Simple Water Scoop and Pre-Filter

Good solution Ben. I hate trying to fill the platy in shallow water.

An alternative that may require no additional gear is:
1. Use ziploc to fill up container.
2. Use headnet to prefilter if needed.

I've only rarely had to use a ziploc to fill up from a shallow water source and even more rarely had to prefilter.

This method works great. We SteriPen-treated the water right in the Platty and the nice treated, and sediment free, water drained quickly into our water bottles.

The only thing was that Platy push-pull cap, it's so tough to pull, some of the water would spill out while trying to pull it open to transfer to the water bottle.

I was thinking that it would loosen up over time, but no such luck.

I have some old platys lying around because they are so darn hard to fill when the water source is shallow. Not to mention how hard it is to get the inside of the bottle dry once I get it home and wash it out. This is an awesome solution. Most of us have probably gotten our share of "protein and minerals" from somewhat shaky water sources over the years. While I like to thoroughly chew my food, I can't say I feel the same way about my water. This is excellent!

Everyone — thanks for your comments — glad to be of help. :)

Mr. Shannon:

Yes, if you rarely encounter shallow water sources with muddy bottoms, then it makes perfect sense to use a ziploc bag. Why not — esp. if you already have one or two at hand?

But for those who deal with shallow/muddy water sources more regularly — there's something to be said about using just one plastic piece over and over again — versus throwing away bags after every couple of uses (or trips). Also, I think the integrated prefilter is just nice to have — works well with no weight and no hassle in the field. But as they say, definitely YMMV.

ben- thanks for posting this as I'm soon to pull the trigger on a steripen :) is the fuel filter as effective mesh as the coffee filter?

tia

mike

See the thread below for a seal-a-meal coffee filter holder/pre-filter:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/44546

^ very clever :)

All very great stuff here. Thanks.

I am wondering about the lightest bottle, say for a situation where you need to lower a bottle into water source.

What is the lightest bottle?

Good use of an old platy.

John – to dry the inside of a platy and all tubing – buy a $5 aquarium pump and run the air hose into whatever you need to dry. The positive air flow dries it fast.

I read this in a thread on here a while back and it works great.

enjoy

Dave

–

Anyone know how much the push-pull cap weighs? If that fuel filter weighs 14 grams, would it be lighter to cut off the top (maybe heavier?) part of the platypus and not use the push-pull cap, but instead just scoop and pour through the fuel filter into the receiving water bottle? Or just not use the platypus at all and use a ziploc or something else you might already have to scoop? I can't imagaine it would make too much of a difference either way, just thinking out loud before sacrificing a platypus.

I wouldn't kill a functional Platty for this use. I'm using a fuel filter funnel and my cook pot to scoop and treat. You can cut off the top or bottom of a PET water bottle or something for about the same weight as the platty. It really depends on your situation. I know a 1L platty is only $8, so if you don't need it, I guess cut it.

In my area there is always deep creeks so I don't really need a flat scoop, and therefore would not kill a platty.

"just thinking out loud before sacrificing a platypus."

Sacrifice it. At midnight. With lots of candles.

I wear a Montbell mesh hat with mesh neck drape. The mesh neck drape does double duty as my filter. I use a 2L platy with the top cut off (and with the 1L line still visible) as my water scoop. Scoop the water, treat with my Steripen, pour into my water bottle through the mesh neck drape. Drink.

Easy, quick, light.

I don't know, man. That sounds like a fire hazard to me. I was only planning on using 4 strategically placed candles.

Doug- seeing your a steripen user, need to ask you a question- your filtering out the bigger stuff after you use your steripen, I'm more concerned w/ pre-filtering before using the steripen to insure it's effectiveness, clear water- which is the majority of water I deal w/ shouldn't pose any problems, but what about turbid, silty water or the like? is there a way it can it be effectively pre-filtered w/ a cut-off platy?

thanks in advance

Mike

Hey Mike!

I can't really answer your question because I haven't encountered any silty, turbid water – the vast majority of my water is from nice flowing streams. If I thought I'd encounter such water, I might bring along one of those paper coffee filters and a second cut off platy though (unless you carry a water bottle that your steripen can fit in, then you don't need the extra platy).

Perhaps others will have a better answer! Sorry I couldn't be more help.

A lot of times the silt is too fine to filter out effectively

If you fill a big water bottle, and let it sit for a few hours or over night the silt will settle so you can take clear water from the top. Just don't jostle it or all the silt will go back up into the water.

thanks gents :) the vast majority of the water I use is very clear so 95%+ of the time shouldn't be a problem. I've just read that turbid/silty water can render the steripen less than effective and wanted to have my bases covered- I will continue to carry some Micropur tabs as a backup- so in those instances where the water is too silty for the steripen I can just tab the water if need be

I tentatively have a trip planned to Peru next year and evidently the Amazon water has a very fine silt in it (that renders many filters inoperable in short order) so I still may have to come up w/ a work around

Never tried this, but I've read that a pinch of alum will make fine particles clump together (flocculate) so they drop out or can be filtered.

1. get page-sized plastic envelope from old family photo album
2. poke 100 holes in corner with safety pin
3. fill with water
4. put corner of envelope into water container
5. done. yay

Love it. Just made my own, but I'm going to be using a ziploc bag, since I carry several anyway for misc. stuff sacks. I made one with a fixed cap. It works great! Screw on the filter cap, fill the ziploc bag and pour it over the platypus home-made filter cap. Not bad for 0.05oz (I have ziplocs instead of stuff sacks). For a more durable solution, a cuben stuff sack could work also.

I bought spare platypus caps and the Coghlan's fuel filter at REI. Took it apart with tin snips, the mesh filter fell right out, unscathed. Used an exacto knife to cut a hole in the platypus cap, and superglued the filter in place. My first true MYOG piece of art!

I just wanted to comment on this thread to say that I made one of these (the pull top pre-filter) and it works awesome. I use a 4 liter platy tank so that I can collect all my water I want to use at camp all at one time. If the source is deep enough I can just dunk the whole thing in there and fill it up. If it's not, then I usually scoop water up with my cook pot (Snowpeak 900), which also serves as my treatment container. During the day I use the tank to collect water as needed, and keep it folded up on the outside of my pack when not in use.

At any rate, I just wanted to give another thumbs up on the pull top pre-filter. As Bill & Ted would say it's most excellent (with a short guitar riff at the end).

I've used scooping with a plastic water bottle, but sometimes you don't have that option either because you are dealing with trickle or very narrow stream.

So I have been contemplating some sort of pump setup, just to get the water out. So a short piece of platypus tube connected to a pump connected to a bottle.

I haven't found a good, super light-weight pump though. Anyone have ideas? I've thought about an inline squeeze pump or even using a turkey baster :).

d