Super Cheap Water Filter Setup ala Ray Jardine
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:19 pm
I am not one to filter water.. anywhere. But on occasion I have felt the need over the years.
But the upcoming thru-hike as well as my memory of living in the high desert of Socal warrants a filter for at least that section.
Not being particularly fond of those pump contraptions, I have settled on my trusty Jardine special. A single open filter element(Mine was a Timberline.. looks like an automotive fuel filter) set in a ziplock freezer bag full of stink water.. the poly-tubing routed up and out of the bag then down 2 feet or so.
The result is a siphon of "pure" water to fill the gatorade bottles upon demand.. sans effort.
My addition to this rudimentary plan.. is further indolence.
Instead of poking a hole in the receptacle (which then becomes a leak point) I simply route the hose up and out over the top of the ziplock then down to my waiting vessel being sure to allow a small "j" bend to elimites the odd drip from running, unfiltered, on the outer surface of the tubing, and into my "pure"cache.
I have found It a simple and cheap matter to purchase these "open" style filter elements from the nearby army surplus retail store(to add to my resupplies) and that standard aquarium tubing fits over the outlet of said filter with little effort.
The real boon to my latest re-design, and the reason for this post, is that I use Zip lock FREEZER bags for the purpose of holding the water. Just sinking the filter element with the tubing attatched, into the full bag, and with one draw the siphon begins to draw pure water with no effort, little expense, and in 18 years, one replacement of the filter element (paranoia being what it is I have purchased several replacement elements, though my 18 year old element still functions flawlessly!).
Of course, I cannot say how effective this arrangement truly is at eliminating nasties such as giardia, except to say that, as of yet, I have not taken ill (far as I know) from Gardy, or any other water bourne bretheren.
The whole setup weighs 1 lb when wet and 11 ounces(including tubing and ziplock) after being dried by hanging from the sock loops of my pack for a while.
Not saying this is THE holy grail or anything.
But it IS a simple and cheap ($14 bucks an element) and durable (many years per element) solution to filtering suspicious water that requires(no moving parts).. NO effort other than to hang a freezer bag of water by a string from a tree branch or set it upon a rock top and point the tubing into the awaiting bottle.
Water wants to fall.. let it fall in your favor. Hetchy
But the upcoming thru-hike as well as my memory of living in the high desert of Socal warrants a filter for at least that section.
Not being particularly fond of those pump contraptions, I have settled on my trusty Jardine special. A single open filter element(Mine was a Timberline.. looks like an automotive fuel filter) set in a ziplock freezer bag full of stink water.. the poly-tubing routed up and out of the bag then down 2 feet or so.
The result is a siphon of "pure" water to fill the gatorade bottles upon demand.. sans effort.
My addition to this rudimentary plan.. is further indolence.
Instead of poking a hole in the receptacle (which then becomes a leak point) I simply route the hose up and out over the top of the ziplock then down to my waiting vessel being sure to allow a small "j" bend to elimites the odd drip from running, unfiltered, on the outer surface of the tubing, and into my "pure"cache.
I have found It a simple and cheap matter to purchase these "open" style filter elements from the nearby army surplus retail store(to add to my resupplies) and that standard aquarium tubing fits over the outlet of said filter with little effort.
The real boon to my latest re-design, and the reason for this post, is that I use Zip lock FREEZER bags for the purpose of holding the water. Just sinking the filter element with the tubing attatched, into the full bag, and with one draw the siphon begins to draw pure water with no effort, little expense, and in 18 years, one replacement of the filter element (paranoia being what it is I have purchased several replacement elements, though my 18 year old element still functions flawlessly!).
Of course, I cannot say how effective this arrangement truly is at eliminating nasties such as giardia, except to say that, as of yet, I have not taken ill (far as I know) from Gardy, or any other water bourne bretheren.
The whole setup weighs 1 lb when wet and 11 ounces(including tubing and ziplock) after being dried by hanging from the sock loops of my pack for a while.
Not saying this is THE holy grail or anything.
But it IS a simple and cheap ($14 bucks an element) and durable (many years per element) solution to filtering suspicious water that requires(no moving parts).. NO effort other than to hang a freezer bag of water by a string from a tree branch or set it upon a rock top and point the tubing into the awaiting bottle.
Water wants to fall.. let it fall in your favor. Hetchy