On the planet of purifying ingesting water, there are numerous other ways of performing the bushwalker’s miracle of water into w… effectively, water… and making it protected to drink. The hiker’s alchemy of having the ability to cut back your backpack weight by accumulating water alongside the way in which and never find yourself with some type of gastro is a good revelation – it’s additionally simple to do. I’ve been utilizing a Grayl UltraPress water purification filter for a few months earlier than scripting this gear evaluate and right here’s what I discovered:
The most typical methods of treating ingesting water for bushwalking and mountaineering are:
What to search for in water therapy
Not all strategies are equal OR do the identical job(s). There are 4 major bug sorts that ingesting water therapies can take care of:
- Micro organism
- Viruses
- Protozoa
- Microparticles
Doing all your analysis to work out what specific bugs are extra of a difficulty the place you propose on adventuring, could assist you to make a smart alternative. Some filters or strategies solely take care of micro organism and protozoa, while others could solely do viruses. The satan is within the element… and within the spits at 2 am in a tent… within the rain… and, effectively, you get the thought.
What else?
The previous triad of price vs. bulk vs. weight is at all times going to be a balancing act for us people who like to hold every thing on our backs. When you’re a car-camper, day-hiker or slush-fund-recipient, then a few of these selections received’t be as essential.
The factor that basically struck me by the Grayl UltraPress air purifier isn’t solely how simple it’s to make use of however that it offers with all 4 of the nasties that could possibly be in water. Merely scoop up water, push the filter down (it takes a little bit of effort) and bingo – 500 ml of water that’s good to drink. No tricksy attaching hoses, rigging issues as much as cling or ready half-hour for it to work.
It’s additionally the form of easy system that I’d wish to take travelling anyplace I didn’t belief the water from a faucet.
The Execs
- Easy
- Immediate
- Slimline Design
- Offers with all 4 of the water gremlins + others = virus, micro organism, protozoa, microplastic, silt, sediment, chemical substances, heavy metals + odour
The Cons
The principle draw back for me is the load of the bottle at 354 g (in addition they do an Ultralight at 309 g).
The filters will final for 350 x 500 ml presses and you have to to eliminate the filter cartridge (80 g). Grayl are within the strategy of organising a trade-in service with TerraCycle (as at March 2022), so fingers crossed that doesn’t take too lengthy to occur – I wouldn’t wish to see the filters having to go to landfill.
At round $140 AUD, you’ll wish to take excellent care of your filter bottle to get essentially the most out of it. There’s a wee little bit of stuff you have to know, just like the significance of drying out your filter and storing it (brief time period – on the observe and long run – at house)
Grayl UltraPress Specs
- 500 ml
- 354 grams
- 25 cm x 7.5 cm (suits effectively in facet pockets)
- Lifespan: 300 presses (ie. 150 litres)
- Filter technique: ion trade, extremely powdered activated carbon
- Stream charge: 3 litres per minute
- Removes: 99.99% of viruses, micro organism and protozoa, together with rotavirus, hepatitus A, norovirus, giardia, cryptosporidium, E.coli, cholera, salmonella, dysentery. Yech!
- Filters: particulates (sediment, microplastics) pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, flavour and odour
- Constituted of BPA-free polypropylene, TPA and ABS food-grade plastic
Purchase a Grayl UltraPress or different Grayl bottles now.
