Their getting better at filtering!

Dantor

Dantor

Joined
Dec 14, 2006
Messages
1,350
check this out; http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1696/85/

who will be the first here to get one! a little rich for me now but if I could I would,
hopefully the price will come down.

I'd really like one, for camping/hiking, emergency survival.
I'd still use a pre-filter to help it last longer but damn their getting good!:thumbup:
 
Yeah, a prefilter is a definite must. I thought it was a bit odd that it didn't have a charcoal component though.

EDIT: ah, I see the charcoal now, thx
 
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I use/have the katadyn pocket filter and it's great but you still need to use something for the tiny things, bacteria and viruses (pills and chems), but with this you can finally just use your filter. and ejes the site does seem to go out sometimes!
 
I'll copy and paste some stuff from the site;
vey6oj.jpg

The Lifesaver is a portable water filter system, offering clean water from any water source. Setting aside how handy this is for backpacking, this could be a huge leap forward for ensuring safe drinking water in developing countries, disaster areas, or war zones where clean water is in short supply. And it’s far more palatable than other icky but earth-friendly water filtration ideas.

The inventor is Michael Pritchard, who thought of the concept in response to recent natural disasters. The basic science is in creating a filter smaller than the smallest virus, which is 25 nanometers across. The filter, therefore, has holes 15 nanometers across, successfully trapping even the feistiest of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and other waterborne pathogens. It is the world’s first filtration water bottle to achieve such thorough filtration.

The most important feature of the Lifesaver is the fact that it is useable by anyone, even children. Unscrew the base, dip it in a water source, screw the base back on, and quickly pump the water through the filter. The user can then drink the water right from the bottle. And the filters are replaceable, but they won’t need to be replaced often – each filter can treat over 1050 gallons of water before shutting itself off at expiration, making them that much more practical and safe. Even better, zero chemicals are used! Creating something that is so simple to use, yet provides a truly high-tech solution is a really big deal for disaster relief.

While pretty expensive for an individual to purchase ($460), these are affordable for governments and organizations to purchase and provide in relief efforts or to soldiers. This is a serious wonder-tool, but you kinda have to stop and think, “Why didn’t we have this already?” Thank you Michael Pritchard.
2ztj9j7.jpg
 
I guess I'd like to see some independent testing on flow rates of water before I jumped on the applause bus. It is basically just another water filter, but with a smaller ultrafiltration element to it. The question really is, just how easy is it to pump water through that filter especially when dealing with turbid water as pictured above.

Those small viruses are most likely a problem in 3rd world country or during disasters when sewerage systems fail and human fecal material contaminates the water supply. Not something I'm much worried about when I'm off camping in Northern Ontario. Often times I have both a water filter and chemical treatment (chlorine dioxide tablets). Out of lazyness I tend to use the chlorine tablet when I'm not in rapid need of hydration. For example, if I'm just filling up my (toxic nalgene :)) bottle in the morning from a clean lake for my day hike, I usually drop in a couple of tablets and ensure I am way beyond the 20 min. purification time. If I'm on the trail and need water and only find skunky stuff then the water filter comes out - or at camp and again don't want to wait the 20 min then the water filter comes out.
 
lol "toxic nalgene!" that's funny :D
I worry about the small stuff, like Giardia and Cryptosporidium and hear how hard they are to kill,
even in N.America, and not just in 3rd world countries. but I agree, some more testing and experience
on this would be really nice.

So if they want to send me one..... :D
 
I don't like that you dip the whole bottle into the water source. Even though the nipple you drink from is covered, the rest of the bottle up to the area of the seal is wet with source water. Open the seal to expose the nipple and somewhere along the line I can see water droplets hanging on the outside of the bottle getting onto the nipple or into your mouth.
 
I was thinking the same thing Grapevine.

As for the price, with any new technology the inital price is usually pretty high. It will probably come down to a more reasonable level eventually. I don't know if it will ever come down enough to make it a good option for the average hiker though.
 
Dantor said:
I worry about the small stuff, like Giardia and Cryptosporidium and hear how hard they are to kill,
even in N.America, and not just in 3rd world countries.
Click to expand...

These are the 'big stuff' not the small stuff. They are readily removed by most commercial water filtration (e.g. MSR mini-works and others) units out there. These common systems have a 0.2 um ceramic element that removes all bacteria and protozoa. Only viruses can pass through these. Even that is a bit debatable since the above units also pack active carbon, which if it still is indeed active, will very likely sorb virus and clear the water.

Again, pushing water through 15 nm isn't something I can visualize as easy or efficient. Maybe it would be faster to hang bags around tree leaves and wait for transpiration to filter your water :)
 
"I can see water droplets hanging on the outside of the bottle getting onto the nipple or into your mouth..."

... just curious what sort of things could potentially be in water that one or a few drops would be an issue?
 
you are right kgd, I meant the bacteria and virus.
it says; "The filter is speedy, too - 750ml of water can be prepared in just under a minute."

if it's true and the price comes down, I'd really like to give a try.
 
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