Water Filtration Systems

[Gilberto de Piento]

I have a msr something filter about 10 years old and the few times I've used it hiking I can only pump a few liters through it before I have to disassemble and wipe off the filter or the flow is too slow, even when the water is very clean looking. If it's all the same in a survival situation I think Id rather bring a few gallons of water home and let gravity do the filtering than spend a lot of time next to a river pumping and cleaning. My experience is very limited though so this is an uninformed opinion.

[Ego]

It is pretty cool. It is self-cleaning too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkqdwABDMss

[johnbroker]

@Jacob & Ego: Passive sedimentation and basic filtering (as Jacob's proposal with sand) would always go first for water in the 'wild'. What to do after is my worry. Both the MSR Guardian and Katadyn Pocket seem to rely just on size filtering (down to 0.02 and 0.2 um respectively). MSR claims to filter viruses because of the reduced pore size but it does not remove chemicals as charcoal does. For example, here now I see two options: a) MSR with that ultrafine filtering and b) ClO2 + activated charcoal.

... Combine [prefiltering] with reverse osmosis and a final charcoal filter and LED UV and you have a great system that will fit in a carryon bag....

@Sclass: Do you think that all the steps you mention above are necessary? Filtering + Reverse osmosis + charcoal + UV. It starts looking to me like like one of those undesink 11 stage systems they oversell when you try to see what's out there. I understand what each steps does (or tries to do) but I don't know up to what point they are redundant or unnecessary.

[Sclass]

No I don’t think UV is necessary. But it is cheap to build if you diy. Charcoal will help with flavor. I’m tempted to do five stage. Three prefilters ,+ RO membrane. What I’ve described is basically an under sink system without the pressure tank.

In my reality it’s a lot easier to buy water at the filtering shop. And cheaper.

[Alphaville]

Doesn’t reverse osmosis waste a bunch of water? I live in the desert so that’s a big no-no.

I just use a Brita pitcher for my drinking/cooking needs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If I were in the boonies I’d get a Berkey. Those are standard issue for homesteaders, preppers, etc. Pricey but they let you drink rain.