Water Purification Pump

Yay!Gurrr

Yay!Gurrr

Better Faster Stronger
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Mar 17, 2005
Location
N. N. Raleigh, NC
I'm beefing up our hurricane crash box at the house and wanted to add a water purification pump rather than have to make sure I have enough drinking water on hand..

I have rain barrels and can get water from nearby sources to purify if we get to that point.

I'm looking for a good high quality brand with reasonably priced replaceable cartridges. Most all look plastic and its hard to judge their quality online. They are all over the place with cartridge cost and how many gallons they can process with no direct relation ship other than brand name.

Any input appreciated.

.....And to add I still plan to fill my water jugs and do have a few gallons of water on hand most of the time. This is simply to be better prepared for an extended water outage should one occur.
 
Bypass the pump and go chemical purification. The one I used was called Polar Pure. Its like tablets, but its liquid instead.

http://www.polarequipment.com/

My patrol carried 2 bottles of Polar Pure while we were out at Philmont. As long as you aren't scooping water out of a mud pit or mosquito hole or a gas station, it'll work like a charm.

Pumps are great but it takes FOREVER to purify one quart and kills cartridges fast, or at least you begin to notice when your cartridges are dying. The pump gets harder to use.

I have an older pump that I used a few times, was massively inconvenient. Switched over to chemical ever since.

In contrast, Polar Pure, you fill it up, dump in the polar pure stuff, turn your water bottle upside down to douse the lip and threads with the stuff and then wait an hour. Boom, its done. And that is an hour for 1 quart or 1 gallon. Polar Pure is what I carry in my emergency kit. Unfortunately, the price per bottle has jumped up to $12 on amazon. Such is life.

Oh and I also recommend a Swiss Volcano Stove (sportsmans guide or Cheaper than dirt, search there) since you are talking emergency kits. These things are like, 10 bucks, work like a charm, lightweight and COOL AS ALL GETOUT. Would provide you a non-oil based stove, can boil a small amount of water and also provide the kids a lot of fun. Just setup a place to use it since the bottom does get HOT (so, bricks? Not wood! Found that out the hard way :lol:), also it be stable and put a cover over the top. Boiled that water in no time.

If nothing else, its cool and won't cost you out the nose to own.
 
IMO, chemical like PP or iodine isn't good for long-term use.

Avoid the "fast" high-flow filters, they aren't as effective, only advantage is speed. You want a ceramic, bigger cartridge the better (lasts longer). Charcoal element takes out foul smell/taste but doesn't last long. Some people don't get much use out of cartridges before clogging. The more careful you are, the longer they last (i.e. prefilter, pump from cleanest part of water supply, use a settling basin to let the sediment settle out, etc).
 
Forget purification tablets or drops or any of that stuff. Sure it's "safe", but who wants to drink water that's got crap floating in it? We used Polar Pure until I found a leech in my water. Screw that.

Pumps will let you pull water out of any source. I've had to dig holes at springs in order to get enough water to submerge the pump pickup. Good luck filling your Platypus bag with that. Most any pump will filter 1-2L per minute, too.

I've owned First Need and MSR SweetWater. Both are fine for what you're describing.
 
Just had a thought: Get a couple of these. Will purify but none of the work. Since you are just hanging around and not on the move, weight isn't an issue.

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Maybe one for each of your family members, so out for under $100 bucks. Good capacity and replacement cartridges are probably more reasonable and readily available.
 
Money isn't really the main concern. Durability, usability and capacity are probably my big concerns. I'm thinking metal housing and generic spec cartridges.

I'd like to be able to use it in a Katrina type situation where we could be living off this for a while if the big one hits.

Great ideas with the pre-filters and settling stuff...
 
If money isn't a problem, look at the Katadyn endurance series of filters

http://www.katadyn.com/usen/katadyn...adyn-water-filters-endurance-series-products/

I have the Katadyn pocket from that page...used to be about the only filter that was any good for backcountry...now way too heavy by today's standards. Bought it probably around '90 or so. I've always used a prefilter or settling to avoid sediment, and only had to replace the cartridge a couple of times (over 20 years). It's now my SHTF kit filter. All you need in the way of spare parts is an o-ring and lube.
 
For high tech. you could try this.
http://www.steripen.com/
But I hear the katadyn works well and I think on "The Best Defense Survival " on the Outdoor Channel it's what they suggested. We have a pool and I think it will take out anything chemical wise too. I need to add one myself, let us know what you get!
 
The Katadyn pocket is the one I will be going with.... But I never got around to ordering one... Thanks for reminding me... I will probably get one in the next week or so....
 
Holy sheets... $350??? That's unnecessary. Like I think I said earlier, I've got a MSR Sweetwater that's like 10yrs old and costs about $80. Unless you're guiding professionally, that's all you need.
 
Shawn said:
Holy sheets... $350??? That's unnecessary. Like I think I said earlier, I've got a MSR Sweetwater that's like 10yrs old and costs about $80. Unless you're guiding professionally, that's all you need.
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$100 for 750 liters or $300 for 50,000 liters
 
Are you trying to purify a swimming pool?

If you're that worried about it, you should probably start drinking pond water now, a handful at a time. That's preparedness. :flipoff2:
 
Uh, seriously? Purifying long term water? That's what the government is for. Gallon jug airdrops.


But really, the sweetwater would be a bigass filter for backpacking but probably just what you're looking for. I can't see any family drinking more water than it would filter.
 
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