UKC

Does anyone know a good water filter/purifier.

Im wanting one to take to Vietnam so i dont have to use plastic bottles and also suitable for UK cycling/hiking/camping so i can drink from anywhere and not lug heavy water around.

Im thinking the main problem in Vietnam is bacteria (and viruses?) and here at home is heavy metals and fertilisers.
so far i have narrowed it down to aqaupure traveller and sawyer minifilter, but i am unsure about either

Are there any good all rounders anyone could recommend? Thanks

In reply to Ali Skeats:

For what it's worth I got a sawyer mini a few weeks ago and last week I was drinking ALOT of dodgy looking water from really small stagnant pools in the outer Hebrides during the heat wave. It looked horrible! the device works really well, is small, light and easy to use and both my wife and I were fine. The only difficulty was filling the bag from shallow non running source but it comes with a straw attachment to drink from them. From my limited use it is amazing, good value for money and will always be in my bag, it also attaches to normal screw thread bottles. However, as you say it doesn't filter chemicals or viruses...... Hope that helps

In reply to simon1985:

Thanks Simon, its good to hear a real person (not a possibly sponsored reviewer) say good things about it. especially if the water you drank looked awful in the first place.

i guess the normal screw thread bottle is easy to fill from the pools etc? Of what i know and read of viruses they dont "live" long in water anyway, when not in host cells, so maybe are less of a problem...

and you guys are still alive and healthy!

In reply to Ali Skeats:

Have led two expeditions to Vietnam totalling about two months. We use a water treatment called Aqua Prove which has been fine. Currently in Borneo and no issues here either. This included using it with tap water or water found in rivers in the Central Highlands and the Sapa region. Didn't find any need to filter the water.

In reply to Ali Skeats:

Used the sawyer one quite a lot in the last two hot weeks, and drunk from some pretty slow moving green streams with no adverse effects. It is really light, robust, easy to use and maintain so I'm happy there.

As they state, it doesn't treat for chemicals, but in the uk mountains I don't think that's going to be a problem as there are not fields being sprayed etc. The only place I would be careful of drinking from is water outlets from mines/quarrys.

The foldable plastic bag is pretty rubbish, I have been using a much larger platypus one to save time, and a small ridged plastic evian 500ml bottle will let you collect from much smaller streams than a floppy plastic one will without taking up loads of room.

As far as Vietnam and viruses go, I don't know, but do you really expect to be drinking from water sources that bad? Perhaps boiling, purifying tabs and then filtering will give you some piece of mind if it's really really nasty.

In reply to Ali Skeats:

Katadyn combi. Ceramic filter with a carbon phase, so removes all bugs, and catches any chemicals, odours and taints. Pretty heavy duty too.

In reply to Ali Skeats:

Not used either you mention; instead I've used the Katadyn Vario and MSR Miniworks on long distance treks and canoeing expeditions where water sources have been less than reliable. Both are significantly heavier and more expensive, but are easy to use, purify lots of water quickly, and as above, are pretty heavy duty.
I think very few filters deal effectively with viruses (neither the Katadyn or MSR do, though they remove chemicals); however interestingly the Aquapure one on their website claims to...

In reply to Ste Brom:


Sounds very similar to the MSR Mini works Ex. Ceramic filter, carbon element, .2 micron pore size. It is advertised as not effective against viruses which makes sense given that pore size. Though then I read this...Not really sure what to think now.

How does the Katadyn ceramic retain viruses?
Due to their tiny size, viruses can theoretically not be removed with a 0.2 micron (or any physical) filter. Nevertheless, long-term experience in the field has indicated that Katadyn Filters can retain viruses. This surprising fact can be explained: Viruses have an electrical surface charge that attaches them to other particles or materials. Therefore, the tight pore-structure of the Katadyn Filters removes the viruses attached to particles from your drinking water.

In reply to needvert:

Virus particles attach to various surfaces via Van der Waals forces. If that fails, then the carbon phase kicks in.

In reply to Ali Skeats:

Did a lot of research into this before a trip to India and opted for this which was fantastic:
http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/pure_hydration_black_thirst_aid_bag/
Fill, squeeze, drink or cook. What I like is the simplicity, theres nothing that can go wrong or break. Great product; the only filter with approval from the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine.

In reply to Ali Skeats:

Some possibilities:

http://www.drinksafe-systems.co.uk/products.php

The things that can go wrong are mostly to do with bypassing the filter (assuming the filter works properly) by allowing untreated water to reach the 'clean' side of the filter: leaky bottle seal; drips from elevated dirty bottle running in to clean collector; contamination of clean side.

For the filter bottles (e.g. the suck or squeeze ones), you're likely to dunk the entire bottle in a water source to fill it, thus contaminating your hands and the outside of the bottle. You can wash your hands and the bottle with filtered water. Keep the clean side clean...

In reply to Ali Skeats:
Another vote for the katadyn vario here, Ive filled up out of some pretty manky puddles and not been bad yet. Its not the smallest or lightest but does give peace of mind.

In reply to Ali Skeats:

No comments about the Steripen UV system. I thought it was meant to kill everything although does not filter.