For years, I’ve relied on the Bota “Outback” Water Filter system. It was lightweight, versatile, and extremely effective. However, this past week, my bottle finally cracked (as they seem to do about every 5 years of regular use) and, lo and behold, I’ve just learned that Bota has gone out of business as of July 2012. So I’m wondering — what’s the best CURRENT system for drinking pure, fresh, healthy water on a mission trip or while traveling cross-culturally? I’ve come across several options, some of which seem promising. Does anyone have personal experience with these (below)? If so, please log on to the web version of this item and use the comment box to give your own review — or a better option, please. Thanks!
Water filter pumps, like the Katadyn Pocket Water Filter that we all used back in the early nineties… or Katadyn MyBottle Water Purifier, the Sawyer Personal Water Bottle Filter, and other filters similar to the Bota “Outback” I’ve been using… or filters that are ultra-violet-light-based (UV light) like the relatively new CamelBak All Clear Water Purifier Bottle and the SteriPEN Adventurer Opti Water Purifier.
You can Google any of these (and others) and learn more about them. The question I have is — which is the best value, the easiest to use, and the most appropriate for the kind of travel that we do, as cross-cultural travelers. My immediate thought would be to lean toward that with which I’m familiar – so replace the Bota with the Katadyn “MyBottle” or something similar. Your thoughts? Thanks for any advice or review you can offer. To respond, please go to the Brigada web version of this item and use the comment boxes below it.
We use a Pristine water filter bottle. Available through Mountain Equipment Co-op. online or in stores, http://www.mec.ca C$26.00 and after 200 refills, another filter is C$17. Or, contact http://www.pristine.ca where a toll-free all North American phone number is available. Without the filter the bottle itself is handy personal water bottle. 0.65 litre volume. Low price for the use and protection you get.
Check the GoBerkey filter at http://www.berkeyfilters.com/berkey-water-filters/specialty-filters/go-berkey.html . This appears to be almost pocket-sized. We’ve bought a RoyalBerkey filter for kitchen use and are very happy with it and with Berkey’s customer service.
Sawyer Squeeze filter in my opinion, it is $59 retail, has a 1 million gallon guarantee, and a .1 mircron filtration rate which is much better than the other filters mentioned and only weighs 3 oz. It filters about 2 liters per minute. or a Gallon per 2 minutes. The Personal water bottle from sawyer looks good and uses the same filter, but I have not used it before in the field. I own the Steripen adventurer, the MSR Miniworks, MSR Sweetwater, Platypus GRavity Works, and have used every model of the steripen, chlorine tabs, etc. The sawyer squeeze filer is what I’ve found to be the best, the level of filtration is important, and .2 micron is the minimum I would require from anything I use, Sawyer also has a .02 micron filter available although not in as many useful forms currently. >02 Micron is good enough to filter out water-borne viruses
Here’s my full response:
Drinking water is subject to many contaminants:
• biological (bacteria, cysts and viruses),
• agriculture (pesticides and fertilizer),
• mining (heavy metals & radiologicals),
• industry (waste products and cleansing agents),
• health care (pharmaceuticals), and
• water treatment itself (Chlorine and VOCs—volatile organic compounds).
For international travel (and backpacking) I recommend the Clearbrook line of “Survival” filter bottles, starting at $23.99, from 911Water.com. (This level of filtration sells elsewhere for $37.00.)
Note: The owner of 911water is a missionary kid with a passion for eradicating water-borne disease. He offers 45 brands of water filters, including Sawyer and Katadyn, but identifies Berkey and Clearbrook as the very best. And he offers a 10% discount on Berkey and Clearbrook products to anyone who enters “Missions” in the “Coupon Code” during check out.
(Disclosure: Nick also insists on gives me a 10% commission on these sales. Since I’m not in this for the money, I’ll refund the purchase (excluding shipping) for the first three people who 1) buy one of these bottles, 2) post a review here, and then 3) forward me your email receipt.)
Background: In 2011, for an issue of Mission Frontiers on the Church’s role in eradicating poverty, I researched and co-authored an article on water purification options. In reviewing “survivalist” boards and interacting with ministries engaged in combatting water-borne disease, two filters emerged with the highest value for field contexts: Berkey and Sawyer. See my on-line article and discussion.
That article highlights Sawyer filters in particular for poverty situations where biological contaminants are the primary concern. However since publishing that MF article I have become aware of contamination dangers with backflushing the Sawyer, and a new, discount line of “Survival” filters under the Clearbrook label, with similar filtering qualities as the Berkey. These “Survival” filters are capable of making any fresh water source potable AND great tasting. Read about Clearbrook filtration technology.
I highly recommend Berkey products for residential use and emergency preparedness. Like Richard King (above), my own family uses a Berkey filter in our home (the “Big Berkey”). Nick offers the same 10% discount for those who enter “Missions” during checkout on all Berkey systems. Free U.S. shipping is also included on these systems.
Further discounts are available for quantity purchases, and Nick would like to develop international distributors for these products. If you or your agency are interested, contact Nick at 205 383-5595.
P.S. Here are lab results for the Clearbrook Filters, showing E. Coli reduction of 99.99999%, etc.
Like. :-)
If DL likes it so do I. :)
:-) Greg, you’re the best.
Water filter bottles are all good as they almost all remove 99% of impurities. The real value of one, cost of replacement filters after many times used. The water filter bottle I recommend is the Pristline . The filter lasted about 250 refills and was less then $20-00 to replace.