Attaching a Sweetwater Siltstopper to my platy

I guess I can assume that no one here has done this?

Tom

We all have different bladder placements, so YMMV.

Stating the obvious, spend a bit of time thinking through your particular bladder placement and where you want to position the Siltstopper — visualizing it a bit before you cut the drinking tube and splice the siltstopper in between.

I prefer having a few (4-5) inches of tubing between bladder and prefilter. This way, the prefilter is close enough to the bladder that both can fit together inside your pack’s side water bottle pocket — or inside it’s interior hydration pouch — but not so close that it might get in the way of the bladder itself.

Note: The Siltstopper is good only for removing sediments and stuff, and not viruses, bacteria or protozoa. Your cholorine dioxide treatment will kill the first two in 10-15 minutes, but can take up to 4 hours to kill certain protozoa!

I just ordered the Seychelle filter and will splice it into my hydration system. I plan to scoop water with my Platypus, then drop in a Micropur tablet (basically Aqua Mira in a more convenient solid form that doesn’t require mixing) to kill viruses and bacteria, then suck water through the Seychelle to remove both protozoa and any bad taste (such as that produced by Micorpur and AM). This should make it a more complete water treatment system. Downside is an additional 3.6 ounces — which for me is worth it if only because I dislike the aforementioned chlorine-like taste.

Tom, i hope you mean the Seychelle filter and not the SiltStopper.

Anyways, Tom, in another Thread, Ben Tang is doing this very thing (read other Forum discussions on what the Seychelle filters and what it doesn't; also, search the Forums for Seychelle and see my Posts, and others too, about the efficacy of the Seychelle.).

The issue to make sure of before cutting your tubing is to make sure that the ID (inside diameter) of the tubing fits properly over the barb fittings of the filter (not too loose and is not too small to fit over).

Before cutting the tubing, remove the bite valve and see how the tubing fits on the Seychelle barbs. If it's a good fit, then remove it and put the bite valve back on.

Then, typically closer to the bladder, cut the tubing and insert the filter, paying attention to the gozinta and the gozouta sides of the filter.

Don't forget to "prime" the Seychelle per the Seychelle instructions before doing this. Did i leave anything out?

Don't forget to prefilter water into your bladder, so…
1) you don't too quickly clog your Seychelle (it can be periodically back flushed with the included flush bulb),

and…

2) so that whatever you use (chems or UV-C) to kill buggers too small to be filtered by the Seychelle, will work properly. Both chems and UV-C purification are greatly hindered by cloudy or turbid water.

Lastly, remember the Seychelle may not prove effective against all Crypto due to Crypto's flexible nature and ability to fold back onto itself (though, IMO, it will remove most, and possibly all of it). The Seychelle attempts to address this issue since it's a labyrinth filter, but theorectically some "folded" Crypto could still get through since "folded" Crypto may not exceed, or will be about, only one micron in size. Hence the need for chems (and proper dwell/wait time) or UV-C purification if this is a concern for you.

I don't see any reason why you can't use the Seychelle as an inline filter as you intend as long as you understand its limitations for inline filtering. It's probably better, by my way of thinking at least, to use the Seychelle in a gravity feed system with a larger pore siltstopper filter upstream of it to act as a automatic pre-filter for the smaller pore Seychelle. Then AFTER filtering and filling your bladders/bottles, chems or UV-C can be used to eradicate viruses/virii, bacteria, and recalcitrant Crypto (if any, managed to find its way through the labyrinth – not being familiar with how tortuous of a path this labyrinth is, i can't really guess how effective it might be on "folded" Crypto; i guess, one might say that theorectically, some could get through).

Hope this info helps.

.

Thanks guys. Right now, I've just got the siltstopper, mostly because I misread the pour size. I plan on getting a seychelle this coming payday to round out my hydration system (micropur is already on order). I had tried to, carefully, remove the bite valved, but I wasn't sure if it was meant to come off. I'll be sure to try pulling it off again and see if it will fit properly.

Thanks again!

Tom

You're welcome. FYI — I pluck off the Platypus bite valve from the tubing after every trip to give it a thorough wash.

Cool! Good to know it's supposed to do that, and I think I'll follow your lead on that one! :D

Tom

Oh, and since you already have the Siltstopper, you can try this to decrease the frequency of the Seychelle getting clogged up.

Filled bladder (with a Micropur tablet) –> > Siltstopper –> Seychelle –> bite valve

That's actually the plan. Sort of a triple whammy on everything that can be in the water that I don't want in my body…littly things like critters, twigs, flecks of pooh…you know, the usual :D

Tom

Bandana (or equivalent) pre-filter–>bladder w/uPur–>siltstopper–>Seychelle–>biteValve

Though if the water is clear enough, then either the bandana or the SiltStopper is perhaps redundant. If it were up to me, and i wanted to "lose" one stage, i'd use the bandana to improve the efficacy of the uPur and omit the SiltStopper. Though there's no problem keeping both.

I've used the Seychelle for several years in the past, in-line with my Platy. I also added Aqua-Mira to the bag first. I found it plenty easy to drink straight from the filter, without needing to use a gravity system. In other words, I just filled the bag up with "raw" water, added the chemicals, and placed it back into my backpack, continuing my hike. After letting the chemicals work for 15 minutes, I was ready to suck water from the nozzle. The Seychelle was of course spliced into the tube between the bag and the nozzle. I never noticed any difficulty in sucking water that way; I could hardly notice any resistance.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the Siltstopper won't fit. The exit tube is too small to fit around the Seychelle. Unfortunately the tube is also too big to be squeezed into a Platy tube, either (which could then be placed onto the Seychelle). I challenge anyone to attach a Siltstopper to a Seychelle! (if you can, please post!). Instead I went with a custom steel mesh filter from a coffe press custom fitted inside a hollowed out Platy cap.

That said, in spite of my accomplishments I rarely use the system. I found cleaning it afterwards to be too cumbersome, and there was too much on-the-trail fiddling. I didn't like leaving the exposed tube in my pack while I filled the bag–it always leaked water back into my bag. And the mouthpiece always seemed to find its way into the dirt when I returned from filling the water. Also, the Platy opening was too small, so it took forever to fill with water. Lastly, the whole system has a number of tubes and bulbs that never quite fit into my bag properly.

Now I just go with the pre-filter and Micro-Pur tablets with a wide-mouth soft-sided nalgene–much more simple, and quite a few ounces saved when you add it all together. That said, if I knew there was a chance I had to drink from really bad water, I would still bring the Seychelle filter along. It's a good system to have if you know you will encounter mucky water. As for me, I'm glad I have the system in the event that I need it, or if I was purifying water for a family trip (using it as a gravity filter in that case), but I've found that 100% of my water sources have been pristine creeks so far.

John, good to know about the SiltStopper. A "challenge" you say?! So, how to make it work? Hmmm…. Maybe go to PepBoys/Advance/Autozone, etc. and purchase either specific barb adapters or a inexpensive mixed bag of vacuum hose adapter barbs and fittings, and any extra clear tubing in appropriate sizes/diameters and lengths (which can also be purchased at an appliance repair parts store).

The tubing and the bag of adapters ought to provide enough parts to make this scheme possible, IMHO, but i could be wrong.

The two main advantages of the Seychelle over chems (yes, the Seychelle has more drawbacks vs. chems than it has advantages) are 1) a shorter 15min dwell/wait time before drinking, and 2) filters out larger parasites that chems don't work on (e.g. filters are REQUIRED at Isle Royale NP due to E. granulosis aka Hydatid Tape – chems and UV-C, at normal backpacking dosing levels, are ineffective vs. E. granulosis).

Hi John:

Up to now, I have been using a Platy drinking tube with bite valve and 1L Platy bladders. I did not have any problems disconnecting the bladder to scoop up more water. Leaving my pack upright, there is nothing to weigh down the bite valve, and so no water drips. Scooping water with a narrow-mouthed platy isn't the easiest, but I've always managed. Still, going forward, I will bring along an extra Platy that's cut opened — to use as a scoop.

I just recently purchased a Seychelle and Siltstopper. Setup was easy, but I have not had any actual field usage yet. Still, since my setup is still basically the same — just with a filter spliced in between — I expect the usage wiil be pretty easy, as in the past (described above).

The Siltstopper isn't meant to connect directly with the Seychelle. However, the Siltstopper does come with a length of soft (elastic) rubber tubing.

This is what I did — and it worked very well:

1. Platy –> Siltstopper: The Platy drinking tube is too big for the Siltstopper intake nipple. Therefore, first snip off about an inch from the soft tubing that comes with the Siltstopper and jam that into the Siltstopper's intake. Next, connect a 6-in or so length of Platypus drinking tube to the now fattened intake nipple. Perfect fit. The other end of the 6-in Platy tubing is, of course, connected to the bladder itself.

2. Siltstopper –> Seychelle: Connect with a very short length of soft rubber tubing that comes with the Siltstopper (say 1 inch). The connection here should be as short as possible to prevent kinking between these two devices.

3. Seychelle –> Platy drinking tube and bite valve.

Placement in backpack's side water bottle pocket: insert bladder upside down, with tubing, prefilter and filter placed upwards.

Way to go Ben. You are the first official winner of the "Annual Carter-Siltstopper Challenge", and you didn't even need to buy any auto parts.

Many thanks for sharing. I think i'll give your solution a try.

Thanks Ben! That's a big help!

Tom

Well, I must say I am impressed. I guess I gave up before really putting my mind to it. I'll have to give your method a try.

It also occurs to me that I could sew a long, skinny silnylon tube and slide it over the whole system. That will help keep it as one system and prevent the individual pieces from catching on other gear. Heck, if I seam seal the tube it will catch any stray leaks.

PJ, you are absolutely right; I forgot that the advantage of this system is that you can theoretically drink water instantly. However, based on your previuos posts about some cysts potentially wiggling their way through, I still think it prudent to wait 15 minutes. But you'd certainly have more piece of mind drinking instantly from a filter that them chems.

And the other advantage that is too often overlooked: you get that mountain fresh crisp water that you lose with chemical treatment. That must be worth at least a few ounces, right? I mean, we buy ourselves a 6oz $400 camera to capture the fresh mountain air views, but then put up with swimming-pool-tasting water to save 6oz or so in filter weight. Somehow part of the wilderness experience is lost. I'll have to think about this one a bit.

And one other reason to use this: if anyone is immunosuppressed, using both would make sense. I remember the first time I went with this system was when backpacking with my infant firstborn. You don't want to take chances with an infant, so the chemical pre-treat with filter removing said chemicals was the most fail-safe next to boiling the water as we could get.

So I was perusing the Seychelle website after posting here, and came across an interesting new product:

This straw purports to have the same effectiveness and will filter 378.5L of water before needing to be replaced. It also has a compartment to store chlorine tablets.

I gotta say, if we could figure out a way to attach a platy tube to this, and it is not too difficult suck the water, we might have a weight winner here!

Even if it can't be attached to a filter, I might try using it with my wide-mouth nalgene cantene, like I'm sipping soda. This would maintain the simplicity of my current setup but with the advantages of filtering (except that I'd have to insert the straw and use two hands every time I take a drink. I'll have to think about this).

Nevertheless, it would seem that the lightest way to get both chemical and filter treatment might be a plastic bottle, Aqua Mira/MicroPur, and one of these straws.

It could also be packed away into an emergency kit instead of/in addition to chemical treatment for a much longer lasting source of clean water. Or it could serve as a back-up filter if your main filter breaks.

Any thoughts? I know in the past straw-type filters have been notoriously difficult to suck water out of and prone to clogging, but if this uses activated charcoal, and we used a prefilter (Siltstopper or bandana) it could be quite a different product.

I'm a little concerned that it says "the Pure Water Straw is like a miniature bottled water plant when you use it with optional Chlorine tablets." Does this mean the tablets are an optional added security measure, or does it mean you must purchase them separately but are necessary because the filter isn't as good? It also doesn't specifically say it has activated carbon in it. I'm not even sure this is the same company that makes the in-line filter; I know there are two Seychelle companies out there, and this doesn't look like the website I'm used to (but I can't find any other Seychelle website).

John, you're right about the Crypto. Thanks for reminding me.

Also, that's a great product. I have a 'Frontier Straw' (don't know if they're sold anymore?) for emergency use – haven't used it yet, though did try it at home.

Ben's solution, minus the bladder, forms a long drinking tube and can be used in an emergency (sans chems) a spring forms too shallow and/or too small a source for dipping anything but a "teaspoon" (ok…a bit of hyperbole, but y'all get the idea, i'm sure).

Re: "two Seychelle companines" – is it possible that they updated their website and it's in reality the same company? Were some of the old standby Seychelle products missing?