Hi all - I'm shopping for a new water treatment. A group of us are hitting the BWCA in June and so I'd like something that accommodates a group well. I was thinking of the Katadyn Base Camp, but a little concerned because some reviews on REI and Backcountry.com reported total failure after 2 or 3 uses. Maybe a Katadyn + extra filter in case of failure?

Thoughts?

How about one of the gravity filter setups?

The rules would be that when someone pulls clean water from the bottom, they replace it with dirty water in the top.

--MV

If it were me I'd go with Aqua Mira. You could have a collapsible 5 gallon container and treat the whole container at once. Piece of cake. No filters to plug or break. Bring a second set of Aqua Mira as a backup.

That will work. But know that it will take Aquamira tablets anywhere from 30 minutes (for water at room temp.) all the way to 4 hours (water just above freezing)!! Maybe coordinate to purify enough each night for the following day.

Forget the even less concentrated A.M. liquids -- which Aquamira sells ONLY for treating bacteria -- and requires extra "mixing" wait time. Many have used the liquids and lived just fine -- but A.M. user instruction covers only treatment against bacteria. Not protozoa cysts (e.g. giardia, crypto, etc.).

Edited by ben2world on 04/01/2010 20:13:49 MDT.

How big is your group, where are you going, how will you be traveling and what is your price range? You have quite a few options but it really depends on the specifics.

MSR Miox. Add a little salt to the gizmo, which creates a mixed oxide (pretty much the same thing as aqua mira). The device weighs 3.5 oz, 1 oz of salt will treat 200 liters. That's less weight than you'd carry in aqua mira to do the same.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Good questions Lawson:
-group is 6 adults and one child
-going up Nina Moose Lake, Lake Agnes, Boulder Bay, and part of LLC and back - roughly 5 days
-traveling by canoe
-would like to spend <$100

I hae a Katadyn Base Camp, and I love it. I chose it, in part, because it uses the same cartridge as the Hiker, which I had great luck with for may years until I cracked the case. The Base Camp filters a lot of water with very little effort.

I go to the BWCA twice a year and for the last 3 years we have been using the Katadyn Base camp. The filter has to be replaced every so often but other than that your only other option is to pump. Our group size varies from 3 to 8.

thanks everyone!

You could go with a Katadyn Hiker Pro, Vario, Base Camp or a Mini Ceramic. They all are under $100 and all would work great.

A lot of my backpacking is with 5+ people and some dogs so we go through a massive amount of water. One of the 5L gravity filters works wonders compared to when we had one old pump for 11 people. We have an MSR one but I know Katadyn makes one too. This is the one I have:
http://www.amazon.com/MSR-56501-AutoFlow-Gravity-Filter/dp/B00187AU2M

So at 11oz it's not even a little bit lightweight but since it replaced basically everyone else's water filter it was more than worth it.

MSR Miox +1

For a large group with big demands for water I would think the MSR Miox system would work well, at 3.5 oz this is still UL and is a very effective treatment system. Disclaimer: I have not used the system personally but it would be one I would consider if hiking with a large group often.

Edited by thomdarrah on 04/03/2010 08:06:02 MDT.

MSR gravity Flow

we used one of these for up to 20 people. worked great, last person to empty it fills it back up. under 100 bucks no maintenence

The one big potential minus for MIOX is the same caveat with chlorine dioxide: wait time. Treatment time is the exact same for both -- a tolerable 30-minutes for water at room temp all the way to 4 hours for water near freezing! These chemicals can kill protozoa, but they take time...

It's been reviewed here.
The concensus was yuk.

Cheers

Katadyn Filters Rock!