A question about water

H

hdglock

Joined
Jan 31, 2009
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I am slowly building up my gear for camping and hiking. I wanted to get a good water filter to be able to replenish my canteen. When looking at the various filters and capacity before the actual filter element needs to be replaced versus the cost it seemed daunting to be able to get something affordable that would last.

I placed an order for a Sawyer .02 micron water purifier system today. It seemed like the best deal I could find. Gauranteed for 1,000,000 gallons of water ( I do like to hydrate) and is one of only a couple that exceed EPA standards for water treatment. Well after ordering it I am hoping I made a good choice. Does anyone here have one that they could give me their opinion about it?

The model I ordered has two bags (1 raw water, other is purified. weighs 20 oz.)

If this has been asked before sorry, but I could use the information

ETA link...
www.sawyerproducts.com/SP194.htm
 
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depending on what you need it for. Others just carry chlorine drops and drop a few in a gallon and it kills the germ but adds a terrible after taste/smell. But for a long term plan you seem to have it covered. I dont know much about filtration systems, beyond my Brita, but if it exceeds EPA standards then sounds great to me.
 
I've never got into the filter systems, I've come use to the taste when I need to, but for the most part I just boil.

For me, I can make as many fires as I need, and I have an endlss supply of was to boil water, so if you can I think you should cover that as well.
 
Fonly said:
I've never got into the filter systems, I've come use to the taste when I need to, but for the most part I just boil.

For me, I can make as many fires as I need, and I have an endlss supply of was to boil water, so if you can I think you should cover that as well.
Click to expand...
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Here in North Carolina we are just coming out of a drought that lasted about three years, so Building a fire to boil water is not my first choice. I am planning to get a packable stove in the future so I will be able to cover that base.

These are the nasties it will remove:

Bacteria Which Cause:
I.E.: Cholera, Botulism (Clostridum botulinum), Typhoid (Salmonella typhi), Amoebic Dysentery, E. Coli, Coliform Bacteria, Streptococcus, Salmonella

Protozoan (Cyst):
I.E.: Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora

Viruses:
I.E.: Hepatitis A (HAV), Poliovirus, Norwalk, Rotavirus, Adenovirus, Hepatitis E (HEV), Coxsackievirus, Echovirus, Reovirus, Astrovirus, Coronavirus (SARS)
 
Wow - a 0.02 micron filter that removes virii without chemicals, and is good for a million gallons :eek: :eek: :cool:

If that does what they claim I'm very impressed!

The only remaining thing to be concerned about is chemical contamination, and that's not generally a concern in remote areas.

I would be very interested to hear opinions on this myself...
 
Wow! I have a hard time believing those specs! For backpacking, pretty much the norm on filters is about 0.2 microns, and nowhere near the capacity. That is plenty small enough to get rid of both giardia and crypto, as they are large in comparison.

They have such a bad reputation because they are so resistant to chemical methods. While most bacteria die quickly, crypto can take up to 4 hours to be killed by chemical methods. That's a long time to wait if you are thirsty.

I am not a big fan of "technology" in the woods, and used to be in the "I will just boil" camp too. But, that really depends what you are doing in the woods. If you are canoeing, hiking, backpacking, or generally moving, it is a lot of wasted time. Building a fire, boiling water a few times, waiting for it to cool, making sure the fire is safe, etc will take a good portion of your day. If you are using a stove and fuel, well you already have "technology" with you. Emergency is a different story too.

Anyway, regardless of the claims, there are some easy things you can do to extend the life of your filter, like:
- Remove as much garbage from the water before going in the bag. Pre-filter with a handkerchief or whatever.
- If water is silty, gather it in a collapsible style bucket. Let it settle, and pour the cleaner stuff off the top.

Yes, the filter will remove that stuff. But why waste its capacity when you can do it easily.

B
 
Brian Andrews said:
Anyway, regardless of the claims, there are some easy things you can do to extend the life of your filter, like:
- Remove as much garbage from the water before going in the bag. Pre-filter with a handkerchief or whatever.
- If water is silty, gather it in a collapsible style bucket. Let it settle, and pour the cleaner stuff off the top.

Yes, the filter will remove that stuff. But why waste its capacity when you can do it easily.

B
Click to expand...


It's pretty interesting, and it would be a great family set up while camping...I think Brian is spot on with the benefits of a quality pump filter and the simple precautions you can take to keep the water flow high and keep your filter clean for longer.

I envy those that can make fire without restrictions as the one downside to TX is the numerous fire bans in all our favorite hiking/camping areas. I've had to rely on stoves and it's a either more fuel weight to boil water or filter weight. Water is an absolute must during the hotter seasons, so I've just made a quality water filter as one of my backpacking essentials.

ROCK6
 
ROCK6 said:
It's pretty interesting, and it would be a great family set up while camping...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know quite a few people who use the Katadyn Camp for backpacking and love it.

It doesn't have the specs that the Sawyer claims, but it uses the same 0.2 micron membrane filter that some of the Katadyn pump filters use. Just uses gravity instead.

The folks I know that use it, use it as a common filter for groups of 2, 3 or 4. Just gather water, hang it, done.

Pretty neat concept.

It seems every single water method has pros and cons. Just need to pick what works for the situation you are in.

B
 
hdglock said:
I am slowly building up my gear for camping and hiking. I wanted to get a good water filter to be able to replenish my canteen. When looking at the various filters and capacity before the actual filter element needs to be replaced versus the cost it seemed daunting to be able to get something affordable that would last.

I placed an order for a Sawyer .02 micron water purifier system today. It seemed like the best deal I could find. Gauranteed for 1,000,000 gallons of water ( I do like to hydrate) and is one of only a couple that exceed EPA standards for water treatment. Well after ordering it I am hoping I made a good choice. Does anyone here have one that they could give me their opinion about it?

The model I ordered has two bags (1 raw water, other is purified. weighs 20 oz.)

If this has been asked before sorry, but I could use the information

ETA link...
www.sawyerproducts.com/SP194.htm
Click to expand...



I going to get that one also.:thumbup:

 
Sawyer themselves suggest prefiltering to remove particulate matter before putting water through their filter. Their suggestions:

To get the maximum water capacities, use the clearest water possible.

Some ways to extend the filter life include:

Choose water below the surface but not off the bottom.
Draw water and allow it to settle before filtering.
Use a pre-filter such as a coffee filter, paper towel, or a T-shirt/bandana


I really like the look of this, from a standby/emergency use viewpoint. If I still did the wilderness (can I say that in the UK? :rolleyes: ) backpacking that I used to I would really want a version with a pump handle, like the Katadyn types, but with this filter. Wonder if they'll make one?
 
I got the Sawyer .1 micron filter recently and it worked well for me. I rigged a harness for it and hung it from a tree limb to refill my other bottle, worked like a nut. Like the others stated what kind you get depends on what you need it to do. Here in south florida chemically contaminated water isn't much of a problem but no telling what critters might be swimming around. The .1 is good enough to stop all swimmers and near all viruses. Also I would use a prefilter to remove floaters, it will make the filter last longer, although 1 mil gallons is a LOT of capacity, I would have to see it.
 
I thought that 0.1 micron filters didn't do much against virii? Most are smaller than 0.1, although the largest is about 0.5! If I recall correctly, flu virii are about 0.05 micron.

That said, a lot of the virii will be stuck on particulate matter in the water, so might be removed along with those particles.

I personally wouldn't trust a 0.1 micron filter to stop a virus.

If the filter only lives 1/100th of its specified life, that's enough for 2 gallons of water a day for 12 years!

My concern would be if there is a way to test the quality of the treated water and determine the filter's end point. Short of a laboratory test that is. Otherwise, how would one know that the filter was still working?

The benefit of some of the chemical cartridge filters is that they start to block up when exhausted, so the end point is obvious.

I wonder how robust the filter material is? The ceramic filter elements are obviously quite robust (at least inside their filters) and damage to them would be fairly obvious.
 
I first learned about this filter in Feb. of this year and didn't pull the trigger on ordering until a couple of days ago. In that time frame I tried to learn alot about various filters. There are filters and purifiers. This .o2 micron is listed as a purifier. Best I have been able to tell, any thing down to and including .1 micron is a filter. I found out that the .02 micron purifier uses technology very similar to kidney dialisys (sp?) in that it uses millions hollow tubes that are .02 micron absolute. Absolute meaning no tube is bigger than .02 micron. You are able to back flush the purifier element with the filter water to return it an as new condition per Sawyer.

Here is a short video showing the filter being used at the Shot Show when it was introduced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X3HcuFiAGo&feature=related
 
Wow! This product seems to have it all.

It is variously listed as the "SP194" and the "Point Zero Two" model.

Prices vary. (And the best price comes with dividends for some. :D)
 
Thomas Linton said:
Wow! This product seems to have it all.

It is variously listed as the "SP194" and the "Point Zero Two" model.

Prices vary. (And the best price comes with dividends for some. :D)
Click to expand...

Be aware that there is a cheaper version with a bucket adapter that is described as the "Point Zero Two" model - without the 4 litre containers included with the SP194.

For mobile use the SP194 is the one to get but for static use, the cheaper one with faucet and bucket adapters would probably be the one.
 
SP 190 - filter cartridge, tubing, adapter plug to fit in hole in bucket, spade bit to drill correct-sized hole in plastic bucket.

SP194 - filter cartridge, dirty water bag, filered water bag, tubing to connect. AKA 4 liter system

SP135 - filter cartridge, bottle to hold same, srtaw to suck out water through filter, accessory to allow backflushing at home faucet. Seems like a clever person could turn the SP135 into either of the above. No longer listed on Sawyer site, but I'm about to try to buy one listed at Wally World. Description: http://www.moontrail.com/sawyer-sp135-water-purifier-kit.php
 
foxyrick said:
Be aware that there is a cheaper version with a bucket adapter that is described as the "Point Zero Two" model - without the 4 litre containers included with the SP194.

For mobile use the SP194 is the one to get but for static use, the cheaper one with faucet and bucket adapters would probably be the one.
Click to expand...


The kit without the bags could easily be converted to bags if someone already has the bags. Just a few fittings. I didn't have the bags so this way was easier and cost about the same (not even including the dividends:))

ETA...
The only problem I forsee with this is possible puncture while in my pack. Once it arrives I am going to measure the bags, hoses and filter and find a Pelican case to hold everything.
 
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