stays in my bedroom. When I'm too lazy to go downstairs for filtered water I fill a cup from my bathroom and drink through the lifestraw. It fills that role well :p

[ladybug93]

Mine stays in my bedroom. When I'm too lazy to go downstairs for filtered water I fill a cup from my bathroom and drink through the lifestraw. It fills that role well :p

[JD Spydo]

Well I'm going to do some more research on some of these newer water filtering devices you guys have mentioned. I just had a fishing buddy 2 days ago tell me that MSR has also got some new portable water filtering devices now available that are showing good results. I'm sure disappointed to hear that those Lifestraw units are not getting a good grade because in the past 3 years I had heard some good testimonies about them.

My buddy told me that the MSR Co. has a couple of really nice and highly rated portable water filtering units that he has had great results with. This is something I want to get right in case our present situation gets worse. Because water is exremely critical>> 3 days is about the maximum anyone can go without proper hydration. And having clean and safe water is literally life & death important as well.

[ladybug93]

Well I'm going to do some more research on some of these newer water filtering devices you guys have mentioned. I just had a fishing buddy 2 days ago tell me that MSR has also got some new portable water filtering devices now available that are showing good results. I'm sure disappointed to hear that those Lifestraw units are not getting a good grade because in the past 3 years I had heard some good testimonies about them.

My buddy told me that the MSR Co. has a couple of really nice and highly rated portable water filtering units that he has had great results with. This is something I want to get right in case our present situation gets worse. Because water is exremely critical>> 3 days is about the maximum anyone can go without proper hydration. And having clean and safe water is literally life & death important as well.

lifestraw is probably good enough for almost anywhere in north america and many parts of the world. i'm pretty sure their website shows it being used in africa. i just had a very specific pathogen i had to protect myself against and it wasn't something the lifestraw would work against.
i went on an all day hike in hawaii once and carried 3 liters of water on me. i figured it would be more than enough for an 8.5 mile hike (the terrain is rough, which is why it takes all day). it wasn't even hot, but i was done with my water at around mile 5. we also got a bit of a late start, so we were hiking out in the dark and i was really struggling.
i weighed myself the next day, after i had a chance to rehydrate and eat. i had lost 8 pounds of water weight since the day before the hike. that's an insane amount of weight to lose from one day of hiking, especially since i drank 3 liters of water on the trail and had already had a lot more water since.
the thing is, that hike had us crossing a river over 20 times. i was by water the entire day. i did have a way to boil water with me, but i didn't have time to stop and deal with that because my car was going to get locked in a parking lot if i didn't get back to it in time. it's kind of silly to be right next to water all day and be suffering from dehydration. i bought the grayl geopress because of that hike. at any time that day, i could've spent less than 30 seconds and had 24 ounces of clean, filtered water to drink. it's a little inconvenient to carry, but i almost always have it on me now when i hike.
i also carry a sawyer mini with a rolled up bladder because it adds very little weight and will allow me to collect more water in case i'm not staying right next to a source to get more. i have a family of seven, so i need to make sure i can get more than just 24 ounces to carry over a distance if necessary. the sawyer is a good backup system for those instances.

[Mushroom]

I'm picturing a happy go lucky tourist bent over with their face attached to a life straw drinking from a swamp in the Florida Everglades... Gator. Or even in Africa, lets say somewhere near the Nile river... Croc. Going to have to choose the water source carefully with that one.

Though I just checked their website and they offer a multitude of different filters and purifiers. The actual straw isn't their only option anymore.

Also Ladybug, I would suggest looking into the Platypus GravityWorks kits. They make a 2 liter, 4 liter, and 6 liter reservoir kit that would be plenty sufficient for a family of seven. With the kits, the water capacity can be pretty much doubled too because it comes with a dirty water bag and clean water bag that are both the same size. You can filter a full clean bag and then fill the dirty bag, then both can be brought back to camp. Could be useful if you know you won't be directly next to a water source and really need to make sure you have enough for the night.

[JD Spydo]

Well I'm going to do some more research on some of these newer water filtering devices you guys have mentioned. I just had a fishing buddy 2 days ago tell me that MSR has also got some new portable water filtering devices now available that are showing good results. I'm sure disappointed to hear that those Lifestraw units are not getting a good grade because in the past 3 years I had heard some good testimonies about them.

My buddy told me that the MSR Co. has a couple of really nice and highly rated portable water filtering units that he has had great results with. This is something I want to get right in case our present situation gets worse. Because water is exremely critical>> 3 days is about the maximum anyone can go without proper hydration. And having clean and safe water is literally life & death important as well.

lifestraw is probably good enough for almost anywhere in north america and many parts of the world. i'm pretty sure their website shows it being used in africa. i just had a very specific pathogen i had to protect myself against and it wasn't something the lifestraw would work against.
i went on an all day hike in hawaii once and carried 3 liters of water on me. i figured it would be more than enough for an 8.5 mile hike (the terrain is rough, which is why it takes all day). it wasn't even hot, but i was done with my water at around mile 5. we also got a bit of a late start, so we were hiking out in the dark and i was really struggling.

This just goes to show all of us what a truly demanding survival situation can be like. And the lack of potable water could quickly become a life & death problem. It's one thing to watch one of these celebrity survival type actors put on a show on one of the cable channels in which they are staying in the woods overnight or are stuck in a desert for a couple of days. But the truth of a real horrific situation is a completely different thing all together.

Like I've said earlier in this thread most of us here with the exception of a few of you I'm acquainted with who have done a really serious stint in the Military Forces have hardly no idea of what a truly demanding situation is like in real life. And having potable drinking water is the one of the biggest problems one could encounter. Lack of food will make you uncomfortable but lack of water will outright take your life. I've heard of people going up to 3 weeks without food and surviving just fine but with lack of water most people couldn't last longer than 2 days in many cases.

All of this conflicting information about LifeStraw filters is a bit disconcerting. The Lifestraw company even paid Les Stroud of all people to pitch their product in one of his survival shows. About a year ago I attended a local seminar right when the COVID problem first manifested on disaster survival and they talked like LifeStraw was truly a dependable lifesaver. But after hearing you guys give testimony about the LifeStraw product I'm no longer very confident that it's something you could rely on. It really kind of makes me wonder how many people could indeed survive a demanding 30 day survival scenario. Boiling will eradicate most of the pathogens but now I'm not too sure about any other contaminants. "Water Survival" I'm discovering is a serious subject and is one issue that not many people are aware of how to deal with. GOD help us all if we ever encounter another "Hurricane Katrina" type disaster. I heard from friends who lived in that part of the country that water quickly became the biggest problem they were forced to deal with.

I've always got a relatively fresh 5 gallon jug of fresh drinking water just in case of a natural disaster. But I'm now doubtful if that would get you past 3 days at the most.

[ladybug93]

Also Ladybug, I would suggest looking into the Platypus GravityWorks kits. They make a 2 liter, 4 liter, and 6 liter reservoir kit that would be plenty sufficient for a family of seven. With the kits, the water capacity can be pretty much doubled too because it comes with a dirty water bag and clean water bag that are both the same size. You can filter a full clean bag and then fill the dirty bag, then both can be brought back to camp. Could be useful if you know you won't be directly next to a water source and really need to make sure you have enough for the night.

thanks. that's basically the system i'm putting together with a sawyer and a couple 3 liter bags from cnoc. i like the design of those bags better because they open on one end for filling and cleaning. the problem is the sawyer mini i have isn't threaded on both ends, so if i want to use it as a gravity filter between to bags, i need to get a different filter and i just haven't yet. so, right now i just carry it with one bag, but i'll probably change it out to this system before i go on any other hikes with my family.

i've got little ones, so the hikes we do aren't particularly strenuous. i haven't really had a need to do anything different than i've been doing yet. but, now that we're in virginia and the summer is here, it's probably prudent.

another anecdote:
years ago, when i was just getting into survival skills and i hadn't really considered water purification yet, i went on a hike with an old friend here in the mountains of virginia in july. it was about 100° that day and we were carrying way too much gear for an overnight. i had three liters that day too, and was naive to think it would last the whole trip. not only was it gone quickly, but i was suffering heat exhaustion. i had to lay down on the trail for a while and when i tried to get up, i almost vomited. fortunately, when we got to our camp, it was by a river and he had brought iodine tablets. we spent a couple hours replenishing our water supply with some extra canteens he had brought.
i would've survived that trip without the iodine tablets, but that was the first time i've ever been in that kind of situation and i never looked at water the same way again. i always have a way to procure drinking water now.

[vivi]

This is my on the go setup:



32oz nalgene goes in my edc backpack

1/2 gallon jug stays next to my driver seat.

7 gallon jug in the trunk.

I fill them with the sawyer tap filter. I also keep a Sawyer Mini stashed in the trunk for while out hiking.

[Michael Janich]

Dear cyrus799:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

[kwakster]

Kelly Kettle Base Camp stainless & a Big Berkey here.

[rgc]

Filters and water have been something of an obsession of mine. I kind of layer them. I started out with the Swayer Mini and used it backpacking. I still think it is a great system for use in the USA (it does not filter viruses). I drilled a small hole in a smart water cap and can connect the out flow form the mini straight to a smart water bottle to fill. The Swayer dirty water bags are also a pain in the butt to fill sometimes, especially in very slow or non flowing water. Again a smart water bottle to the rescue. Probably going to pick up a Waterdrop gravity bag (or similar) for dirty water collection as for a gravity system this looks like the bees knees.

LifeStraws are another filter I have a handful of simply because on prime day and black friday sales you can pick them up for about $10 a piece. Again they do not filter viruses but for alot of what I would need this is not that big of an issue. Now for a base camp or emergency bug in filter LifeStraw makes one called the Mission Water Purification System for around $110 that filters bacteria, protozoa AND viruses.

Finally I have a Grayl ultrapress in my get home bag and one in each of my daughter's bags. It filters bacteria, protozoa viruses, chemicals and heavy metals. Additionally, it is simple to use and durable. Yes they are not cheap and filters only last about 150 liters and then you need a $25 filter replacement. But they are top notch filters and highly rated.

Of course with all of this I also make sure I also carry Katadyn Micropur tablets.

[Naperville]

I completely forgot about this thread and my posts within it. Glad that the thread was picked back up. So much has changed in a year with regard to water purification, and it will change drastically again over the next year.

I spend most of my time on SurvivalistBoards, and that is where I and others have updated information on water purification recently.

The water purification industry is in a pickle.

The EPA released updates on carcinogens that they hope to remove from drinking water and filter manufacturers have their work cut out for them. I am speaking of the EPA updates on PFOA/PFAS, and the fallout from gravity fed water filters and their lack of testing/standing as to the NSF.

The NSF tests water filters. The EPA makes standards that all of the manufacturers try to meet. Those that meet a given standard get an NSF entry on the NSF list, but you have to look at what standard they met.

Some filters only meet the NSF standard for 200 gallons, others for 20,000 gallons of purified water. Many are not sending in filters for NSF testing. And others claim to meet the NSF standards and they do not in any way.

This has been a total money making scam for some. Here is one video:

https://odysee.com/@MDCreekmore:a/the-d ... ed-water:7
https://youtu.be/98sEVcv_AYE

Most water filtration devices do not filter out "forever chemicals," or PFOA/PFAS because the standard is so new. But I suspect within a year some will meet the requirements. If you go through the NSF listings there are filters that meet the requirements today. Many of them are for large operations, not homes, but there are some reverse osmosis systems that make the cut.

The good news is that they are already making headway on removing or destroying forever chemicals. The USA is LOADED with these chemicals in the drinking water that is supplied to every home, so it is imperative to find a quick solution. Here is one:

https://scitechdaily.com/a-new-way-to-d ... chemicals/

What am I doing now? We live almost 40 miles West of Chicago and have Chicago water as our supply, and the management there said it would cost around $1 billion to remove the forever chemicals from water and they have no plans to do so in the near future.

We use a Brita blue filter as a pre-filter and then that water gets filtered in a Zero Water pitcher. To get the biggest gain from these systems, you have to change the filters frequently, such as every month or two.

I bought 25 Grayl Geo Press filters and one press for use as an emergency hack if the water filtration plant supplying water to our home goes down. I also bought two Grayl Geo Press pre-filter bags to remove large particulate. I also have around 5 to 10 Lifestraws.

I have not checked recently but I do not think any of the filtration systems that we use here remove most forever chemicals. Whatever system you decide to use, replace the filters often and clean it completely as frequently as possible.

DON'T BELIEVE THE ADVERTISING HYPE

[Naperville]

If you have a Berkey system, what I suggest is replacing the filters with DOULTON filters. Some have found that the filters fit. Doulton has "some" filters that meet NSF standards, so they are probably making some decent filters, not good enough to remove forever chemicals, but better than throwing the gravity system out.

Your absolute best solution is whatever system you buy into, clean the system once a month or two(for 2 person use) and replace the filters like clockwork. The water filters are operating at their peak when new and basically are poisoning you when dirty or full of chemicals that they have removed from your water.

[Bolster]

Interesting thread. Reporting as requested:

iSpring RCC7 reverse osmosis system under the sink at home; Sawyer mini on the trail. Haven't had it clog yet. I backflush the Sawyer with mild bleach water when home.

Plus a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter to keep tabs on the RO system.

[JD Spydo]

That was a somewhat interesting video that Naperville shared with us. However I do tend to disagree with parts of the video. Because I've had an AQUARAIN water filter (aquarain.com) for some time now and I've had very good results with it over the years.

The AQUARAIN filters have been tested by independent sources and have shown to produce very good filtered water. We've taken one of those testers for swimming pools to determine the chlorine content and have found that the AQUARAIN units are very good at removing chlorine as well as other contaminants found in many municipal water sources throughout the USA.

Also the AQUARAIN filters have proven to be efficient throughout the years. I change out my filter elements about every 18 to 24 months and have found that they still effectively remove chlorine and other chemical way beyond that time period. But I found that by changing the filter elements often does give you assurance that you will have optimal results by changing your filter elements frequently.

Not sure about other manufacturer's water filters but I can testify that AQUARAIN is a good quality gravity fed water filter. And they are the only filter of that type which are 100% made here in the USA. They are made in my home state of Missouri and have proven to me to be an excellent unit. I can't speak for all the other water filters but I've proven the AQUARAIN product to be very good quality.

[vivi]

I've been using one of these for the past year now:

https://www.academy.com/p/sawyer-1-lite ... ith-filter

Nothing but good things to say about it. With minimal maintenance it's worked perfectly in the past year.

I've run everything besides the filter itself through the dishwasher. Replaced the drinking straw. Backwashed the filter to improve the flow maybe every 2 months.

It's super convenient being able to get great tasting water from any public tap.

The Sawyer tap filter is normally $50 or so but I found one at Academy marked down to $30. Great deal. I picked up a back-up to the one I use to fill my 7 gal aquatainers.

[ladybug93]

grayl just announced a titanium model. if i didn't already have a geopress with a perfectly mated stainless steel cup/pot, i'd be all over it.

https://grayl.com

[rgc]

grayl just announced a titanium model. if i didn't already have a geopress with a perfectly mated stainless steel cup/pot, i'd be all over it.

https://grayl.com

I would like one of thoes 30oz pathfinder pots/cups when they come back in stock. That said, the titanium UltraPress is so cool but not for me. I just can't swing the $199 for a filter that I can get for $60-70 and add a nesting cup to. (To many knives I want out there. )