Katadyn Water Filters

Originally posted by BlackTalon
The Katadyn Pocket does not remove 99.9% of viruses ...

Now what is this supposed to mean ? Does it remove only 99.8 % or none at all or what...?
Click to expand...

I think it means that it DOES remove 0.1% of viruses.

I wonder which virus is the unlucky one that will not pass through the filter.
 
Just think of this little guy, all alone in this strange, dark filter cartridge, deserted by his buddys, unwanted, unloved, fated to die a cold and lonely death...gosh, this is so sad...:( :( :(

have you hugged your virus today ?
 
ya may want to read my later posts... I was wrong - I read it, but it was simply the little chart on the back that differentiated between the levels of treatment...
Apparently, most of the packable units won't deal with viruses... So, I'll use a little iodine or whatever, keep it with the filter... and I'll use as needed... Fortunately, here in the Cascades and Olympics, my First Need and my old Katadyn have always worked fine and I've never gotten sick (yet!) However, I wanted a very packable unit that I could keep in my BOB and take hiking...
And other than my bad eyes and diminishing memory... Ohwell, just hope the terrorists don't use viruses in the water... I mean really... can you see a bunch of POS's hiking up to a small mountain tarn and spiking the water? Heck, we already got Beaver Fever in every body of water in the continental US... :mad:

Pack light, pack well and enjoy your wilderness adventures!:)
 
Joeshredd,
Yah, I saw that AFTER I posted the reply. Talk about old, some of us got bad eye and some just jump the gun..;) Sorry about that.

Ric
 
Hey, my post was also a knee-jerk based on a memory tidbit freefloating thru my partial vacuum... Wasn't my first faux pas, won't be my last, I'm sure!
Either way, it's still good to find out stuff this way, 'cause sometimes a mistake pointed out here could save yer bacon out there!:D
 
It all depends on how paranoid you are, and how bad the source water is.

Boiling alone will kill virtually everything, but will remove almost nothing. Worse, boiling will leave a higher concentration of many contaminants because they are now left in a smaller volume of water.

Chlorox, chlorine, iodine and other "purifiers" will also kill varying percentages of living beasites, but will also remove almost nothing. Worse, there are some poisons that will be made worse in the process. Some benign organic compounds will be turned into carcinogens, etc. If you are concerned about not just killing what may be lurking in there, but actually removing their bodies, chemicals, poisons, heavy metals, sediment, etc. then you will have to filter. Or distill and filter.

The filters with the iodine stage for virus protection were a good thought but the process did not allow for long enough dwell time with the iodine. It was filtered out almost immediately. Not enough viruses were killed in actual practice so it was discontinued.

Since there are few if any filters that can guarantee total exclusion of all viruses and other lifeforms, a combination approach is safest. Boil then filter, iodine (or chlorine) then filter (chlorine kills far fewer virii than iodine, and filtering after the iodine or chlorine allows a higher concentration and effectiveness without overdosing on either), distill then carbon filter (for the volatile organics that will mostly go with the water), some combination of processes that will take care of the weaknesses of eachother.

All that said, the one single most effective process if you had to choose one would be a really good filter. Unless you specifically knew that the water probably had dangerous levels of something that would bypass that filter.
 
In general water from urban pipes have already by chlorinated and flourinated. A good activated charcoal filter is all you need to reduce the chemicals and catch larger particulate matter from the pipes to improve the taste.

In the wilderness, the primary concern is bacteria in the water. Companies like Katadyn/PUR and MSR make ceramic filters where the pores are so small, no living single cell bacteria or its offspring could pass through.
 
Grant... If you've read my other posts here, you know I can jump the gun with my info... but here goes again...

Be careful when boiling water... boiling won't kill everything, and if you are at any altitude above 3000', the boiling point for water rises as you go higher (IIRC), and you don't get it hot enough to kill.

Now, y'all may return to your regularly scheduled program...

:D
 
I was lookat at the MSR purifiers, which is better the minworks or the minworks ex? the ex i though would be but it seems it is mainly for day hiking?i was looking at altrec.com
 
I believe the only real difference between them is that the EX will hold an air bubble in the filter body to help with the pump water flow. The older style of mini-works can be updated to the air-spring style with the purchase of a new filter element.
Whatever you do whatever filter you purchase remember that all the stock pre-filters suck, you need to have a better one. And you will need to make it yourself!<><
 
There is an easy way to make boiling more effective at sea level and at rather considerable altitude: a pressure cooker. (though it is a little heavy to hump around...)

At sea level a pressure cooker will raise the boiling temp rather higher than the normal because of the increased pressure. Different models work to varying degrees, pardon the pun. This higher temp will kill more beasties quicker than boiling in an open or even covered pan. It will also waste less water.

At altitude, the pressure cooker will usually raise the pressure and temp to rather better than an open pan at sea level, but not quite as high as it would have been in a pressure cooker at sea level. And it will also not waste as much water, so it will not concentrate the contaminants as much.

If the pressure cooker has the old fashioned nipple on which the weight sets, you might also be able to attach tubing to this point to facilitate distillation of the water.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top