Sawyer Squeeze flow rate timing

Stephen, these times are much slower than what I've observed with my Sawyer squeeze, particularly for the gravity setup. with forceful squeezing I can fill a liter bottle in about 70 seconds with mine. My gravity setup has a five foot hose and will fill a one liter bottle in about three minutes. How long is the hose in your gravity setup?

Also, you might have read that Squeeze filters that have not been used in awhile often have severely reduced flow rates at first. Others have reported that the flow rate improved substantially after soaking the filter for a few hours. I would suggest soaking it overnight and timing it again.

Thanks for the feedback. You have confirmed my suspicions that the flow rate is slower than normal. I did backflush the filter prior to the timing test. I will fill it with water and let it sit for a few hours and try again.

What is the possibility that my filter is defective? Anyone aware of reports of defective filters, i.e slow flow rates?

In terms of the gravity timing test, I did not use any hose. I simply suspended the Sawyer bag with the filter attached directly over the bottle.

There are too many variations or unknowns in your setup to give you an accurate answer but your times do appear long. How much you squeeze will make a difference. In your gravity setup the position of your filter will have a big impact on the flow rate.

When I want to measure my flow I use a 1quart bladder and then 3 feet of hose. I then attach the filter to the end of the hose where you would normally have the bite valve. The filter is hanging in mid air. The tubing and bladder are in a straight vertical line directly above the filter. The 3 feet of water above the filter creates pressure needed to push the water through the filter. the length of hose between the filter and bladder makes a big difference. With this setup it takes me about 1 minute 30 seconds to completely drain the ladder. I repeat the test a couple of times to get an average time.

I have seen similar times from others with similar setups. Try measuring the flow with this setup and let us know what you get.

My prefered method of using the filter is to use it in the in line setup. Between the bladder and the bite valve is the filter. When you suck on the bite valve you pull water through the filter into your mouth. So when the bladder is empty I stop fill the bladder, reattach the hose and filter, repack it and continue on. Drinking as needed while I hike.

Many people have problems getting good flwo after the filter has been allowed to dry out for a few months. This happened to me this year. If that is what has happened you need to backpflush or soak the filter with warm water or warm vinegar.

I understand how the additional height might exert further pressure and increase the flow rate, but, even when I squeeze the bag, it requires almost 2 1/2 minutes to fill a 1 liter bottle. I am soaking my filter to see if it improves. I am not sure if the additional fiber filter element from the frontier Pro is slowing down the flow rate, but I cannot imagine it would increase it by much.

Can you tell me how long it takes for you to fill a 1 liter bottle with your system when you use the squeeze method?

" I am soaking my filter to see if it improves."

Try holding the filter against a faucet (with out an aerator) or a hose to pressurize the "priming flow". You'll get wet. ;-)

My gravity feed flow rate is a little under 1 minuter per liter, with a 48" difference between the "dirty" bladder and the intake on the filter.

If it hasn't seen any use for a while, I "pressure prime" and retest before heading out.

yep
I was one of the first to buy one when they came out
Played with it with some tap water, shook it out, weighed it.

Put it away

A few months later, it barely worked at all. Would probably take 10 min to get a liter.

Havent tried soaking it , etc. Just not worth the bother to me.

I think I did essentially "pressure prime" this when i backflushed it from both ends prior to the timing test. Clearly I am nowhere near the gravity flow of other's. I will try the test again later today after it soaks for awhile.

Couple other threads about this – very common problem

Backflush more, with warm water, maybe vinegar?

Always backflush after trip when you get home

If you used your Sawyer filter, then let it sit for weeks to months, two things can happen:

1) Without a chlorine flush (see instructions for details – NOT straight chlorine!), bacteria can build up on the filter. This can slow the filter, as well as render it nasty!

2) The water left in the filter can dry (even with the chlorine treatment), leaving whatever minerals are in the water deposited in/on the filter, which can severely slow the filter.

Always use the chlorine flush before leaving it sit for a long period. Then if the flow is slow, do a vinegar/water flush, similar to what you do to clean a coffee filter.

YMMV

Afterletting the filter sit for about two hours infused with tap water, and then backflushing several times, flow rates for 1 liter improved as follows:

With Frontier pro debris filter installed: Squeeze= 80sec avg; Gravity = 230 sec avg.

Without Frontier filter: Squeeze= 55 sec avg; Gravity = 167 sec avg.

Significant improvemnt from earlier, but /i will try the chlorine sanitizing/ vinegar flush / hot water flush per manufacturers instructions and see if there is any improvement. We do have hard water in our area so mineral deposits is possible.

Stephen, the results you reported for flow rate after soaking and without the Frontier prefilter are pretty close to what I get. The water in my area is very hard, too. I haven't tried a vinegar soak yet.

I find these flow rates acceptable. The difference between one minute and three minutes for a gravity setup seems trivial to me. Besides, on an all-day hike, I appreciate an extra 120 seconds of rest.

I followed the manfacturers instructions – backflushed with hot tap water, then infused with vinegar and let soak for 1/2 hour, then backflush again with hot tap water. I then tested the flow both with and without the Frontier filter. My results were essentially the same as before the vinegar treatment.

Does anyone have a suggestion for an alternate, i.e. better flowing debris filter? I do not mind the additional time this causes to filter the water, but if someone knows of an effective but less restrictive alternative, I would love to know about it.

In the meantime, I think I have determined what is reasonable to expect from this particular filter. – about a liter a minute with assistance and close to 4 minutes/liter by gravity. This helps me plan both how much time I have for chores while filtering – or how much time to kick back.

Obviously YRMV.