Water Purifiers

“I'm looking at buying a top-of-the-line water purifier, but I'm not quite sure what one to buy. I was thinking about a Sweetwater, but their reviews aren't that great. Also, I was looking at the PUR Scout or the PUR Voyager. Can anyone give me some good advice or suggestions? Thanks!”

“Sweetwater SUCKS! I had the Walkabout and thay are terrible. Get a Pur Hiker.”

“Are you looking for a purifier or a filter? If I had to buy another water filter, I'd go for the PUR Hiker.”

“If you need a purifier for your own personal use, go with the Pur Voyager. The Scout will pump more water faster, but if it's just for you the added weight is not justified. Consider the lighter Pur Hiker if you're going to use it only in the US or Canada. The difference is that the Voyager gives virus protection by adding iodine, and the Hiker does not. There are no gaurentees in life, but I don't think that you have to worry much about viruses up in Alaska.”

“Considering the alarming spread of pathogens in the past couple of decades, the purifier may be or become important even here in North America. I have always had good luck with my First Need purifier, enough so that I just ordered a new one from the REI spring sale, since it has some convenience features my older model (still working) does not. It also doesn't use any iodine in its matrix, in case that is of concern to you. First Need has a pretty long track record as far as these things go.

For fast and light, I'll be trying one of the Xstream Orinoco bottle purifiers this summer. That does have an iodine element in the filter structure.”

“PUR Hiker, my opinion”

“I'd get another PUR Hiker in a minute. Viruses aren't a threat in North America.

A friend picked up an intestinal parasite in Asia that the doctors tell him there is no cure for. He'll have to live with bouts of diarrhea for the rest of his life - that sucks!”

“..another Pur Hiker vote!”

“You THINK virus' aren't a threat in North America; let me assure you they ARE out there! I wouldn't wish one upon anyone, even Mutt. I got something in CO. One and a half years of off and on antibiotics, kidney specialists and 4 bouts of illness including 105* fevers, vomiting and diareha. If you can afford a First Need buy one! Sweetwater's aren't worth a dime!”

“I have a Pur Scout and have been happy with it BUT they were recalled because the EPA no longer approves them. Once the cartridge is done, and mine is, you can't get a replacement and renders it useless.

I had the opportunity to see Joy's First Need purifer last Fall at Pictured Rocks. The water was clearer and better tasting than my Scout's.

NOTE: REI has them on sale right now for $59 !!!! Go and get one!
I called my backpacking buddy up and asked him to pick one up for me since there are no REI's anywhere near me. He did and guess what. He's giving it to me for an Easter present! I think he likes me. :o)”

“My vote is to play it safe and get the purifier. I have the Scout and think it's great. But if I had to get another I'd get the Voyager, which is the Hiker but with a purifier filter in it. It's way lighter than the Scout.”

“Sunshine's got a boyfriend! ;^) Lucky you, very nice Easter present!”

“Sweetwater guardian has been recalled " reference a PB MAG article " and they will no longer sell it with the iodine attachment. I am going to take mine back to REI " I have only used it 4 time 6 L total " and I paid top $$ for it when I got it. I think that the first needs one is the way to go. Thought I have not tried it personally I know a lot of people that have and all are pleased.”

“Joy is right about making assumptions on viruses. You really don't want to be the case that disproves the old virus adage. Some of the new nasties are very persistent, chronic and debilitating. International travel has spread many things to many new places. My brother was a Navy medical technologist during Vietnam; he ran a lot of test "samples" on what our guys brought back to the State's with them. He said he found stuff that the textbooks said was extremely rare and unlikely to be encountered.

So be safe, go for the purifier.”

“what's wrong with Sweetwater? I don't have the money for a filter of my own and am borrowing a friend's Sweetwater this month.”

“*bump*

i normally don't bump, but a few of the reviews and comments here on the Sweetwater have me worried...”

“The sweetwater gaurdian attachment had some failures a while back. I owned one,it was very unreliable,slow and hard to pump.Joy and I were using it when she caught the mystery illness that she fought for what seemed like forever.

IMHO a good PURIFIER not filter is essential. If you are cold,wet and hungry you are just miserable(except in extreme cases). If you get a bug in the water just hope its like giardia that can take 10 to really kick in. Cause a serious case of diarrhea on a long term trip can be dangerous if not fatal. I personally have had heat exhaustion once and heat stroke once, dehydration is no joke. I personally take it that seriously.

do a search on this site about sweetwater gaurdian and filters for more info.”

“i thought the sweetwater took out giardia and other protozoans. when you say purifier and not filter, what is the difference?

When Joy caught this "illness", what was your water source? Did she ever get diagnosed?

The above set of questions are pointing more towards pesticides and other chemicals that can cause problems, and I'm curious about ANY pump's effectiveness against the like.”

“one (purifiers?) eliminates some or all viruses, one (filters?) do not.”

“Joy - Sorry to hear about your illness and thanks for the heads-up. I was thinking as I made my post about what would happen if my friend with the incurable bug had been camping upstream from me and didn't properly dispose of his waste. I suppose viruses could well be a threat here, especially as the world gets smaller.

To be on the safe side, lately I've been using the PUR Hiker *and* adding a couple of drops of bleach per liter. I carry it in a small dropper bottle.

For some really good information on water purification, go HERE”

“nafai, purifiers claim to make the water "microbiologically" save. They won't help you against chemically polluted water, so stay out of New Jersey. (I bet I'll catch hell for saying that!)”

“A filter is essentially a permeable barrier that strains out solid particles at a microscopic level. the sweetwater filters down to an absolute level of .2 microns with its carbon cartridge.The sweetwater does remove giardia and protozoa cause in a microscopic sense they are huge. Viruses are too small.

A purifier actually treats the water and kills viruses,removes chemical agents,hell the First Need even removes radionucleids. Its the only purifier certyified by the EPA.

Nafai,you asked where we were. Colorado,pike national forest,water came from a stream fed by Gibson lake (ice melt/spring fed?) located at 12,000 plus ft. Not to many direct chemical sources,just residual levels in rain.And a first need removes chemicals.

Ultimately I would rather overprepare in the purifier dept. If my first need never has to remove any virus' than great but i want the capability if the nasty critters are lurking about.Plus you can gravity filter at night!”

“ok, i'll look into the first need. Would you feel comfortable with a Sweetwater (with a working pump ;P) combined with Iodine tablets to kill Viri?”

“yes,except that iodine tastes bad.
checkout www.general-ecology.com,no link cut/paste for info.”

“I use a Pur Hiker. I don't know much about the other brands, but this one works great for me. It pumps water at a good rate, and has never let me down.”

“SUNSHINE- The Scout filter was never in dispute. Just the carbon top. Replacments are available. Check out PuR.com. Oh my vote is the PUR SCOUT HANDS DOWN. BUTT.... I prefer to use somone elses, cut down on my pack weight and I can git firewood! OH Yea!”

“Sunny-Whoops carbon Stop. I still git nervous round you! LOL”

“As Hyper said, check the General Ecology website. Their FAQs deal with all these issues, even if it is self-serving. When we were in China, all our water had to be boiled. But that doesn't take care of heavy metals and other pollutants. Wish I would have taken my First Need and a few dozen cartridges, or at least a big gravity version.”

“So, IHO, BOILIN IS BEST?”

“Give Aquamira a try. I used it this winter and didn't get sick. It's supposed to kill everything and doesn't taste bad, is lightweight and can't break.”

“jerbear, PUR.com is: Public Utilities Report. I've been trying to find a web site but I've never been good at searches on the web or on TT. *sigh*

It was my understanding that it was only the carbon end also. I went to both my local outfitters and both places told me you can't get the cartridges anymore. The one store called their supplier to see if they had heard anything regarding this matter. His supplier no longer carries the Scout and the "scuttle but in the industries says the Scout will be discontinued entirely." :o(”

“I have 2 filters, a PUR Hiker for alpine/mountain travel and a MSR Waterworks II for desert travel.

I love the PUR but for the silty/sandy waterways of the southwest it just doesn't cut it, once there is sand in it you have to replace it. The MSR is ceramic and can be cleaned in the field very easily, making it ideal for sandy situations.”

“Another vote for the Pur Hiker here .... I love mine. Alaskan packer, depending on the type of water you have in your area, this may work for you. Be careful - the Pur Hiker is only a level 2 filter, you may need a level 3.”

“Ditto on the PUR Hiker... although I also have 1st need, and though a bit less streamlined, it was an effective filter. I also got the voyageur filter element to add muscle to the process.”

“I have a Pur Hiker also
and would get another if I ever needed a new one.
Also you can upgrade to the Voyager cartridge anytime to
take out the viruses.”

“Sunshine- Try PuRwater.com. Use the lower case u. I do not know how to link,so this is the best I can do. I was at the site yesterday. I will be checkin it out more! HAGD;)”

“Yeah! That's the thing about the Hiker - you can add the cartridge for Level 3 or virus protection if you were to hike near more questionable water sources.”

“Here's another, thmpr. :o)”

“I have heard over and over that there are no big problems with viruses here in the U.S. I too would rather be safe than sorry. But, the SW Guardian has been fine for me (the Scout before). Easy to use, easy to pump. Replacement filters are expensive, but so are everyone else's, especially considering the prices out there! Trying to pump a lot of water with many is an exercise in frustration and dehydration. I thought I'd die of exposure trying to pump any amount of water with my friend's high end, boo-coo bucks Katadyn pocket filter. Filter lasts forever, but you'll have arms the size of Schwarzanegger before you use it up...or get more than a couple liters out. Phew! Granted, I haven't had my Guardian out in any extreme conditions, but it beats the heck out of all the others in gallons per minute. Just don't drop it. Plastic. But then, don't drop the others either.

I guess I'm one of the few rebels for the Sweetwater. Sheesh!”

“Has anyone had any experience with the Katadyn Professional. (I believe that's the name, its the larger, $250, one. ) My PuR Explorer has been great so far, but the filter cartridge is shot, and they are not supplying them anymore, at least temporarily.

Thanks”

“this is what i have heard:

-they are hard to pump.

-they are heavy.

-reioutlet.com has them on sale for half price.”

“Thanks! I'll check it out. This is becoming a real dilema. As an aging male, I am being forced to change, and as an aging male, I don't like change!!!”