Frontier Pro Portable Water Filter (Series III Green Line Bacteria Filter)

[Alex Wallace]

In another thread, Kevin Timm writes:

"I have since moved to an AquaMira / Frontier Green Line as my day drinker , mixed with tabs or drops if you want. The Green Line is fine for most stuff in the US and I find I drink 60 -80 ounces a day pretty reliably without excess effort. Mix that with some tabs or boiling and I am fine."

I've looked at the Frontier Pro unit in the past (2008?) and was turned off by the fact that it did not handle bacteria. It looks like the filter media has changed and now "removes greater than 99.9999% of bacteria, Cryptosporidium and Giardia." Great, it's now a viable stand alone filter for backpacking in at least North America.

Has anyone else noticed this change and tried out these newer units? Sounds promising.

See here: Frontier Pro Portable Water Filter System.

[jimmy b]

Seems like a decent alternative to the sawyer mini if it eliminated some of the flow problems some report. I like the idea of the charcoal to improve the taste of some less than tasty water sources.

I couldn't find the replacement filters or price on them. That might become an issue at 50 gallon replacement intervals. If they were cheap enough it would solve the problem of not knowing if you froze your sawyer. If in doubt you could pop in a replacement filter and be good to go, that is if it was cost effective over just buying another sawyer.

That said, for us, as we always hike/BP as a pair I find it hard to beat the 1.5 oz. split weight of a sawyer squeeze at this point, outside of using chemicals of course. Always looking for the next best thing though.

jimmyb

[EndoftheTrail]

@Jimmy:

That looks like a fantastic improvement over the Frontier Pro — which I have been using for the last few years. Wonder what the weight penalty is?

I've always preferred "do it all" system — so I don't need to guess whether water contains just crypto or maybe bacteria and viruses as well. My definition of "all" entails:

1. treats protozoa (crypto, giardia, etc.)
2. treats bacteria
3. treats viruses
4. filters out sediments
5. improves water taste

Currently, my system is to draw water, treat with household chlorine for 20 minutes to treat #3 above — then suck water through the Frontier Pro (I use it as an inline filter) to take care of the other four things above. The model you mentioned will save me the 20 minutes by eliminating the chlorine treatment stage entirely.

So long as it isn't much heavier and doesn't require much more sucking effort — I'll definitely switch!

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

Well, since I was quoted based on observed field usage instead of concrete evidence (my fault for just relaying what I have observed). I decided to do some testing to get some real world results . Granted the testing was simple but it should be an accurate comparison using tap water and a 16 ounce cup.

I back flushed each filter prior. For the record, my Mini has been used, but not that much. I found it too slow so it probably only has a few days of backpacking water , the Platy has several days of water usage on it (more than the mini for sure) and the Green Line has a few days, probably a little less than the mini.

Time to fill a 16 oz bottle was
Platy 1:05
Green Line 1:30
Mini – Over 8 minutes , but it was close to getting done. I had just seen enough. It was back flushed well.

Specs on the Green Line are a bit confusing. This was a Green Line filter from the bottle which I do not believe states "bacteria" and I think states 120 gallons lifetime.

I would have tested my full size sawyer as well, but honestly could not find it. I expect it to be better than the mini but not as good as the others.

[jimmy b]

Ben, from what I read the Frontier Pro (2.5 oz) nor the Sawyer mini or squeeze (2 and 3 oz) remove viruses. The Frontier max on the same sight as the link in the OP claims to remove viruses but they do not list a weight that I could see.

jimmby

[Alex Wallace]

@Kevin, Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot. Your post about the Frontier Pro "Green Line" made me take another look at them and I liked what I saw.

Anyways, in the interim, I sent McNett (Aquamira) and email to confirm that these are in fact a new animal and this is the response:

"All Aquamira products have recently undergone a redesign and now have improved performance and effectiveness against viruses and bacterias (filter dependent- red line=viruses, green line=bacteria, blue line= protozoa).

The Frontier Pro now has a new replaceable filter option that it previously did not have. Each filter has a 50 gallon capacity and would make a great filter for backpacking in North America. Unless you are counting the gallons that you filter, the only way to tell that the filter is exhausted is when the flow rate starts to slow.

If you are on an extended trip I would recommend taking along a replacement filter. There is no way or need to back flush the filter. Just like the old filter the new Frontier Pro contains the following items: filter housing with BiteMe valve, replaceable 50 gallon filter, removable UQC adapter, tube/hose attachment, 5'' drinking straw and 3 pre-filters.

As far as the BiteMe valve being removable and replaceable, I do not believe it can be replaced but it can be removed."

@Ben2World, It sounds like their Red Line filter is for you.

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

No worries Alex. I also tested a Blue Line .. that has probably 40 gallons of usage on it and I see no signs of slowing. On the gravity feed it was about 30 seconds to fill the 16 ounce container

I should also state, that the mini works, but by my calculations I would be waiting a long long time for my million gallons, and I'm more of a gravity, or drink person that someone who cares to spend a lot of time squeezing. As was stated, I was on a trip recently with some folks using the mini and they spent a lot of time squeezing that I didn't (I think I could have caught a couple naps waiting). As for a pure gravity feed, it could take an hour or more at normal filter height to get a gallon (I used a shower head in my test today). At least the Platy and the Green Line approach a level of filtering that could get a gallon or two in 10 – 20 minutes without interference, where the mini will take an hour or two.

Granted, it has a much lower lifetime capacity than the sawyer, but I don't see a million gallons as something it will ever realistically approach , just due to speed / freezing / better tech at some point. Replacing the filter for $15 or so once or twice , maybe once every couple years is fine for me. The lifetime of it ? For me , I will see how long it last me.

[EndoftheTrail]

Jimmy,

You misread my post up above. I am aware my Frontier Pro does nothing to block viruses — which is why I pair it with chlorine. My point is that the new Frontier Green Line has the potential to be a fantastic replacement for me because I can then leave the chlorine at home (and save myself the 20 minutes treatment waiting time).

The questions for the new Green Line (if anyone knows) — how much more does it weigh and how much more (if any) sucking power is required to use as an inline filter?

[jimmy b]

Kevin,

Is there anyway to use the Green line filter as a "squeeze" filter by adding adapters ect. that you know of. Sounds like you are happy with the performance and as you said a replaceable filter at $15 is not too bad at all. Again purpose of my question is that we split weight on the Sawyer and don't want to carry two in line filters if we can carry one squeeze. Thanks for the feedback on the three systems.

jimmby

[jimmy b]

Ben,

I'm sorry, I did read your post and understood it as you explained (that you use chlorine to eliminate #3 viruses) and my apologies if I am still confused but I believe as I am reading the web sight that the new green line will still not remove viruses. As I see it you will have to go to the Red line series to remove viruses. If I am correct I posted so you didn't have the impression that the new green line would give you that protection. If I'm getting confused, again, my apologies. Maybe someone will help to clarify if I am correct or not.

jimmyb

[Larry De La Briandais]

My original sawyer filter will easily beat 16oz in a minute. Prior to back flushing I got 32oz in 1 min 45 sec. In normal use it will be less than 2 minutes for 32oz (1 liter).

[EndoftheTrail]

Jim:

Mea culpa. I saw your post about the new Frontier with added virus-filtering capability — got all excited — and went on the Aquamira page. I didn't see any reference about "red" or "green" line — but just ASSumed we're talking the same thing since there appears to be just one virus-treating model .

In any case, the model I referenced is fatter and looks obviously heavier than the old Frontier Pro. So, my questions above.

I still have a bunch of unused old-model Frontier Pro sitting in my gear closet — otherwise — I would order the new one and try it out.

[[ Drew ]]

It seems that relatively recently a wave of "second gen" filters are springing (intended) up. Amazon.com has a few different water filters that have pore sizes of .05 or .01um (!) vs. the .1um of the Sawyer filters. .01um will filter out some viruses, but not all since viruses can be .004um to around .02um (upper and lower ranges vary widely with different sources..).

These filters have the same hollow UF membrane main filters like the Sawyers, but also incorporate a charcoal filter for chemicals/taste and a prefilter for turbid water. I'm curious to see how well these live up to their claims. This first one (Renovo) claims that Sawyer's pore size is .1um AT BEST whereas theirs is .05um ABSOLUTE.

Renovo Trio

Etekcity (Knock off??)

H20 Survival

[jimmy b]

Ben, its all good.

If you or others get some info on weight of the virus removing model please post it here. I too would like to see the weight penalty over other filters. And I agree 100% on all in one. I probably don't need the protection here but its the unknowns when traveling that leave me possibly rolling the dice. For something close to the same weight as I'm using why not switch, right?

jimmyb

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

BTW, shameless plug, but we do have the green bottles in our store http://store.seekoutside.com/frontier-flow-grn-line-filtered-water-bottle/

My comments in this and the "sawyer" thread had nothing to do with us carrying them, just that that is the filtration I have moved to for simplicity / efficiency.

[Alex Wallace]

"BTW, shameless plug, but we do have the green bottles in our store…"

I'm curious why you guys went with the bottle version only? Seems like the filter version would be the most appealing to outdoor enthusiasts that stay out overnight.

[ben .]

in the intervening year+, has anyone been using a frontier pro, or frontier max or similar? how’s it working for you?

[Author]

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