Water filtration

[2sticks]

Hi Folks.

Merry Christmas to you all and allow me to introduce myself. My name is Don, I live in Weymouth and love anything Bushcrafty.

I would like to start my first post here by asking peoples oppinions of the Sawyer Mini filter!
I have used one a few times while on Dartmoor and have found it a very trustworthy bit of kit. I tend to go mainly for moving water and use a 'dirty' bottle to collect it. This, I find reduces the risk of drips contaminating the filtered water.

Boiled or chem treated after this should give quite safe water.
I do however collect in my millbank to remove large debris if need be.

Can I ask others to comment on their experience with different methods and kit to make water safe.

Thanks

Don

[ChrisCraft]

other people will probably say something different, but i dont use any gear that has a life expectancy myself, things with filters in for example, that need replacing.

fire and boil is my preferred, tried and tested method for generations.

if you need to take it a step further i saw a few years back, ray mears making a filter from mud/pete, and grass, packed down in layers, into a 2 litre bottle he found.
the water filters through the grass/pete/grass/pete layers, and supposedly comes out drinkable.
ive never tried it myself as all the water ive collected has been clean-ish, and hasnt been necessary, but id imagine if it was really filthy water, using this mentod to get the worst of it out, and then boiling what drips out, would guarantee drinkable stuff.

im sure theres many different ways to do it tho.

[ChrisCraft]

a muslin cloth is a valuable piece of kit to carry, for straining water.very cheap, packs away tiny, and very light too.

[jus_young]

Welcome Don.
I also use the Sawyer and have done for some time. The only occasion I had an issue with it was when filtering for 5 on Bodmin for a weekend hike and I had forgotten the flushing syringe. Other than that I love it but will prefilter with a Milbank bag if the water is dirty. No life expectedly either providing it is looked after, but I do know nothing lasts forever...

[rik_uk3]

Its a good little filter and filters up to 100,000 gallons so just back flush it from time to time and it will last you a lifetime.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18-FILTER-BAGS-SOCK-VEG-OIL-BIO-DIESEL-WVO-SVO-WASTE-COOKING-OIL-3-BAG-SET-/181964911922?hash=item2a5df43532:g:13cAAOSwBahVL51 W will work much better than a Millbank IMHO

[OakAshandThorn]

I've used the Sawyer Mini only once, so I cannot give much meaningful input...then again, I am very fortunate that my area has abundant freshwater springs that are remote enough to be unpolluted from human contamination. I've drunk from them without filtration....best water I've tasted, especially on a hot, humid day, when the water somehow remains a cool 4.4 C/40 F. :)

That said, I used the filter whilst on a trek on a 20 mile long trail that snakes through my locality back in late October, and because we were in a drought, I had to seek water from larger sources. I stopped at the edge of a lake which was home to resident beaver families, and where there are beavers means giardiasis ("beaver fever") protozoan in the water. I whipped out the Sawyer Mini (filter bag and filter itself) and my Millbank bag, which I had purchased as a pre-filter companion to the Sawyer after hearing many complaints that the Mini clogged up too easy. I am glad I had the Millbank, because the water at the southern edge of the lake where I was standing was particularly cloudy with sediment and organic matter held in by a carpet of reeds and cattails. Going further down the lake to find less grungy water would have been futile, as the flow in the lake was very slow, again due to the dry conditions. Still, the Millbank took awhile to work because there was just so much gunk in the water. To speed things up, I (foolishly) used the Sawyer bag without pre-filtering and put away the Millbank. It all took maybe 20 -30 minutes, but water was filtered and my bottles were filled, and I went on my way. There did come a point when I thought the flow from the Sawyer started to slow down a bit, but I dismissed the thought, until I got back home the day after. Following the storage instructions, I back-flushed the filter and was shocked to see all the gunk that had indeed started to clog the Sawyer...it made me feel like an idiot for not using the Millbank the whole time. The Sawyer prevailed filtering 3 litres of ghastly water, but if I did need to use it again, it would have surely clogged up even worse without pre-filtering the whole time.

I have heard from several folks who are fortunate enough to travel around the US for backpacking trips that the Sawyer Mini does clog up more easily than the regular (original) Sawyer. Theoretically it makes sense because the Mini is a smaller filter with less filtering capacity as the regular Sawyer - the Mini was meant to be an ultralight option for the solo backpacker. It just needs a pre-filter companion of some sort unless all the water sources in your area of interest are "pure" or have much less sediment.

I would be interested to compare it to the regular Sawyer for myself to see which one clogs more.

Oh, and I should mention, when you clean your Sawyer (Mini or Original), don't forget to clean the threads on the bag and the filter :).

[jus_young]

That is something I really didn't like on the mini, the small collapsible bottle. It is a pain to fill up as the neck is small and the bottle doesn't like to expand too easily. I did away with it and attached mine to a two litre water bladder that has a much wider opening

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/26/cff5b9d91d5a1a085067d8b53d038ce9.jpg

This way I can fill up the bladder, hang it from a convenient place and let it fill a secondary bladder whilst a brew is on the go. It also gives me the option of carrying a full untreated two litres with another two treated if water is scarce on route

[2sticks]

Thanks for your replies.

I find my method also depends on the time of year.

Thanks

[Ehecatl]

Hello Don and welcome,

M@