In the world of purifying ingesting water, there are a lot of alternative ways of performing the bushwalker’s miracle of water into w… effectively, water… and making it secure to drink. The hiker’s alchemy of with the ability to cut back your backpack weight by amassing 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 penning this gear assessment and right here’s what I discovered:
The commonest 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 most important bug varieties that ingesting water remedies can cope with:
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Protozoa
- Microparticles
Doing your analysis to work out what explicit bugs are extra of a problem the place you propose on adventuring, might enable you to make a clever alternative. Some filters or strategies solely cope with micro organism and protozoa, while others might 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 concept.
What else?
The outdated triad of value vs. bulk vs. weight is all the time going to be a balancing act for us people who like to hold all the things on our backs. If you’re a car-camper, day-hiker or slush-fund-recipient, then a few of these selections gained’t be as vital.
The factor that basically struck me by the Grayl UltraPress air purifier will not be 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. Simply 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 wherever I didn’t belief the water from a faucet.
The Pros
- Simple
- Instant
- Slimline Design
- Deals with all 4 of the water gremlins + others = virus, micro organism, protozoa, microplastic, silt, sediment, chemical compounds, heavy metals + odour
The Cons
The most important draw back for me is the load of the bottle at 354 g (additionally they do an Ultralight at 309 g).
The filters will final for 350 x 500 ml presses and you will want to eliminate the filter cartridge (80 g). Grayl are within the means of establishing 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 must know, just like the significance of drying out your filter and storing it (brief time period – on the observe and long run – at residence)
Grayl UltraPress Specs
- 500 ml
- 354 grams
- 25 cm x 7.5 cm (matches effectively in aspect pockets)
- Lifespan: 300 presses (ie. 150 litres)
- Filter methodology: ion trade, extremely powdered activated carbon
- Flow 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
- Made from BPA-free polypropylene, TPA and ABS food-grade plastic
Buy a Grayl UltraPress or different Grayl bottles now.