What's a good water purifier?

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Sleepy Doc
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by Sleepy Doc »

Depends. What is this going to be for? Are you allergic to Iodine or chlorine? How much shit do you want to carry? (assuming you are carrying shit) How much water do you want to/need to purify at one time? Are you just trying to get rid of potential bio contaminants, or chemical as well?

If you have the time and the means, just plain old boiling water for 15 minutes will kill any critters that will potentially make you sick. You can do fairly large amounts at one time too, depending upon your needs at the time and capability-i.e. what is the biggest pot you have and a source of heat. It also wont alter the taste, if that is a consideration.The next I would say for ease of use/low cost would be the chemical purification. Remember those stupid bottles of iodine tabs? Plain old household bleach also does the trick, and it doesn't take much. The day they got their equipment issue at the school house, we would make the studs line up and give them exactly three drops in a 1 qt. canteen to clean the out the container. However, you use less to sterilize the water itself. If not it will certainly make the final product taste like pool water and give you the shits like you read about. The upside is that you can use that method to decon any size amount all at once, whether a canteen, a 500 gallon water buffalo, or tanker truck.
If you have a copy of the field sanitation FM the formulas are in there.
If you are talking mad max/beyond thunderdome style survival or just desalination of seawater, steam distillation is the proper method. You can certainly build a steam still for less than $150, but it won't be so portable. Definitely reliable, though, and with the added bonus of being able to make booze. You can make a solar still of any size for less than 25 bucks. Definitley portable, it just takes time and area to set one up and you don't get a whole lotta volume. If the backpacking style mechanical filter is what you are looking for, again it depends on how many people you intend to support and for how long. The mechanical filters are not really reusable, so when they stop filtering, they are pretty much through and need to be replaced.
There are any number of filter set ups in your price range that will give you reliable service, from straw-type filters to several different kinds of hand pump operated units. Myself, I use the Katadyn Hiker microfilter.http://shop.katadyn.com/product/8018270 ... guage_id=1 Its about 75 bucks and good for two or even three people in a pinch. A good place to look is the REI or Eastern Mountain Sport websites, but nowdays you can prolly find what you need at any store that sells camping supplies or even WalMart. Make sure the filter specifies that the micron size will trap giardia cysts, and it is a good idea to get one that has a charcoal filter to get any nasty smell out as well.

Hope this helps.

Doc out.
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RangerX
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by RangerX »

Good info from the Doc there.....

I have seen build ad hoc filters out of socks, sand and charcoal from a fire pit. No, I did not drink it, but the guy who made it did. He did not die of explosive diarrhea like I thought.

I've also seen distillation done using a sheet of plastic, some tie off line and a pebble. Very time consuming to gather the water though.

The best bet is to just make sure you pay your water bill on time :D
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RangerX
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by RangerX »

TC204 wrote:Thanks Doc, Great info. I want it for the occasional hunting/camping trip, and to keep in my bug out pack in case any of those tin foil hat scenarios become reality. Can't hurt to be prepared for natural disasters as well. I read about some people from Louisiana and/or Mississippi that died from drinking bad water.
Are you talking about that brain-eating amoeba? That was mainly from using those Neti pot things with tap water. A couple from swimming and getting water up their nose too. Nature will fuck you up.

For camping, there are a lot of portable pump style filtration systems that work pretty well. For long term, you should really be researching filters you can make yourself using common components.

Or just drink your own piss.

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K.Ingraham
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by K.Ingraham »

Start simple & work your way up.
A pack of windproof matches and a teapot are a lot cheaper & easier. Without getting into issues of relative efficacy, just boil your water before consuming.
If industrial pollution is an issue, then you'll need to research the specific threats and you might then have to consider multiple techniques.
For hunting trips etc, carry the weight of the tap water from home. You're already used to whatever impurities exist in your home system.
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colt1rgr
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by colt1rgr »

I always thought the Army issue green wool sock placed over the mouth of the canteen while filling followed by a couple iodine tabs worked quite well. "Old school Baby, dats how I roll!" :roll: :P :lol:
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CloakAndDagger
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by CloakAndDagger »

Tater Nuts wrote:I have used the MSR MIOX and MiniWorks filters backcountry for several years and have had good results with them.
I'll second the MSR MiniWorks. It's probably the best backcountry-size hand-pump filter out there. Easy to pump, high flow, and you can get a variety of different grade filter modules for it. There is a decent amount of length on both the input and output tubes, and the output side of the pump can thread directly on a threaded-cap Camelback or a wide mouth Nalgene (but you gotta leave it loose on a Nalgene or the air pressure works against you).
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Flesh Thorn
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Re: What's a good water purifier?

Post by Flesh Thorn »

I have the Katadyn Hiker Pro. Other than the price of the replacement filter I have no complaints.
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