Is there a way of testing a Sawyer filter's integrity?
How can one be sure the filter did not accidentally freeze or sustain damage from a fall / impact?
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way of proving it works, even just for peace of mind - like can be done with the MSR product?

This is the one thing that has kept me from buying one.

From sawyer.com:

"Q. Can the filter be frozen?
A. While we have no proof that freezing damages the filters we have no proof that it does not. Therefore we must recommend replacing the filter if you suspect it has been frozen."

From article, Roger says when you backflush, the tubes expand a little which helps dislodge any blocked pores.

If the tubes were full of water, froze, and expanded a little it doesn't seem like it would burst the tubes.

Putting filter in your sleeping bag doesn't seem like a very good solution. Hard to reliably keep your filter from every freezing over many trips. Before and after sleeping you'de have to carry it in your pocket?

Too bad there isn't some way to test a filter after it's been frozen a bunch of times.

I am tempted to just shake the filter out really good if it might go below freezing.

Besides, you don't really need to filter the water anyway. This is just a made-up issue so filter manufacturers can sell filters : )

I definitely needed this update in the latest in water treatment. I'd gotten away from filters after a popular but now defunct brand's best seller shattered. Pressed down on the plunger and the body cracked into many pieces.

I had a PUR and it cracked when I pressed on plunger. It still worked good enough for that trip, then I put tape on it and used it for a few more trips.

"Putting filter in your sleeping bag doesn't seem like a very good solution."

Why?

Because it's freezing before and after when I'm sleeping so I'de have to carry it in my pocket.

Too bad there isn't some way to test a filter after it's been frozen a bunch of times.

How much would you pay to have your filter tested and certified ?

"How much would you pay to have your filter tested and certified ?"

I would like Sawyer to test their filter (after freezing) and report the results : )

Thanks for the comment. According to themselves they DO remove chemicals. I have been in contact with them and both their webpage and their E-mail answers claim that they do. I have requested a test report.

If bwtechnologies actually remove chemicals I will choose it before the Saywer filter however if they cant back up their claims the Saywer stays on top!

I have benen trying to get an answer from www.bwtechnologies.com for quite some time now! The first replies where prompt and good but when I asked about a test report they have not gotten back to me at all! Suspious!

It seems like the one really serious drawback to filtration is that there's no way to verify that it's working (short of having access to a very sophisticated laboratory).

With boiling, I can feel the heat and see the bubbles. With a Steripen, I can observe the light. With chemicals, I can taste and smell the chemicals. There's no way of knowing if a filter is working. What if I got the "lemon" out of that last production batch?

Is anyone aware of any studies that might give us an idea of how many failures per "X" number of filters manufactured there are?

Is there any way to garner an idea of how effective filters really are?

HJ
Adventures in Stoving

I made a female/female adapter by hot-gluing two bottle caps together then drilling a hole through the unit. I also made a narrow-mouth adapter for the Nalgene wide-mouth Cantene, which fills much easier than a narrow-mouth bottle or bladder.

So, if you squeeze dirty water from the Cantene through the filter into another bladder, connected with a F/F adapter, you are set up for a back-flush by simply inverting the arrangement and squeezing a bit of the clean water back through the filter then discarding the wash water from the dirty water bladder. Though it is unnecessary to do this often, it is trivially easy to do.

If you don't want to make your own. Look at these.



http://jetflow.com/product-detail/?pid=247