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Water Prefilter- what size mesh?


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  • #1285127
    Robert Connor
    BPL Member

    @bplnole

    Locale: N E Fl

    I want to myog a prefilter to remove floaties from my water before using my steripen. I live in Florida and some of the water sources can be fairly chunky… I have seen where people have used filter bags, cut to size.

    My thought is to scoop the water up in a ziploc bag, and pour it into a funnel made of the top half of a disposable water bottle lined with the filter cloth.

    My question is should I order a 1 micron bag? Will that clog so fast that it would be unusable? Of course, I want the max filtering as long as it is functional.

    Here is a link to the type of bag I was considering: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BP-410-1-Pentek-BP-410-1-10-Bag-Filter-1-micron-rated-/200707080282?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ebb13005a

    Any other ideas would be appreciated.

    Thanks
    Robert

    #1834002
    Travis Leanna
    BPL Member

    @t-l

    Locale: Wisconsin

    Nylon reusable coffee filters work ok and are easy to rinse off. They don't absorb water and if you shake them off well, they don't freeze. But you're in Florida, so that shouldn't be an issue! If you're just getting out the floaties, you really don't need to go down to 1 micron. Your filter/chemical/UV will take care of the bad stuff.

    GSI makes a collapsible nylon coffee filter. I cut off the orange legs.

    http://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/ultralight_java_drip/

    #1834015
    Troy Ammons
    BPL Member

    @tammons

    Duda diesel sells a 5 gallon bucket prefilter that has 75 micron mesh.

    I have considered cutting out a portion of that mesh and use that as a prefilter to get out the chunky stuff. Its very thin and very light.

    I think Giardia is about 2-3 microns and Cryptosporidium is like 4-5 microns in size.

    Think I would use a 0.5 micron bag filter. I cut mine into circle and fold it into a cone and use Chlorine to treat the filtered water.

    Thats one setup but I also use a sawyer filter.

    #1834059
    Seth Brewer
    BPL Member

    @whistler

    Locale: www.peaksandvalleys.weebly.com

    I used a Steripen Adventurer Opti during my A.T thru hike last year and just used a twice folded bandana to "pre-filter" the gunk out before treating. I find that all those something-micron filters just get clogged within the first few days of using them. Worked for me, but that plastic coffee filter seems like a good idea also.

    #1834060
    Roleigh Martin
    BPL Member

    @marti124

    Locale: Founder & Lead Moderator, https://www.facebook.com/groups/SierraNorthPCThikers

    See this thread about the 1 micron small DudaDiesel filter for $3.

    BPL Thread

    I have used this prefilter with my Steripen for 3 JMT hikes now. Will continue to do so. When I don't use the steripen, I use Chlorine Dioxide tablets and with the prefilter only have to wait 20 minutes, not 4 hours, due to the 1 micron prefiltering.

    #1834061
    Roleigh Martin
    BPL Member

    @marti124

    Locale: Founder & Lead Moderator, https://www.facebook.com/groups/SierraNorthPCThikers

    Some links on efficacy of Chlorine Dioxide treatment of water and the benefits of 1 micron or smaller filters are here:

    http://aquamira.com/bpl_2_efficacy-of-water.pdf

    http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html

    http://www.cdc.gov/crypto/factsheets/filters.html

    Notes: “C. [Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts can be as small as 4 microns (Flanigan and Soave, 1993)” – see http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio38/hannahs/crypto.htm “Giardia (say "gee-ar-dee-ah") cysts are elliptically shaped and range in size from 6 to 10 microns.” – see

    http://www.water-research.net/Giardia.htm

    #1834167
    Robert Connor
    BPL Member

    @bplnole

    Locale: N E Fl

    Thanks everyone for all the great ideas! I really appreciate benefiting from your experience.

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