what is your favorite water filter?

[--M.]

Snow can also be contaminated. However, if you are melting it on a stove, you only need let it reach a boil.

Doug

As usual, the wisdom of Master Zappa prevails. We'll just have to use the snow, on which it is NOT written, with whatever they write with up there....

So the sleeping bag starts to get a little crowded, with bottles and filters and food and boots and (um, what else)..., oh yeah, me. It'll be like how my kids sleep.

--St. Alphonso parishioner

 

[sapblatt]

I built a Supercat stove and love it. I made a base by gluing the stove with high temp epoxy to a large pickle jar lid and fashioned a windscreen out of some aluminum flashing which mounts onto the base. It works well in the cold but I probably would not want to use it for melting large amounts of snow - clean, odorless fuel, weighs under 2 oz, nothing to break, fits inside a pot. Love it!

 

[Lawn Sale]

If you don't clean out the MSR filter, it will crack since it's ceramic and brittle. But, purging it may work fine, just make sure to get all the water out that you can. The PUR is a better filter in the winter as the membrane is a flexible glass microfiber composite so it won't break as easily. It's actually really tough, just much harder to clean once dirty.

The funky drops are Aquamira Chlorine Dioxide and now come in a tablet form the same manufacturer, so you can just just plop one in a Nalgene and don't have to worry about the 2 separate liquids freezing. They are not to be confused with the Iodine tablets that were probably used when your Nalgene changed color.

If it were me, I'd just bring some extra fuel and boil the water, unless we're talking mass quantities here.

The MIOX Pen is just a chlorine bleach producer as it makes the same active ingredient as bleach, just a little stronger. The strips are also not for pH, they are to test for chlorine residual.

I switched to a UV Steripen and have found it great now that all the bugs have been worked out of it. I had some problems earlier in the year, but they have been taken care of with the new model. Since then it's been flawless.

For a little more info, probably too much, I posted some stuff awhile ago on the subject.

 

[jrichard]

I built a Supercat stove and love it.

Awesome. Thanks for the link. I currently use a homemade stove that burns esbit tabs or alcohol, but I doubt it is as efficient as this one.

I have a MSR Waterworks for summer canoe trips, but I've been using Aqua Mira (like Lawn Sale mentioned) since 2004. The chemicals can really get the weight down, but you might want do the math for your own usage. With a filter, you can drink immediately, so if you're aware of the water sources, you can avoid having to carry water while waiting for the chemicals to neutralize the bugs.

 

[Dugan]

If you don't clean out the MSR filter, it will crack since it's ceramic and brittle. But, purging it may work fine, just make sure to get all the water out that you can.

I have the MSR Miniworks. From what I have read, the cracks can be so fine that you can't see them. I remember reading on another forum last winter that someone was guessing there was a crack because the water became easier to pump through. Back home, under a magnifying glass, the crack was visible.

 

[--M.]

Well, it failed.

I used it & scrubbed it and (yes) dried it thoroughly before leaving. It remained in my pack until the descent, as we melted snow during the first 2/3rds. When I pulled it out & put it together, it pumped too easily and wouldn't suction water up the hose. I cleared it out & tried again: no dice. Not sure why, but there you go. Since the water never got up the line, I'd guess a pressure failure in the pump, but maybe the filter itself cracked and compromised the pressure.

 

[DougPaul]

Well, it failed.

I used it & scrubbed it and (yes) dried it thoroughly before leaving. It remained in my pack until the descent, as we melted snow during the first 2/3rds. When I pulled it out & put it together, it pumped too easily and wouldn't suction water up the hose. I cleared it out & tried again: no dice. Not sure why, but there you go. Since the water never got up the line, I'd guess a pressure failure in the pump, but maybe the filter itself cracked and compromised the pressure.

Test it again warm--the cold could have made the valves too stiff.

If there was any water in the filter element (even if it was only damp), it could have been cracked by ice. The water should flow the same or more easily with a cracked (warm) filter.

Doug

 

[The-Green-Man]

Spring/Summer/Fall: MSR Mini-Works. It's got a ceramic element that is easy to clean. I've never had to replace it - only boil it after hikes and leave it out to dry. Occasionally I have to remove the filter and scrub it to increase the flow rate (usually after filtering from a less than clear source). It's a little on the heavy side but rumor had it you could filter water out of the Ganges and live to tell the tale...

Winter: Ceramic filters can be severely damaged if used and allowed to freeze so I leave it at home and just boil/treat the water I need.

 

[Lawn Sale]

Test it again warm--the cold could have made the valves too stiff.

Doug

I agree with Doug, but think it's probably just a shrunken O-ring not allowing a seal. It'll probably be fine once it's warmed up.

 

[Chip]

I agree with Doug, but think it's probably just a shrunken O-ring not allowing a seal. It'll probably be fine once it's warmed up.

I am interested in the outcome as a vested miniworks owner and winter camper. There is that one big rubber O-Ring at the bottom of the cartridge, it would be difficult to seat that improperly. The other rubber o-ring is in the pump itself, which there isn't access to. Assembling cold shouldn't be a prob, but there again, all you'd need to do was give it a tightening twist afterwards.

only boil it after hikes and leave it out to dry.

Are you boiling the entire cartridge unit, with plastic housing ?

 

[jrichard]

Are you boiling the entire cartridge unit, with plastic housing ?

JFYI: I managed to warp the plastic housing (the black or gray plastic) by boiling it. I had boiled it tens of times, but I guess that last time the heat was a bit too high.

Now I have a handful of replacement parts.

 

[Chip]

JFYI: I managed to warp the plastic housing (the black or gray plastic) by boiling it.

I'd think a "dip" of the cartridge in boiling water would be sufficient, or pumping boiled water through it. I've never boiled it, just scrubbed and let it dry out.

MAYBE YOU CARTRIDGE BOILERS ARE CRACKING THE CERAMIC...

 

[jrichard]

I think boiling is the right thing to do. At least MSR thinks so, the instructions say:

3. Place Ceramic Element in large pot. Cover the Ceramic Element completely
with water (room temperature) and allow room for the water to reach a
rolling boil without spilling over.
4. Bring water to a boil and allow element to remain in rolling boil for
5 minutes.

Of course, they don't say anything about boiling the housing...

 

[Chip]

okay. I just shattered the ceramic cartridge trying to figure out how to separate that from the housing.
There is a substantial charcoal filter core insde the visible ceramic core.

 

[DougPaul]

I'd think a "dip" of the cartridge in boiling water would be sufficient, or pumping boiled water through it. I've never boiled it, just scrubbed and let it dry out.

MAYBE YOU CARTRIDGE BOILERS ARE CRACKING THE CERAMIC...

I suspect the instructions to start with cold water are to make the cartridge heat up slowly and evenly. Dipping a cold cartridge in hot water (or a hot cartridge in cold water) could potentially crack it by thermal stress.

Doug

 

[Chip]

Dipping a cold cartridge in hot water (or a hot cartridge in cold water) could potentially crack it by thermal stress.

Doug

Or cranking the cr@p out of the unit to see if you can separate it...could potentially crack it by...stress.
Yes, heating the entire unit slowly to a boil makes more sense. Never did do it though.

Moosejaw just got an order for a new MSR cartridge and 'bots for my g12's.

 

[Lawn Sale]

They all have a carbon core now, I think MSR did away with the all ceramic filters a few years ago with the original versions. It's what adsorbs the taste and odors that a regular filter will miss.

Some of the filters had an Iodine core, but they are also a thing of the past.