Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter

I just recently graduated from college and a family member bought me the Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter. I saw an ad for it in Backpackers and it looked solid, but I never thought about it again until I received it as a gift. Anyone else using this cool filter? I've only used it once and that was on a dayhike and my first reaction was it could take a while to fill up the pouch if you are not in swift waters. Also, your hand could get freezing cold during the cold months. They have a lot of maintenance in order for it to last as long as advertised, but I guess that the tradeoff to having a 3oz water filter. lol. I really like it and it is a great gift. I still haven't figure out how my relative thought I might like a new water filter and picked out a very lightweight one!

I'm using it, and love it so far (two trips, about a dozen liters filtered.) A buddy who works in a gear store (and, like me, had always believed you could have my Miniworks when you pried it from my cold, dead hands) got a chance to field test it, and was so impressed he told me to get one, too.

I'm attracted by the .1 micron rating; most good filters are .2 microns at best. The pressure to squeeze the bottle isn't too hard (certainly no harder than the pumping), and there's very little to go wrong. Maintenance hasn't been too much of a hassle so far, and backflushing in the field is a breeze. I even use the syringe to backflush air through after every use, just to purge the water that didn't make it through the system.

The only design flaw I see is that I wish they'd used the same attachment threads on the outlet side, so you could directly attach a bottle to the output rather than "aim and squirt." (Empty Platys tend to be a bit floppy when you're trying to stand them up to aim at.) It's a very minor nit to pick, though, and hasn't proven to be an issue in use - I may switch to recycled bottled-water bottles to eliminate the floppy issue.

Weight, size, and very little to go wrong won me over.

Pretty slick. I've soloed with one and liked it, but filling is laborious so I'm taking a funnel or something like that next time.

It can also be run as a gravity filter with a little cobbling, so you don't need to "squeeze" in camp, just on the go.

Cheers,

I got one (with the recent REI 20% coupon) but haven't had a chance to try it yet (because of having to stay off my feet).

On Backpacking Light, there have been a lot of complaints about the threads on the Sawyer not being compatible with the newer Platypus bottles. It is compatible with the old Platys. Some suggested that getting a different washer would make the new Platys work. I switched to Evernew water bottles a couple of years ago--they have a connector from cap to bottle, and I was forever losing caps with the Platypus. There were also some complaints that Sawyer's thin "dirty" water containers don't hold up too well. My thought was to use an Evernew 2L bottle for the "dirty" water and take the 2L Sawyer bottle as an extra water container if needed. Obviously, I'll have to mark the "dirty" Evernew bottle to distinguish it from the "clean" bottles.

If you have an old Platypus that's getting brittle, consider cutting a strip off the bottom at about the 1 1/2 cup level to use as a dipping scoop to fill the "dirty" water container. Or you could cut the bottom out of a 1-liter soda bottle to use as a dipper.

I bought some Platypus bottles to use with my filter (replacing the Nalgenes I used with my Miniworks/Hyperflow filters), and haven't had any trouble at all with them fitting the filter. I got a 2-liter Platy to use as my Dirty bag when the Sawyer bag fails - and so far, I've had no problems with it, either.

Filling can be a pain if you don't have deep water or falling water to fill it; shallow running water usually only fills it halfway. But, with a total savings of over half a pound, I'm willing to half-fill the Dirty bag twice to get a full liter. (If I need to carry water, I can always use my pot to finish filling the 2-liter Dirty bag all the way.)

Have you guys cleaned the bag? Using a capful of bleach and all as instructed on the bag itself?

Not yet. I just let it air dry for a week or so. Nothing growing yet.

Don't fret over the bag. The trick is to backflush and sterilize the filter. They clog and stop working between trips if you don't.

Cheers,

I use the Sawyer inline filter and I never really worry to much about cleaning the dirty water bag, after all it is dirty water! At home I give it a good rinse and hang it to dry, Done!
IIRC they make replacement adapter caps to convert that filter to a inline/gravity system.

I used a friend's Sawyer Squeeze for a week last year, and then went out and bought one with this years tax return. I love it. But with both of ours, the dirty water bags from Sawyer start a leak around the heat seal of the threaded part. That is bad manufacturing. Anyways, a platy is a better bag for this and works with the squeeze. I don't have any newer platys so don't know how they work. The filter itself is awesome, and you gotta love the 3 oz.

I stowed my Sawyer gravity filter over winter w/o doing the bleach routine. After the last fall trip I backflushed it and left it on a sunny windowsill a couple weeks to dry.

This spring I took it on a trip and at first could not get any flow whatever. Gradually it improved and was flowing maybe half-normal at the trip's end. Back at home I backflushed it until normal flow was restored.

So I'm guessing I had bacterial growth over winter that clogged it, and I should have done the bleach thing before drying and storing it. I'll do that in the future. I'll also do a backflush and test flow before using it at the season's start.

Cheers,

How are you drying the filters? Mine is the original
inline gravity filter style.
I have not looked at the inst. lately but I take my
filter apart when I dry it, I expose the element.
I have also found that there is room in the filter body
to stuff in a bit of poly fluff to act as a pre-filter.

I haven't been able to open my "new-style" squeeze filter - it looks like it should unscrew, but when it didn't come apart with the same effort as, say, the Miniworks or Hyperflow, I was reluctant to apply additional torque for fear of breaking it.

To dry it after flushing it with the bleach mixture, I take the backflush syringe, fill it with air instead of water, and blow the air backward through it. I repeat until water is no longer coming out the "dirty" end.

My Sawyer filters don't come apart--the shells are sealed and the media can't be removed.

I just shake out as much water as I can from the intake and discharge ends then leave them in a sunny apot. I'm not convinced they ever completely dry out, so the bleach treatment before storage seems prudent. FWIW the Squeeze cartridge has a larger opening on the intake side so may have a better chance of drying out than the in-line cartridge with its tiny hose connectors.

Cheers,

Im new at filtering water, usually day hike and carry what i need. I just bought this filter and have used it twice. The first liter i treated with an MP1 tablet to see how it worked, the second liter i left untreated.

Now my question is, should the untreated water taste dirty, or should it not have a taste at all? Again this is my forst time filtering water.

As a very loose, general rule, filtered water won't have any "non-water" taste - it certainly shouldn't taste dirty (dirt particles would have pretty muh been filtered out.)

Will filtered water have a taste? Possibly; the filter won't take out all the chemical tastes (I've had water taste slightly iron-ish, for example, but not very often.

Remember, I hike in the eastern US (Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, mostly.) I can't speak for areas other than that, since I don't have any experience.

I think it will depend on the water being treated. It shouldn't taste dirty or have dirt particles, but again I've only filtered out of running streams and springs. I thought a lot of water sources in my area (Smoky Mountain and national forests in Western North Carolina) tasted pretty darn fresh after being filtered or they have a little different taste to it. I thought first time I used the Sawyer filter I tasted a little plastic from the bag.

North East Ohio myself. Small world. The second liter i filtered just has this odd taste to it. Being my first time filtering water, im just a littler leary of the water. had frogs in it. Havent been able to get back out, and filter another liter. Could i need to clean the filter after just 2 liters of water? I back flushed, and havent had any flow problems. Its just that second liter of water just has this dirty taste to it.

Well that was my experience the very first time i used it. I filtered out of the same stream, exact spot even. The first time i used it is tasted good and clean, i than filtered a liter and treated it just to see what that tasted like.

My second one was a week later and just has this odd taste to it, like its just dirty water. Thats when i read on here about cleaning the filter with bleach, but i wouldnt think it would need done after just a week would it?

As i said im new to filtering water, so any advice on this id like as i did a lot of reading on the squeeze before i bought it, and i really like its simplicity.

Just read your other post, and you said it had been a week between uses. When you said, "dirty," could that be the same as "musty"?

I have, with other filters, noticed that if I didn't clean them and let them dry, and there was some time between uses, that I would get a bit of musty flavor in the first quart or so - kind of like that smell you get when you go down into an older basement that isn't well ventilated. However, it was never very strong and didn't last beyond the first quart.

It could be a slight bit of mold or whatever crud starts to develop if they aren't dried out. Go ahead and backflush with the bleach-water the instructions on the bags indicate, and see if the taste is there on the next trip. Just remember, after you backflush with the bleach water, backflush with the air-filled syringe until no little dribbles come out the other end of the filter - that means you blew out all the water you could.

One other thought: what are you filtering the water into? You could have the same musty-taste being generated by the container, not the filter. Did you store your bottles closed and wet? If you were using a bladder, did the hose get disconnected, cleaned, and dried before storage.

And then, there's always the obvious: do you store your filter or containers inside your socks? (Sorry, too good to pass up.)

Ya musty would be a better term for it. Im thinkig it could be some moldy flavor, as i made a cap to go on the end of it, to keep dirty water from spilling out in the plastic bag i keep the filter in and contaminating the drinking end. I didnt take the cap off and let it dry out. I did set it out to dry this morning and i will clean it with some bleach. Hopefully this will help.

The water bottle was good and cleaned, i didnt clean the dirty bag as i didnt see a reason to but i will clean that also. Tanx for all the advice.

If you ever head to southwest Ohio, let me know - I'd be glad to show you a local backpacking trail. It's nothing spectacular, but it's growing on me.

Just backwash the filter with a clean water with the syringe it came with. No bleach.

As a general rule if it has been more than a day (12-18hr) between uses I will dump the 1st liter of filtered water. These filters have nothing in them to discourage bacteria growth and it does not take long to grow a crop if you leave the filter damp.
During a normal trip I use my filter 2x's per day so filter growth is not a big issue.

Why no bleach? and will the clean water take care of any bacterial growth?

I'm on season 2 with the Sawyer filters and I'll recommend 1. using the bleach solution and drying the cartridge as best you can before storing it for the winter and 2. backflushing and testing flow at the season's start.

I took the gravity system on a hike in May and it took a day to get the flow above a trickle, when normal is nearly a liter a minute. I'd done everything except bleach treatment before storing and clearly it had clogged with bacteria &/or mold (no smell, so I'm guessing bacteria).

I'd also do the bleach treatment after any trip filtering obviously stagnant water.

FWIW the backflush faucet adapter works much better than the syringe that ships with the Squeeze. I can't get that to stay on.

Cheers,

well im gonna pick up some bleach and give it a good cleaning. and clean and dry it after every use from now on. Thanx for all the advice.

According to the instructions, the capful of bleach was for the plastic bags. The clean water through the filter by backflushing is just design to push dirt out. When you use it in normal sense, all the crap gets stop by a filter. When you backflush it, it goes backwards and out. Least that way I interpret it. I'm just an accountant, my knowledge on bacteria and all is limited. I'm just using the instructions on the plastic bags the filter came with. I didn't use a single bleach for my previous filter. (Katadyn) I would take it a apart and use the scrubber it came with to scrub off excess crap that the filter has caught.

Edit: I forgot to clarify, if you backflush the filter after each use with, I think you will discourage any bacteria growth..Again, I'm just an accountant. I also figure even if there is bacteria in the filter the filter still suppose to stop it from getting in your drinking water.

I read that when i got home last night. So i cleaned the bags and back flushed the heck put of the filter as i was a little leary in bleaching it. I than filtered some tap water and it had no after taste or anything. But im hitting some trails tomorrow and will put it to the test then.

after a good cleaning i took it out and filtered some good ole creek water. Tasted great and no problems. Thanx for all the advice.

Instead of filling the container directly, I use a ziploc bag. I put my filter inside a quart size ziploc for storage. I fill up the ziploc from the stream, then pour that into the container. The ziploc fills instantly, even from a shallow water source.

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? I carry mine in a ziploc, too - and always stuck the ziploc in my pocket.

(The only downside I can think of is possible contamination of the outlet when you put it back into the wet ziploc - but the plastic cap over the push-pull cap might be enough to prevent that.)

I went and bought one of those cheap gas syphoning tools that you just hand pump. They are like a dollar at the dollar store or a couple of bucks at AutoZone. They weigh almost nothing, haven’t actually weighed it, but that fills the bag up quite quickly.

I also made a cap for the fill side of the filter using an old 2 liter cap and the end of the 2 liter. That’s so no contaminated water leaks out when im just carrying it around. As i keep it in a zip lock baggie also.

Ill have to try the baggies as the scoop method.

A piece of tubing is always handy but what is wrong with excavating a small depression so you can get more of your bottle in the water or just use a small cup? Heck I bet a half trimmed soda/beer can would make a nice fill device and weigh ZIP.

Digging works as Long as the creek bottom isn't a single shelf of limestone, with about 2inches of water flowing over it - which is a not-uncommon situation where I hike.

From my use, it appears the bag doesnt flush the air out well enough as the water enters, thus creating a barrier. Have to try the hole idea so you can get the air out of the bag.