Another KATADYN BeFree Filter Issue Solved Differently

[Ken Larson]

After my last year’s Isle Royale packrafting trip with the BeFree, that I had NO flow issues,  I prepared the filter for storage.

• Chlorinated with few drops of bleach water.
• Swished it per KATADYN’s instruction in tap water.
• Removed the excess chlorinated water from the device and by shaking it.
• Placed it in a small plastic bag so the filter material would not dry out.

Upon preparing for another packrafting trip with the BeFree in August I experienced NO FLOW of tap water (was chlorinated with ½ capful of bleach to almost a gallon of water) when I went to wet out the filter material. The following is the procedure I followed to revive the BeFree:

• Swished the filter vigorously once again per KATADYN’s instruction in tap water with NO POSITIVE FLOW RESULT.
• Applied SMALL amount of forced air throughout the filter material as and in a back flushing manner. Tried once again to with the filter bag attached to force water through the filter with NO POSITIVE FLOW RESULT.
• My last procedure prior to “junking the filter” was to place 1+ oz of CLR Cleaner (https://clrbrands.com/en-US/Products/CLR-Household/CLR-Calcium-Lime-Rust-Remover ) in a drinking glass, placed the filer with the filter material facing the bottom of the glass and fill the glass with tap water till it covered the threads (cap was removed).
• I observed immediately very visible and forceful effervescing (bleach & hardness elements reacting) and proceeded to agitate it per KATADYN’s instructions while it was in the glass with the CLR .
• After of about 1min I took the filter out of the CLR material, rinse it with cold water and reattached it to the BeFree bag that I had place a full amount of water. Upon forcing the bag with the filter on….water flowed out of the filter in a like new condition.
• Preformed the KATADYN’s Integrity Test for safe use and COULD NOT blow through the filter indicating the filter was useable.
• Flushed 1.5 gal of tap water through the filter to clean the filter material…and tasted the final product to see if any noticeable taste was present, and there was a slight chlorine taste comparable to city chlorinated water..

Conclusion

I’m guessing that the tap water/well water that I used to clean the device prior to storage and was  placed in a sealable plastic bag to keep the filter material moist,  actually cause the hardness in the water/well water to deposit on the filter material and caused the filter material to be PLUGGED TOTALLY!!  Past individuals who own the KATADYN BeFree Filters and SAWYER Filters have experienced the like issue just explained and use vinegar and hot water to revive the filter with success but with a longer and many soaking period. The process and material I tried was something new to me and was something I was will to try ….for better or for worse!  (Both products  vinegar/acetic acid Ph ~2.4 and CLR/ lactic acid, gluconic acid are acids while the CLR’s Ph ~3.7)

 

 

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Nice job Ken!

[Jerry Adams]

I wonder if bleach could plug up a filter

[Jeff McWilliams]

I’ve read about other’s having to use the Vinegar soaking method with a Sawyer squeeze, and I too thought about CLR.  I didn’t know how strong of an acid it was, however, or whether it was safe to use to backflush a Sawyer squeeze without damaging it.

It would be great to hear from Sawyer about this.  I threw out my first Sawyer squeeze, purchased in 2012 last year.  It had started to slow down considerably, so I purchased a new one.

I’ve seen folks with Sawyer mini’s that have TERRIBLE flow.  Not sure they’ve tried the warm vinegar soaking approach.

Could CLR be a miracle cure for clogged Sawyer filters that are suffering from mineral deposits?

 

 

[Ken Larson]

Jerry the bleach I used to store the filter was ~ 4-5 drops in 1 liter. I believe the ground waters hardness test I had done on 2012 showed that 267.0 mg/L and180 mg/L as hard; and more than 180 mg/L as VERY HARD.

OVER A PERIOD OF 11 MONTHS THERE WAS AN INTERACTION WITH THE FILTER FIBERS TO CAUSE THE CLOG.

POST TRIP MAINTENANCE WITH DISTILLED  WATER IS SOMETHING TO TRY.

My 2 Cents

[John Vance]

Diluted CLR is how I revived my BeFree last year as well.

[Ken Larson]

Something I failed to mention. I also had a  SAWYER Micro Filter along on the trip as a backup and had prepared, was used and stored it in the same manner and amount as the KATADYN BeFree filter.

The SAWYER Micro Filter I’m once again using as a backup on Augusts’ packrafting trip along with the BeFree filter. When I tested SAWYER Micro Filter without back flushing or chemical soaking,  it produced a stream of water WITHOUT ISSUES, and this filter was prepared for stored identically as the KATADYN BeFree that was plugged!

[Jenny A]

Well, that is an interesting solution.  My Platypus GravityWorks filter refused to move water through recently after cleaning with dilute bleach two years ago.  I wonder if the same hard water issue caused mineral buildup that plugged it.  Now I’m sorry I pitched the not-so-old original filter.  Thanks for the research, Ken.

[Ken Larson]

Jenny….. I’m planning to use distilled water for post trip cleaning and storage,  and see if this solves the problem or it reoccurs.

[Jenny A]

That makes sense.

As I think back, almost every hollow fiber tube filter I have had that has failed inexplicably was cleaned at some point with dilute bleach in tap water, which is on the hard side.  This includes the recent GravityWorks and several MSR Hyperflow filters.  I wonder if manufacturers are missing the boat in not suggesting that people use distilled water instead of tap water to sterilize prior to long-term storage?  I appreciate your thoughtful sleuthing.

[Jerry Adams]

anecdotally, it seems like there are many reports of plugging up after using bleach

I’ve used my Squeeze for years.  I just backflush with tap water (that has a small amount of chlorine, fairly soft water)

[Jerry Adams]

maybe the combination of bleach and hard water is bad?

[Jeff McWilliams]

I found this:

http://www.es2inc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Sodium-Hypochlorite-and-Its-Properties.pdf

When an insufficient amount of dilution water is used the hypochlorite can cause the pH to rise. If the dilution water is hard water, the rise in pH will result in <span class=””><span class=”highlight selected”>calcium</span> carbonate precipitation which will coat the inside of piping, valves and pumps. </span>

This would lead to suggest that indeed, adding bleach to hard water causes calcium carbonate scale.

If you put “sodium hypochlorite calcium carbonate precipitation” into Google you’ll find multiple references.

Well, crap!

 

[Jenny A]

Well, I guess if this is the explanation for otherwise inexplicable failures, that is progress!

[Jerry Adams]

why do people put bleach in in the first place, to prevent micro organisms?

maybe just use tap water instead of distilled water?

[Jeff McWilliams]

Yes.  For one, Katadyn recommends it.

https://sawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/sawyer_bucket-cleaning_2016-01-15e.pdf

Second, I’ve personally experienced my Camelbak and Platypus bladders and hoses grow “crud” on the insides if I don’t clean them regularly.  I would rather not drink water from a filter with the thought of mold or mildew growing inside it.

 

[Ken Larson]

SAWYER’S RECOMMENDATION

“Standard bleach solution (fragrance free and no more than one cap of bleach per quart of water). Let air dry and in a cool dry place before using.”

KATADYN BEFREE RECOMMENDATION:

Disinfect your Katadyn BeFree™ before storage to prevent microbiological
growth within the EZ-Clean Membrane™.
A) Fill a container with filtered or treated water and add 1 Micropur Tablet.
(If not available, use 4 drops of ordinary household bleach.)
B) Pour the solution into the Hydrapak® SoftFlask™. Close the system
by screwing the cap (with EZ-Clean Membrane™) clockwise.
C) Squeeze the entire amount of water through the EZ Clean Membrane™.
D) Allow the components to air dry completely before reassembling the
system.

NOTE:  one cap of bleach is ~ 10ml or .7Tbsp and is larger than 4 drops.

Personally in the past I used the cap measurement to 1 liter of water. In the future I am going to using the small quantity of 4 drops to 1 liter of distilled water as I believe this will still prevent microbiological growth AND MAYBE prevent NO flow issues.

[Jerry Adams]

ahhh…  that now makes sense

maybe Sawyer should modify their recommendation

[Alex Wallace]

I just tried some hot water (sourced from my refrigerator so it goes through some type of filter) with distilled white vinegar (like 5:1 ration) and I’m happy to report it’s working like new. I let the filter soak in a glass for a couple of minutes and then ran some filtered (from my refrigerator) water through it. If it plugs again after drying, I’m going to try the CLR with distilled water. Plus, before storing, I’m definitely using distilled water to flush it.

[Yoyo]

I tried backflushing my old BeFree filter and it seemed to restore the flow rate, so that it faster than the new one that replaced it.  I backflushed it using the blue adapter thingie that Sawyer sells (effectively it’s a male barb that screws onto a regular water bottle, which can be inserted into the BeFree’s opening so water is forced back through the filter).

To this day, after 2 years of reading forum posts and emailing Katadyn, I cannot understand WHY THE BEFREE CANNOT BE BACKFLUSHED.  I don’t understand the reasoning behind why the Sawyer filter can and the BeFree cannot.  From what I understand, and looking at pics online, it seems that they are effectively designed the same, except that the BeFree has the cage.

I’ve done the integrity test and the backflushing (squeezing a Smartwater bottle with the blue Sawyer adapter through the filter) didn’t seem to damage it.

I suppose what remains is for me to purchase a Sawyer squeeze (or have someone donate me an old one?) and dissect it in the lab to compare the two filters in front of my own two eyes to see what the differences are.

 

Thoughts on this?  The BeFree is the best filter I have used (when it works), but Katadyn’s instructions regarding backflushing/cleaning the filter don’t provide a good rationale for their statements.  For instance, they say not to rinse the filter sideways under the faucet.  What are they thinking?  Surely the water pressure in a fast moving stream will be nearly the same or more than a kitchen faucet on at a reasonable pressure.  Need to talk the Katadyn science team to give us some better explanations…

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