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Thread: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

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    Default Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Portable water filters and purifiers

    Lately I‘ve done some research on portable water filters/purifiers for extended hikes and travels, esp in regions or countries where clean drinkable (tap) water is not easily available. Given that it‘s not a good idea to carry/waste 2-3 full/empty plastic bottles daily over months.

    This is not about how to have the best and healthiest drinking water in your home or even in your camping van. It is about having access to safe water at all in places like Africa, India or South East Asia (considering possible risks, side effects, practicability or costs). It is meant mainly for low budget / long term travellers. As I have tried to gain a certain overview, I thought I can just as well share it here.

    Travelling in the US, Canada, Europe or in remote mountain regions might only require a simple mechanical water filter. It is also possible to just boil the water.

    (Or one can use the SODIS method = solar water disinfection. Though Sodis uses PET bottles which is highly questionable. And as WHO, UNICEF or Red Cross recommend the SODIS method as a way to treat drinking water in developing countries - all alarms should go off.)

    Travelling in (sub-)tropical and lesser developed regions requires more preparation. So all kind of experiences and suggestions are very welcome.

    PS:
    Although the main thread topic is about portable water filters - now that I‘ve delved into the topic, I’d also be interested in how do you - people in various countries, big cities or remote regions - obtain your daily drinking water? So this is obviously a two-topics-thread

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Some general basics:

    -The difference between a water filter and a water purifier is the size of the microorganism each combats:

    -Water filters work by physically straining out protozoan cysts and bacteria, the main water concerns if you’re traveling in Europe, the U.S. and Canada.

    -Water purifiers also combat viruses which are too tiny for most filters to effectively catch, when travelling in less-developed areas of the world.

    3 types of pathogens

    -Protozoa and cysts: Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, single-cell parasites, 1 - 20 microns. A micron is 1-millionth of a meter, or 0.00004 inch.

    -Bacteria: Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae, Yersinia entercolitica, Leptospira interrogans and many others, 0.1 to 10 microns.

    -Viruses: hepatitis A, rotavirus, enterovirus, norovirus, 0.005 to 0.1 micron.

    -then there are industrial chemicals, chlorine, organic compounds like pesticides or herbicides which can be removed by an additional activated carbon filter. But none of those filters will remove heavy metals. This would require a different process.

    1 Mechanical water filters (pump filters, squeeze filters, straw-style filters, gravity based filters)

    - handheld water filters designed for backcountry travel are more correctly called microfilters. They physically separate protozoa and bacteria from water by pushing water through an internal filtering media - a ceramic cartridge or a cluster of hollow-fiber tubes.

    - these media look solid to the eye, but they contain microscopic pores that water can penetrate, but debris, protozoa, cysts and bacteria cannot. This process is called size exclusion. Viruses, however, are tiny enough to slip through even these pores.

    (The pore size of the filter units usually ranges between 0.2 and 0.1 microns. However, since viruses are tiny down to 0.02 microns, they can slip through the pores. Since viruses are often bound to larger particles, they are at least reduced. However, a few mechanical outdoor water filters (with a filter pore size of only 0.02 microns (= 0.00002 mm) also completely protect against the smallest viruses (these are usually very expensive and their filter elements must be replaced or cleaned more frequently)

    2 Chemical water purifiers

    - based on iodine, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, combat viruses, which are too tiny for most filters to effectively catch. MMS water purification (chlorine dioxide based) will be treated in a seperate post.

    3 UV light devices

    - also eliminate viruses. UV (as well as chemical purifiers) work only in clear water. A prefilter is absolutely essential prior to using a UV purifier on nonclear water.

    Activated carbon
     
    Many filters and purifier devices contain an activated carbon-element to remove unpleasant tastes from things like leaf tannins and contaminants like pesticides and other industrial chemicals.

    Prefilters

    When the water is murked up in different ways, such as glacial sediment, silty water, leaf debris and mud stirred up by a rainstorm it is necessary to use a prefilter (some pump-style products come with a prefilter), not because of a health concern (except UV light devices) but to extend the filter element life and to maintain the flow rate.


    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


    Next I‘d like to share what I’ve found out about the pros and cons of various products and I’ll try to give a representative cross-section without favoring specific brands.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    For everyday drinking water, I've installed five stage Reverse Osmosis water filtering system that includes two different charcoal filters. I've used water sediment analysis meter to determine the quality of filtered water produced by my water filter to be 3 parts per million, which is good enough for me.

    As for filtering water in a survival situations outdoors, I've purchased these portable water filter for each member of my family: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    It is a complete kit and can filter lots of reasonably clean outdoor water. I've read that most outdoor water is now contaminated with the giardia bacteria, so either outdoor water has to be boiled or perhaps use chlorine or other similar disintectant chemicals.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Hi ILoveYou,

    I have one of these:



    You can find out more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeSaver_bottle

    I have never had the opportunity to use it in a suitably tough environment. I just liked the look of it

    JC

    ¤=[Post Update]=¤

    There is apparently also a larger version called the LifeSaver Jerrycan:

    http://www.emergencyfoodstorage.co.u...SABEgJFVvD_BwE

    JC

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Home I'm using a Big Berkey https://www.berkey-waterfilters.co.u...-filter-system for which I'm very glad.
    My both kids at school are using Sport Berkey https://www.berkey-waterfilters.co.u...-bottle-700-ml.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Thank you, onevoice. A capacity of 1500 liter for 16$ (plus the provided technical data) sounds promising. Have you already used it ? Is that right that it‘s meant rather for emergency cases? Have to read up on Straw Filters, that‘s what I know the least about, by now.

    Wow, jc! After researching a lot I was finally left with the choice between two options (for now) - one of it being the Lifesaver.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    When I'm in the mountains, drinking 'raw' water, I always use drops of clinical-quality iodine (10 to a liter, then waiting half an hour). That's better than chlorine! The body needs iodine anyway. But for day-after-day continual use in Africa, say, it might well be best to use a good filter (or maybe a filter, as well.)

    jc71's suggestion above may be as good as any, but there are a LOT on the market. Any high quality filter manufacturer will have detailed, published, technical specs, and be willing to provide them. One needs to be able to filter (or kill) even the smallest organisms. Protozoa and bacteria are relatively big. Viruses are far smaller.

    One of many excellent references:

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Good suggestion Bill !

    Just a quick note for the Group on filters.. Some have to be flushed or replace early enough to get rid of the contamination buildup. (Don't ever skimp on the maintenance/and/or replacement of filters) . That could be expensive if it is replaceable filter.. Don't skimp when health is at stake.

    I'm also using STERI-PEN (UltraViolet) which did a pretty good job for me when in Africa..

    Steripen reference: https://www.steripen.com/category/helpful-info/
    Last edited by Bob; 25th February 2018 at 21:15.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    This is interesting to stumble across the IONIC ADSORPTION MICRO FILTRATION SYSTEM (Sport Berkey).

    I‘ve come across one other water filter that uses that system: The GRAYL.

    I decided already against it despite its great design (design would be the least important feature in that case, would it?) Reviews were very mixed and it seemed that the physical effort of pumping would become difficult slow and tiring quickly. Anyway that‘s just reviews.

    But I found an outdoor-forum where that filter was discussed. Someone who claimed to be a member and cofounder of the company joined and was ready to answer questions. He explained electroadhesion / electroadsorption. Not sure: Is that the same? Then someone asked the question: If there just were not aluminium nanoparticles in it, are they? The Grayl-man just answered: Correct, GRAYL's purifier incorporates Alu Nanopartikel. Nothing further was mentioned about it and the discussion died off soon after.

    Could someone maybe answer the question whether alu nanoparticles in a water filter should be considered disturbing or not?

    Add:

    Ah, found it. Grayl-man: Electro adsorption is a scientific principle related to Electroadhesion. Electroadhesion is well-studied and used for cool applications like Wall-Climbing Robots.

    Electroadsorption in a water purifier combines Electroadhesion and Ion Exchange.

    Electro adsorption was originally developed by NASA for travel to outer space. Now its is used by scientific labs and industrial factories.

    Phew, where have I landed now!

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by Iloveyou (here)
    Could someone maybe answer the question whether alu nanoparticles in a water filter should be considered disturbing or not?
    Caveat: this is my personal response only. I'm not a chemist or a biochemist.

    But — I would NOT personally use any filter that employed aluminum. There are many other options available. There's a LOT of choice.

    And if people got really sick using some of these filters, you can bet that the reviews would be crucifying them. Most of them are technically designed for people traveling in (e.g.) Africa, where clean water really is a problem, and dirty water can be very dangerous.

    It may simply be that if it feels hard to choose between them, having read everything you can, then it may not really matter which one you pick.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    I suppose a question to ask about the adsorption is how much surface area will suck up how much contamination? Whence adsorbed, how does one clean it or does one toss it? Does it have to be done under pressure, what supplies the pressure? Ion Exchange is a good method to capture things like "metals" from the water..

    If one wanted "zero water" electroadsorption seems like a good way for possibly ultra-pure lab use.. But if we recall, what Paul had brought to the Group's attention is for regular consumption of water one wants the right salts and minerals back in, not totally removed..

    On another thread some observations were made about the Berkey system apparently putting back (read "dumping") some of its captured substances.. That to me doesn't sound absolutely the best situation if a filter when "filled" dumps back the captured substances...

    So on the electroadsorption the quantity of impurities captured defines how long the system will work, and then at what cost.. For portable use, hiking, obviously what Bill suggested, with a filtering system to get the particles out (so the water is clear) and UV sterilization seems the best. For long term use costs are important as well as maintenance. And what Paul suggested for HEALTHY water that is essential.

    == update ==

    To me nano-anything is scary.. Aluminum especially. A UV sterilizer will address viruses.. Doesn't seem like one would want to have nano-anything in one's water..

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by Iloveyou (here)
    Could someone maybe answer the question whether alu nanoparticles in a water filter should be considered disturbing or not?
    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Caveat: this is my personal response only. I'm not a chemist or a biochemist.

    But — I would NOT personally use any filter that employed aluminum.
    As explained at https://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.co...luminum-oxide/, aluminum oxide is a useful element in water filters, to remove fluoride. I use water filters with aluminum oxide in them.

    Such a filter element would be of little use "in the wild", but are of use on the majority of municipal water supplies in the US, and wherever else fluoride compounds are added to the water supplies.
    My quite dormant website: pauljackson.us

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by Paul (here)
    Quote Posted by Iloveyou (here)
    Could someone maybe answer the question whether alu nanoparticles in a water filter should be considered disturbing or not?
    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Caveat: this is my personal response only. I'm not a chemist or a biochemist.

    But — I would NOT personally use any filter that employed aluminum.
    As explained at https://bigberkeywaterfilters.com/bl...luminum-oxide/, aluminum oxide is a useful element in water filters, to remove fluoride. I use water filters with aluminum oxide in them.

    Such a filter element would be of little use "in the wild", but are of use on the majority of municipal water supplies in the US, and wherever else fluoride compounds are added to the water supplies.
    Yes. The article says
    Quote Aluminum oxide is the most stable form of aluminum known and it is not soluble in water.
    I have a regular Big Berkey at home; but fortunately not to filter fluoride, so no aluminum oxide post filters are needed. And when traveling in Africa, Iloveyou is unlikely to encounter any fluoride there. Just dirty water, with the strong risk of pathogens. It's the pathogens that make travelers sick, with things like giardia, dysentery*, and maybe worse.

    I'd need to know more about aluminum nanoparticles, and I don't like the sound of those at all.

    ~~~
    * A personal horror story!

    Many years ago I was in the Indian Himalayas (northern Kashmir), and I was using chlorine tablets to purify all my water. That worked 100% fine, and I was in great shape.

    Then one day, I ran out of tablets when away from camp, and it was very hot and I was very thirsty. I passed a beautiful sparkling stream that came straight from a glacier, way above any habitation. I told myself it must surely be clean, and as healthy as it looked. So I drank from the sparkling stream, and it tasted clean and wonderful.

    Half an hour later, I wasn't feeling so good. By the evening, I had a fever of 104º. The next day it was higher, and for two days I slipped in and out of consciousness. The expedition doctor was worried (he told me later!) that he might lose me. He gave me huge doses of Flagyl, which is a strong antibiotic and antiprotozoal. A week later I was strong enough to stagger home, abandoning the expedition. I had shigella flexner, which is bacterial dysentery.

    All because I didn't have quite enough chlorine tablets in my pocket, and thought I could take a tiny risk. Don't do that!

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    It may simply be that if it feels hard to choose between them, having read everything you can, then it may not really matter which one you pick.
    I‘m sure you are right, Bill. It is just after having done the research that I‘ll know it may not matter which one to pick - at least which one of a certain category.

    There are portable mechanical filters in the price range of € 40 - 350 (even up to 1500), with capacities of 150 to 50000 liters, one-fill capacities of 450 ml - 10 l, devices with small, protruding components which break easily and „rugged horses“. Then there are the claims and promises of the producers that might not be outright false, but will possibly not meet the expectations in the field.

    Your story will stick with me as a warning!
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 26th February 2018 at 16:06.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure


    First tentative selection of mechanical (pump/gravity) waterfilters

    (subjective choice)

    I was looking for mechanical filters with built-in prefilter and exchangeable filter elements - compact, few moveable parts, durable materials, simple maintenance (Pricier options possibly for extensive, continuous use over the next years.)

    I did not choose water bottles with built-in filter, straw filters, squeeze filters, one-way products, products for trail running / single day adventures / fast paced adventures

    1 Katadyn pocket:
    -capacity* 50000 l / weight 20oz / € 350/
    -silver-impregnated ceramic filter
    -rugged workhorse, robust, durable, high quality

    2 Katadyn Hiker Pro Transparent:
    -capacity 1150 l / weight 8,5 oz / € 90 /
    -micron glassfiber filter, activated carbon
    -pumping along the major axis length, no levers to snap or snag

    3 Katadyn Vario
    seems too fragil for continuous use

    4 Katadyn Expedition
    just for fun ... price € 1500 ... for large groups up to 20 people ... but what a design!

    https://www.katadyn.com/en/de/produc...?categories=32

    5 MSR Hyper Flow

    -capacity 1000 l / weight 8 oz / € 100-120
    -hollow fiber filter
    -ergonomic design, compact size, lightweight, ultrasmall
    -mixed reviews, pumping might become difficult, prone to breaking

    6 MSR Guardian Purifier

    -capacity 10000 l / weight 17 oz / € 350 /
    -hollow fiber filter
    -heavy, expensive but extremely robust and durable
    -selfcleaning pump (alledgedly)
    -eliminates viruses (allegedly)

    (Unlike the MSR AutoFlow™ and MSR HyperFlow™, which are microfilters, the
    Guardian is a purifier, it removes viruses in addition to bacteria and protozoan. To
    remove viruses it is built with revolutionary hollow fibers which are made of
    special materials which happen to be hydrophobic)


    https://www.msrgear.com/ie/water

    7 Platybus Gravity Works (MSR) / gravity based filter

    -capacity 1500 l / weight 12 oz / € 100 /
    -hollow fiber filter
    -minimalist, ultralight, ultrasmall, pump-free, gravity does the work

    https://www.platy.com/ie/filtration

    8 Renovo MUV Survivalist Adaptable Water Filter

    -weight 9,2 oz / € 50-110

    -combines 3 different filtration mediums:

    -Activated Carbon Filter cap. 560 l
    -removes chemicals, heavy metals, discoloration of water, negative taste

    -Hollow Fiber Filter cap. 370000 l (?)
    -removes Bacteria, Protozoa

    -Nanalum Filter (electrostatic charge) cap. 340 l
    (Nanalum is manufactured with non-woven highly engineered water filter paper
    which is also impregnated with Granular Activated Carbon. The Nanalum module
    has a strong positive electrostatic charge when wet. Like a strong magnet, the
    positive electrostatic charge of the Nanalum attracts and traps organic
    contaminants.)


    -removes sediment and clears water, removes Bacteria, Protozoa, Viruses, heavy
    metals, chemicals and negative taste

    That sounds like an all-rounder, almost too good to be true (though with partly low capacity). Can be used as a pump or gravity filter (apart from bottle-, straw- and bladder-sytem). Will have to take a closer look.

    https://renovowater.com/muv-survival...er-filter.html

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    *capacity data is provided for contaminated, but clear water. Silty water reduces the capacity considerably.

    -some waterfilters claim to eliminate viruses which is not outright false (f.e. viruses that stick to larger particles), but they do not eliminate ALL (100%).

    -eliminating 100% of viruses is only possible by chemical or UV treatment (MSR Guardian purifier might be an exception, not sure)

    Add: water bottle with built-in filter

    Lifesaver:

    -capacity 4000 to 6000 l / weight 22 oz / €120-150
    -hollow fiber membrane+ AC filter
    -ideal for use in Third World countries
    -not ideal for disaster situations (does not filter gasoline, oil, chlorine, many VOCs)
    -has some (minor) design- and quality issues
    -probably a great option but for me mainly it is too bulky.

    http://www.portablewaterfilters.org/...bottle-review/
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 27th February 2018 at 16:55.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by Iloveyou (here)
    Thank you, onevoice. A capacity of 1500 liter for 16$ (plus the provided technical data) sounds promising. Have you already used it ? Is that right that it‘s meant rather for emergency cases? Have to read up on Straw Filters, that‘s what I know the least about, by now.
    I only bought it for emergency use, I have not tried to test it yet. One reviewer said that it is only good for one year after date of first use, so I didn't want to test it.

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by onevoice (here)
    For everyday drinking water, I've installed five stage Reverse Osmosis water filtering system that includes two different charcoal filters. I've used water sediment analysis meter to determine the quality of filtered water produced by my water filter to be 3 parts per million, which is good enough for me.

    As for filtering water in a survival situations outdoors, I've purchased these portable water filter for each member of my family: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    It is a complete kit and can filter lots of reasonably clean outdoor water. I've read that most outdoor water is now contaminated with the giardia bacteria, so either outdoor water has to be boiled or perhaps use chlorine or other similar disintectant chemicals.
    Hia @oneVoice

    I looked at the Amazon link at the personal filter and saw the reference about 1 year life span whence used. And the references that it won't purify "salty" waters, nor remove metals and probably not mercury nor cyanide (used in gold/silver recovery operations). I was just thinking about if one happens to be drinking downstream from an old mine site, there easily could be mine-water run-off or contamination from artesian gold/silver recovery operations (a big problem with some downstream communities.)

    I haven't run a reverse osmosis system, and I certainly could have used it where I grew up which contained heavily fluoridated and chlorinated and brackish (salty) water coming out of the tap and who knows what else (back then as a kid I certainly didn't know any better about what I was drinking, after all it came out of the "tap" provided by our local government )

    I noted here: https://puretecwater.com/reverse-osm...salt-rejection as I was wondering about brackish water, such as water which has a high salts content like having flown over rocks with high chloride or "geothermal" waters with all sorts of different salts...

    In the reference for the reverse osmosis (RO) purification, there is a mention be sure to pre-filter, with CHLORINE removing, bacteria removing and particulate removing filters before the pre-filtered water reaches the reverse osmosis. They say, if chlorine is in the water reaching the RO system, chlorine will "punch holes" thru the membrane or the beads, making the effectiveness lesser and lessor over time.

    Quote CHEMICAL ATTACK
    Modern thin film composite RO membranes are not tolerant to chlorine or chloramines. Oxidizers such as chlorine will 'burn' holes in the membrane pores and can cause irreparable damage. The result of chemical attack on an RO membrane is a higher permeate flow and a higher salt passage (poorer quality permeate water). This is why microorganism growth on RO membranes tends to foul RO membranes so easily since there is no biocide to prevent its growth.
    I suppose that means, don't let the first stage expiration time be exceeded (the first stage being the particulate filter), and most certainly the activated carbon would need to be replaced often depending on the amount of chlorine in the water.

    I haven't seen any portable "field use" RO systems, but I would assume the same conditions need to be adhered - proper first and second stage filtration and chlorine removal prior to the reverse osmosis.

    I'll add one last section about maintenance of the RO system - cleaning the membrane step - and how many times a year it has to be done (depending on water condition and volume).

    Quote RO Membrane Cleaning
    RO membranes will inevitably require periodic cleaning, anywhere from 1 to 4 times a year depending on the feed water quality.

    As a general rule, if the normalized pressure drop or the normalized salt passage has increased by 15%, then it is time to clean the RO membranes. If the normalized permeate flow has decreased by 15% then it is also time to clean the RO membranes.

    You can either clean the RO membranes in place or have them removed from the RO system and cleaned off site by a service company that specializes in this service. It has been proven that offsite membrane cleaning is more effective at providing a better cleaning than onsite cleaning skids.

    RO membrane cleaning involves low and high pH cleaners to remove contaminants from the membrane. Scaling is addressed with low pH cleaners and organics, colloidal and biofouling are treated with a high pH cleaner. Cleaning RO membranes is not only about using the appropriate chemicals. There are many other factors involved such as flows, water temperature and quality, properly designed and sized cleaning skids and many other factors that an experienced service group must address in order to properly clean RO membranes.
    -- lastly --

    In an earlier post I mentioned be sure to pay attention to Paul's thread on proper drinking water, adding in the minerals needed for "healthy" water. Important..

    Here is a quote from a reverse osmosis apparatus company about using RO for day to day drinking water.. They also point out the purified water one can get at a supermarket system if it is RO will not contain the necessary minerals.. (so that purified water is not necessarily the best water for one without supplementation)

    Quote Reverse osmosis water is an excellent option for families that live in cities or other areas with less than ideal water quality.

    It’s important to remember, however, that reverse osmosis also strips the water of nutritious mineral content like manganese and iron.

    If you and your family drink and cook primarily with reverse osmosis filtered water, it’s important to supplement with electrolytes and eat food that’s high in minerals.

    Given how pervasive water contamination issues are worldwide, the best way to guarantee that your family is drinking healthy is to filter your water with reverse osmosis and take supplements to compensate for the lost minerals.
    Last edited by Bob; 26th February 2018 at 17:44.

  32. Link to Post #18
    Avalon Member Tangri's Avatar
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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Iloveyou (here)
    Could someone maybe answer the question whether alu nanoparticles in a water filter should be considered disturbing or not?
    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Caveat: this is my personal response only. I'm not a chemist or a biochemist.

    But — I would NOT personally use any filter that employed aluminum.
    ~~~
    * A personal horror story!

    Many years ago I was in the Indian Himalayas (northern Kashmir), and I was using chlorine tablets to purify all my water. That worked 100% fine, and I was in great shape.

    Then one day, I ran out of tablets when away from camp, and it was very hot and I was very thirsty. I passed a beautiful sparkling stream that came straight from a glacier, way above any habitation. I told myself it must surely be clean, and as healthy as it looked. So I drank from the sparkling stream, and it tasted clean and wonderful.

    Half an hour later, I wasn't feeling so good. By the evening, I had a fever of 104º. The next day it was higher, and for two days I slipped in and out of consciousness. The expedition doctor was worried (he told me later!) that he might lose me. He gave me huge doses of Flagyl, which is a strong antibiotic and antiprotozoal. A week later I was strong enough to stagger home, abandoning the expedition. I had shigella flexner, which is bacterial dysentery.

    All because I didn't have quite enough chlorine tablets in my pocket, and thought I could take a tiny risk. Don't do that!
    Probably you know now, but in case other readers do not..

    Freshly melted ice ,/snow are generally considered to be safe to drink without further treatment, however it should not be assumed that because water is frozen that it is safe to drink.
    Most of people think surface water(melted snow-ice, rain) is safe to drink. Sadly it is almost a fatal mistake. It absorbs every contaminated, cultured organism ever it touch.
    Remember cold for keep, hot for consume. Always have caution for melted Ice as you would for lake or pond water, and if in doubt, boil the water for 10 minutes.



    If you don’t drink water 3 days, you will die, but if you drink infested water you will die in 5 days with pain. Microorganisms and Germs (parasites- fungus) are not killed by freezing, they are preserved. They just remain sleep until the ice melts.

    If it is possible, don’t put all ice in the container (empty can of soda or food). Put container on to the heat source and let hanged ice melt as drops. It will pasteurize 55-60 C, 130-140 F(one of the cleaning methods) most of the liquids or liquidated foods.


    Last edited by Tangri; 27th February 2018 at 01:29. Reason: adding fahreneith number
    Love and Hope

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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    CHEMICAL WATER PURIFIERS

    IODINE


    -has been used to disinfect water for nearly a century
    -is affordable, lightweight, simple to use, makes a great emergency water purifier
    -available in tablets, crystals, or tincture of iodine (tincture will color the water)

    few things to know:

    -kills only living pathogens (plus viruses)
    -not effective against fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals or certain parasites (parasitic worm eggs and larvae)
    -not effective against Cryptosporidium, moderate effect against Giardia lambia
    -tastes ... hm, not great ... allegedly („taste of safety“)
    -addition of a small amount of vitamin C (50 mg) to your water after the contact time with the iodine will take the taste away
    -effectiveness depends on water temperature (disperses slower in colder water)

    http://www.high-altitude-medicine.co....html#chemical

    „30 years ago on an 18 month trip round the world, mainly 3rd world, I used iodine. People asked if I was making tea.“ (nice comment on a forum)


    CHLORINE VERSUS CHLORINE DIOXIDE

    Chlorine has been used as a water disinfectant for many decades. I mention it for the sake of completeness, but personally I‘d not recommend the use of chlorine based water purifiers (f.e. the wellknown Micropur Forte tablets which have found their way into nearly every traveller‘s backpack, for decades)

    An excellent article about Chlorine versus Chlorine Dioxide (chlorine dioxide has chlorine in its name, its chemistry is radically different) can be found here:

    https://cdautism.org/chlorine-dioxide-vs-chlorine

    Chlorine

    -Does not remove biofilm
    -Produces unwanted by-products including carcinogens
    -Is corrosive and unpleasant to handle
    -Already Banned in certain parts of Europe and the USA
    -Is pH Dependent and very ineffective above pH 7
    -Is ineffective against complex organisms (e.g.: Cysts & Protozoa)
    -Limited oxidative effect against various chemical contaminants.
    -Forms chlorinated phenols
    -Neutralisation required before dumping to the foul drain
    -Cannot be used at temperatures above40oC due to the release of chlorine gas
    -Increased disinfection time and more service work required to combat high bug counts

    Chlorine Dioxide

    -Will remove biofilm and thus clean tanks and pipes
    -Does not form chlorinated by-products
    -Is much less corrosive than chlorine. Does not hydrolyse to form an acid
    -Is rapidly replacing chlorine in many of these areas
    -Is not pH dependent (<pH 11)
    -A very broad spectrum kill
    -Destroys phenols (without forming chlorinated phenols) specific destruction of Hydrogen Sulphides. Destruction of a wide range of chemical contaminants
    -Because no unwanted by-products are formed, and will have a lower residual after use, no neutralisation normally required
    -Effective at higher temperatures - does not disassociate as rapidly as chlorine
    -Cost savings in labour and use efficiency outweighs the additional chemical costs


    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


    Interestingly, Swiss company KATADYN, well known for their chlorine based Micropur water purifying tablets, produces also a version of Micropur based on Chlorine Dioxide. But that one is only available in France, Canada, USA. (add: it also contains a small amount of chlorine. Sodium chlorite = chlorine dioxide precursor 6,4% / Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate = potassium salt = chlorine 1%)

    Available in Europe except France:

    Micropur Forte (Chlorine)

    Available only in France, Canada, USA:

    Micropur MP 1 (Chlorine Dioxide)

    https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/403-80...p1-20-usa-only

    https://www.katadyn.com/us/ca/551-80...ce-canada-only

    Both products not to mix up with Micropur Classic (silver ions, no chlorine)
    only for water conservation, not for purifying.

    Other water purifying tablets (Chlorine Dioxide)

    Aquamira
    price: treatment tablet form 20 l / 11 $, drops 110 l / 15 $

    Life Systems
    price: treatment tablet form 30 l / 11 £, drops 60 l / 8 £
    (for comparison: chlorine (!) tablets treatment 60 l / 3 £)

    Potable Aqua
    price: treatment tablet form 30 l / 17 $

    Biox Aqua
    price: treatment tablet form 30 l / 10 £, drops 60 l / 10 £

    Or you just travel with your good old MMS Kit. In case your backpack is picked for random baggage control on the airport - praying hard helps (which I know from experience)

    ¤=[Post Update]=¤

    Thank you all for all the valuable pieces of information from different angles - and please continue.

    I‘ll just throw in the results of my decision-finding process every now and then.
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 3rd March 2018 at 16:30.

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  36. Link to Post #20
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    Default Re: Portable Water Filters and Purifiers for Travel and Adventure

    Clean water is a critical necessity to survive for more than 3 days.
    Please give some thought to solutions on my blog.


    http://ronmauer.net/blog/?page_id=178

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