Would you recommend a water filter or a water purifier for this occasion?

MichelleAna

I am going on a backpacking/hiking trip and will be outdoors for about four days, would you recommend a water filter or a water purifier for this occasion? I am looking for the most comfortable and most convenient option for drinking clean water.

lincolndave

Have a look at these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/OASIS-Water-Pu ... B07L8GZ5NK
Are you travelling abroad?

sniper68

I've done wild camping in the Lakes and used tablets.I have on occasion many moons ago took a chance and just drank from a mountain stream but wouldn't do it now.

ayjaycee

It depends on where you are going (ie. the level of potential problems) and how much you are wanting to 'purify'. Chlorine Dioxide tablets / drops work well for most bacteria / parasites etc. but, depending upon what you are needing to 'kill' can take anything from 5 minutes to 4 hours to work. Filter systems can be effective and range from very portable to a bit more bulky and portability tends to also reflect the quantity of clean water delivered. Personally, I have used both in the field together - tablets / drops for brews and cooking (that way, you're doing belt and braces anyway because you're using chemical purification and boiling) along with a Sawyer filter system for 'sipping' water (others are available). The latter is a more expensive option but IMHO worth every penny for nicer tasting water. Whatever you decide upon, it's very important to remember that you can't determine water quality just by looking at it and the sort of issues that drinking dirty water can cause are very, very unpleasant (and potentially very dangerous).

keef66

I've done the classic slurping the sweet tasting melt-water gushing down the mountainside only to discover a dead sheep further upstream. I didn't die and I'm still quite cavalier about drinking from fast-flowing mountain stuff. Lower down I'd be boiling or using tabs, but effective filters weren't a thing in my day.

tangled_metal

Where are you going? That's important to know the risks for where you're going.

Are you likely to be doing something similar in the future? If so then a filter / purification system is potentially worth getting. By this I mean the various devices that clean the water for you.

Irrespective of what you use (if anything) to make the water safe you need to be aware that high level of particulates in the water reduces any purification system. If using tablets it needs longer to work. If using a filtration based system it clogs it up quicker and reduces flow through it. Best filter it. That be part of your filtration system, before the purification / main filtration or before tablets. Pre filter cloudy water with anything you have. Any cloth could be used, fine weave is better. Put it over the bottle your filling is one way.

Personally there's loads of options available. You can even get a sawyer life straw I believe for £18. This is used to drink directly from a water source or you fill a bottle and drink through the straw from that.

My favourite is the sawyer filters put in line with the outlet tube from a water bladder. You get sick 2 connectors and put it between two lengths of tube from the bladder to the filter and filter to the mouthpiece. Worth getting it you're worried.

Water source is important. Fill up from inlet streams to bodies of water not outlet for example. Fast flowing water for at least 10m upstream in upland areas of the UK are generally good sources. It's possible to do without filtering / purifying water in parts of the UK. Not everywhere of course.

tangled_metal

Then there's the consequences. If you're willing to take the chance you might not need anything. Worst likely case in many upland areas is the sh1ts. Not nice but not a killer. In the UK there's a lot of "selling" of the equipment to purify water and the risks. Hepatitis for example is quoted in walking magazines but it's a rare enough situation that you see cases of walkers getting out when in the hills on various outdoor media outlets. If it's newsworthy just how common will it be?

I mentioned sources above. This is important. Fast flowing streams in upland areas are likely to be ok if it's flowing for a bit before you collect it. Dead sheep upstream is a common fear. Reality is if you look upstream 10m and see one you'll go upstream of it but even below it you'd likely not get ill. If you can't see any dead sheep there's no problem if you've taken the effort to look at least 10m upstream.

Although strictly true you may be at risk following this advice so it's up to you. I've drunk from streams directly a lot in the lakes and even Scotland and Wales. Never been ill. That includes water from little streams crossing popular footpaths lower down when I was a scout. It wasn't fast flowing and we didn't check upstream.

Alexabartel

You can try the Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter System. It’s a 1 x 16 ounce soft bottle with a plastic syringe for cleaning, hydration system adapter, and a straw. You can drink directly from the Sawyer Squeeze but most people squeeze untreated water through it from a soft bottle to a clean container. The filter uses a hollow-fiber membrane filter that removes 99.99999% of all bacteria, such as salmonella, cholera and E.coli and removes 99.9999% of all protozoa, such as giardia and Cryptosporidium. The filter itself weighs 3 ounces. https://iwaterpurification.com/best-fil ... er-bottle/

cougie

OP hasnt been back. Probably contracted some deadly water borne disease. #Sad.