You may make a great survival plan, but it can quickly go bad if you suddenly find yourself without a clean, drinkable source of water. You can go for a while without a lot of things, but not without water.
There may be a disaster, in which case water can quickly become compromised. Having the ability to filter and treat water that has been contaminated is much needed for your survival. For such and similar situations, as well as when going camping, you need to have survival gear water purification filters. Therefore, if you are still not acquainted with portable water purifiers, continue reading to find out how these filters work, why do you need to have one, and which ones are the best.
Do Filter Water Bottles Really Work?
During natural disasters, even municipal water systems may issue boil water notices. When preparing your survival gear water purification filter systems are the ideal way to make your water sources drinkable. These are portable water filters that you can use if you are evacuating during a disaster, or you find yourself needing to obtain water from a natural water source.
Natural water sources may contain microorganisms, depending on the sources of water. Such microorganisms are bacteria and protozoa (giardia, E-coli, cryptosporidium, salmonella, shigella, coliform, and cholera). Most modern hiking water filters are specifically designed to filter these germs. Some water filters can also get rid of harmful chemicals and heavy metals.
These water filters are much faster than boiling water. So, if you’re on the move, using such a water filter is a lot quicker than having to stop, build a fire and boil water. Plus, boiling water will do nothing to get rid of some herbicides and pesticides, while a quality water filter can filter them out.
How Does a Portable Water Filter Work?
These filters use physical mesh screens to block particles. The effectiveness of the filter depends on how small the pore holes are. This, in turn, determines what it blocks versus what it lets through.
It is known that a virus can be 100 times smaller than bacteria. This is the reason why any decent filter can screen out bacteria and protozoa, but only the tightest ones can filter viruses and other super-fine particles.
Types of Survival Water Filters
The difference between the different types of water filters comes down to how the water is forced through the filter. So, we have the following types available:
- Straw – the simplest water filters that move water through suction from your mouth as you drink
- Bottle – essentially straws mounted inside of a bottle and filter as you drink
- Inline – adaptable filters with simple input and output attachment points, so you can use it as a straw directly in the water, with a hydration bladder, screwed onto a bottle top, or with a gravity bag
- Gravity – gravity pulls water through a filter, usually with an elevated bag of dirty water above an inline filter with hose connections
- Pump – your hand movement forces water through
Top Brands of Portable Water Filters
Removing impurities from your drinking water is of utmost importance as those impurities can be deadly serious. Therefore, picking the right filter is something that should be taken seriously. Here are some of the best water filters that you can find on the market.
Katadyn
This company is based in Switzerland. It is known for its tough ceramic pump filters that can last for a long time and for bottles that have the ability to hold up in some pretty harsh environments.
Lifestraw
This may be the name of the brand that most laypeople have heard of. At the same time, this is one of the cheapest filters that you can find on the market. The fact that they’re relatively cheap, enables you to buy a couple of them and cheaply stash them away in a glove box, go bags, at work, or anywhere else you might be when disaster strikes.
Sawyer
This is the most often recommended brand. This is a tried-and-true company with a reputation for filters that last for years. Sawyer is another brand that provides budget-friendly filters. These filters are effective against microorganisms and get rid of bacteria, protozoa and cysts.
HydroBlu
HydroBlu is a relatively new brand based in Utah. This brand got popular for its surprisingly quality product offerings. They offer only a few products, but smartly chosen ones that can be used in everyday life. These products are simple to use and chemical-free.
MSR
MSR is a brand trusted by adventurers as it provides great tech with unique products. These products, however, tend to stay within their own product ecosystem. For instance, their pump filters directly attach to their branded water bladders, but they don’t come with hoses so that you can easily pump other third party products.
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