What did you buy today?

[slowworm]

I wouldn't rely an filtering chemicals, something like activated carbon would be a good second stage to clean these up

Just looking at the LifeSaver Liberty it has an active carbon disc as well.

LifeSaver Liberty™ Carbon Discs x3 - LifeSaver

Activated carbon discs improve the palatability of water by removing chlorine, taste and odour. This 3 pack of carbon discs are only compatible with LifeSaver Liberty™ bottles. This is a 3 pack of carbon filters that help remove scents and unpleasant tastes when you are purifying water using a...

iconlifesaver.com

 

[Nice65]

I wouldn't rely an filtering chemicals, something like activated carbon would be a good second stage to clean these up

I’d noticed the 0.1 and 0.2 micron difference, but as to chemicals and viruses, I’d either take my chances or boil. Both Woodygirl and I are talking about a small amount of clean (ish) drinking water in an emergency, not an ultra pure water supply.

 

[gg012]

I’d noticed the 0.1 and 0.2 micron difference, but as to chemicals and viruses, I’d either take my chances or boil. Both Woodygirl and I are talking about a small amount of clean (ish) drinking water in an emergency, not an ultra pure water supply.

Good point. I struggle to silence my inner engineer sometimes

Sent from underground

 

[Megatramp]

I’d noticed the 0.1 and 0.2 micron difference, but as to chemicals and viruses, I’d either take my chances or boil. Both Woodygirl and I are talking about a small amount of clean (ish) drinking water in an emergency, not an ultra pure water supply.

Regarding drinking water, the last thing you want in an emergency is to get sick, in which case having a water purifier is priceless. You could, as you say, boil or add chemicals if you have the time but if you're buying a filter anyway, makes sense to get the best.
Having enough emergency water for my family is my main priority, everything else is just gravy, excepting oxygen but we're not all gonna carry rebreathers!(yet)

 

[Dan00001]

You can add carbon to the Lifesaver

 

[Dan00001]

I’d noticed the 0.1 and 0.2 micron difference, but as to chemicals and viruses, I’d either take my chances or boil. Both Woodygirl and I are talking about a small amount of clean (ish) drinking water in an emergency, not an ultra pure water supply.

Boiling won't remove chemicals, maybe distilling would. The UK is a small place, most water sources could potentially contain chemicals, unless you're high up a mountain.

 

[Nice65]

Way I see it, Sawyer and Platypus are producing systems that filter water to an acceptable drinking standard so you can bat it about as much as you like but I’m fine with that. If you don’t want chemicals or viruses getting in to your body then you’d have to stop eating, drinking and breathing completely. Just mentioning viruses and chemicals as if they’re all potentially harmful is irresponsible considering how widely used these filters are without problem.

 

[Nice65]

This arrived today from Aliexpress. Came in at £42 shipped, a fair bit cheaper than UK sites. It’s pretty good, ran it at 750 lumens on the 2700K setting for about 5 hours last night and it still had just under half battery left. Doubles as a power bank too. Super simple to use.

 

[Dan00001]

Way I see it, Sawyer and Platypus are producing systems that filter water to an acceptable drinking standard so you can bat it about as much as you like but I’m fine with that. If you don’t want chemicals or viruses getting in to your body then you’d have to stop eating, drinking and breathing completely. Just mentioning viruses and chemicals as if they’re all potentially harmful is irresponsible considering how widely used these filters are without problem.

I think there's a different level to the amount of chemicals and/or viruses one should expect there to be in the food that we eat and the water that comes out of our taps compared to the amount that could potentially be in our rivers with wild animal and human faeces and the run off from agricultural chemicals etc.

Like I said, it depends where your water source is, but the majority of the UK is densely populated and most rivers are going to be contaminated.

What I've said wasn't at all irresponsible, that's just ridiculous. What I've mentioned is, to the best of my knowledge, factual (I'm not an expert), and was intended to raise awareness. Whatever filter you or anyone else chooses is up to you/them but you should be aware of the different performance levels of different filters so that you can make an informed decision.

 

[Megatramp]

Way I see it, Sawyer and Platypus are producing systems that filter water to an acceptable drinking standard so you can bat it about as much as you like but I’m fine with that. If you don’t want chemicals or viruses getting in to your body then you’d have to stop eating, drinking and breathing completely. Just mentioning viruses and chemicals as if they’re all potentially harmful is irresponsible considering how widely used these filters are without problem.

As a man who it seems has a taste for the best kit I think it strange you don't apply the same standard to something as crucial to life as drinking water.
Agreed, they are all adequate but this is one case where if there's measurably better equipment I'm going with that.

 

[Dan00001]

I'm really quite tempted by the Lifesaver Wayfarer, it's smaller and lighter than the Liberty, has the same purification performance and the only feature it's missing is that it doesn't have a built in water container so you have to have an external container to pump the filtered water into. It's cheaper than the Liberty, the filter cartridges are cheaper and each cartridge will filter up to 5,000 litres as opposed to the Liberty's 2,000 litres. I think this will be the one I end up buying.

LifeSaver Wayfarer™ - LifeSaver

The safest hiking water purifier. Born from the spirit of adventure, the Wayfarer™ is compact and robust, making dirty water safe to drink.

iconlifesaver.com

 

[Decacraft]

I'm really quite tempted by the Lifesaver Wayfarer, it's smaller and lighter than the Liberty, has the same purification performance and the only feature it's missing is that it doesn't have a built in water container so you have to have an external container to pump the filtered water into. It's cheaper than the Liberty, the filter cartridges are cheaper and each cartridge will filter up to 5,000 litres as opposed to the Liberty's 2,000 litres. I think this will be the one I end up buying.

LifeSaver Wayfarer™ - LifeSaver

The safest hiking water purifier. Born from the spirit of adventure, the Wayfarer™ is compact and robust, making dirty water safe to drink.

iconlifesaver.com

Iv used my grail for a few years now, iv changed the filter once. There so simple to use it's the size of a protein shaker with no additional hoses or valves, and there's a metal nesting mug available that it fits into perfect.

If I lost it I would but another. I have considered getting a few more of them for family members with the recent tap water fiasco

 

[Dan00001]

Iv used my grail for a few years now, iv changed the filter once. There so simple to use it's the size of a protein shaker with no additional hoses or valves, and there's a metal nesting mug available that it fits into perfect.

If I lost it I would but another. I have considered getting a few more of them for family members with the recent tap water fiasco

Yes, they look pretty decent, and they filter viruses. Similar performance to the Lifesaver although the cartridge lifespan, according to their website, is only rated to 250L. But definitely a good option if you're looking for a water purifier built within a container.

 

[Nice65]

I think there's a different level to the amount of chemicals and/or viruses one should expect there to be in the food that we eat and the water that comes out of our taps compared to the amount that could potentially be in our rivers with wild animal and human faeces and the run off from agricultural chemicals etc.

Like I said, it depends where your water source is, but the majority of the UK is densely populated and most rivers are going to be contaminated.

What I've said wasn't at all irresponsible, that's just ridiculous. What I've mentioned is, to the best of my knowledge, factual (I'm not an expert), and was intended to raise awareness. Whatever filter you or anyone else chooses is up to you/them but you should be aware of the different performance levels of different filters so that you can make an informed decision.

To be honest it’s unlikely I’ll buy any of them, my query was to Woodygirl as I was wondering if there was something that had swayed her decision to the Platypus rather than the Sawyer as on first glance it seems to be a bit cheaper and last longer. I’m not too interested in investigating the different systems and what they do and don’t do, apologies if I came across as blunt. Living on chalk, I have access to very pure filtered water year round, though sometimes it has some muck and sediment which I’m certain the filters I was considering would remove, hence my question.

Were I to buy a filter for anything like river or pond water then I’d look at the whole subject carefully and no doubt be stuck down another rabbit hole of overthinking for several weeks

 

[slowworm]

Iv used my grail for a few years now, iv changed the filter once. There so simple to use it's the size of a protein shaker with no additional hoses or valves, and there's a metal nesting mug available that it fits into perfect.

I've used a Grayl for a couple of years to purify our home spring water. It's ok for small amounts but I get a bit fed up with pressing it down and having water squirt out if I press too quick.

I noticed the LifeSaver cube after seeing Dan's post and may try one of those for household use and keep the Grayl as a backup.

As an aside, we've had the spring water tested and agricultural contamination is something we need to filter out. Not something that is overly harmful in small amounts but over time could be.

 

[Woody girl]

Been out of the conversation due to lack of data, my reasons for getting the platypus is this.
I have access to a small watercourse that flows from the ground, through two fields and then into a culvert.
It's pretty good as there are no livestock in the fields, and I'm pretty confident that it's good water with no heavy contamination.
Filtration and boiling are my prefered method for this little stream. I do have a sawyer aswell, also a milbank to prefilter any debris, and a stash of military water purification tablets. So I'm pretty confident, living as I do on exmoor, this system will be adequate for my needs.
Were I living in a city, having to take water from a river, pond or canal, I'd want something better. This suits my needs, so I don't see the point in going over the top, and spending more than nessasary.
If I did, I'd want one of those lifesaver filter jerrycans they use for disaster relief. Can't afford one, and don't need one, so I got the best I could afford. Sawyer for drinking, platypus for all other needs.
Assess the possible situations, and decide the action. Don't overthink things. Worst case scenario here, I might have to take water from the stream, if that's not flowing, there are several others around, and I researched, so know where all the victorian street water pumps are, though they no longer work, tracing them on a local map has shown me where drinkable water is available.
I'm with SW water..the people who provided water to Brixham where the water borne cryptosporidium outbreak happened. I've heard of other problems in the UK recently too,
More rainfall, more incidents, the numbers are horrifying, so decided to make sure I had a backup. Forward thinking,That's all.
Funnily enough, as I write, listening to radio 4 they are talking about this. The pollution statistics are absolutely scary!

Forgot..I also have a steripen!

 

[Dan00001]

Tbh, you could collect any large container of water and filter it using the Wayfarer. The Wayfarer costs £105. As far as I can tell, it will do the same job. The cartridge is only good for 5,000L vs the Jerrycan 20,000L which does work out a little more expensive (4x Wayfarer cartridges = £180 vs 1x Jerry can cartridge = £130

 

[Decacraft]

Not related to this site, but my youngest has been doing well in school and saved some pocket money, I had to put some towards it and bought him Mario Kart for the switch this afternoon. It's so much fun

 

[Dan00001]

Preppers Shop sell Lifesaver products and they offer a 10% discount to blue light & defence discount

 

[Dan00001]

I went ahead and ordered a Lifesaver Wayfarer.

Talk of water contamination got too much for me.