I have friends/relatives on 2 different teams on standby to go to Haiti. One team it sounds like will be leaving Friday. This team is a Nursing team and after they spoke to the powers at be they are VERY frantic about their safety/water/etc. I have been asked to help them with personal items to insure their safety. Starting with water treatment. Ideas so far
Steripen (AA version as opposed to Cr123A) that works with a Nalgene Bottle with a particulate filter designed to work in conjunction with the pen & the bottle.
I would recommend not using the steripen as it has been unreliable in water that isnt perfectly clear.
I carry the MSR Miox for sustainable water treatment, runs on salt and CR123 batteries.
The other option is katadyn micropur tablets but you will be carrying a lot of tablets depending on the time period deployed. These make a great contingency plan item.
Filters are going to be difficult to maintain depending on the source and I would only recommend using them IN CONJUNCTION with a treatment plan.
A high flow filter such as in a gravity fed hang system or in bulk 5g jugs in conjunction with a Miox wouldnt be a bad choice and would be able to handle a larger amount of water to allow for some basic bathing instead of just drinking.
A more basic option is bulk iodine or chlorine bleach and bulk storage containers such as 55g drums or 100g+ tanks. For this setup I recommend two tanks, one for dwelling and one for drinking, so you dont sit waiting with dirty water in front of you. Water should be relatively clear for this as well, even something as minimal as straining through cloth.
For personal, I have and use the MSR Sweetwater kit which I think works great. I would also HIGHLY recommend you purchase a Sea to Summit 10L “kitchen Sink” . They’re very light and pack down small in your pack. Acquire your source water with this sink and then let the water settle before using your filter. Also buy an addition bottle(s) of the purifying solution and an additional filter.
Anything with a fair amount of sediment or particulate matter is going to clog your filter at some point in the system. Some are designed to be easier clean than others, providing a pre-filter for larger particulate matter that can be wiped or washed away but still you are relying on the filter to clean the water and the dirtier the water the shorter the life of the filter cartridge.
Most filters still are not able to kill/remove the very smallest of hazardous components such as viruses (common cold, some causes/forms of hepatitis, etc) so I suggest either finding a system that can remove these components like the X-Pack OR treating your water with a chemical agent that can destroy these components such as the Katadyn tablets, iodine, chlorine bleach, etc.
I have used the Katadyn Pocket Microfilter extensively in my camping experiences. It is the best I have used. The ceramic filter is easy to clean and filters down to 0.2 microns. Rubber band a coffee filter around the inlet housing to keep the big chunks out.
I would suggest boiling in addition to filtering if possible.
This is an interesting topic, one which I’ve wanted to discuss for a while.
I, like many others on these forums, would like to know if there is a short list of “the best” water purification devices that have been tested and compared extensively?
I know there is a lot of new products out there these days, but I’m just looking for something that can be used to take ANY and ALL impurities out of water, to provide fresh clean drinking water, anywhere in the world.
Portable, affordable, and dependable are the prerequisites of course.
If I was going to buy and maintain water filter systems for deployment/contingency kits, that is size efficient, to cover trips into CONUS backcountry, disaster areas CONUS and OCONUS, and overseas in general, which one does the job?
