Sawyer Mini Squeeze?

So I saw the Sawyer mini squeeze water filter and read what it removes from the water and I had a premature urge to hit the buy button...twice. Well anyway. I'm still waiting for them to arrive in the mail and I was watching some video's of this amazing new water filter and that's when I heard it!! This does not filter out virus...which I should have known from the start because its a filter not a purifier. So anyways. How common are viruses in the backwoods? I do most of my hiking and camping on the East Coast in the Adirondacks. If catching a virus is somewhat uncommon then I may just take my chances but if its a very real risk of getting seriously ill then I'm wondering about other options. I've heard about adding a few drops of clorox in a liter bottle of water to kill the buggies and the iodine tablets and whatnot. If I was to treat the dirty water per the instructions effectively killin' the little water borne bastards then would the filter filter out the taste of the iodine, clorox or other purifier? I'm also thinking of modifying it to take a 2 litter bottle and possibly hook it up as a gravity filter. Any thoughts, ideas, criticisms on what you would do and what could be done to help keep me from dying from drinking the water of the forest?

You might be slightly hypochondriac. You'll need to speak with the local rangers and biologists about the water quality in your area. I've used the Sawyer Squeeze for awhile now here in the Smokies and western Carolina without getting sick. I believe there are no lightweight backpacking filter to filter out viruses. Lot of the filters you see on REI, Backcountry, or whatever retailer you're shopping at are design to filter out bacteria, not viruses. at least in my shopping experience this has been the case.

Please do not use iodine! The EPA says it's for emergency use only. Iodine really did a number on me when I tried using it to disinfect water back in the 1980's. I developed a horrible overall rash with deep lesions that left permanent scars. To this day I cannot eat anything with iodine in it, including iodized salt and any seafood.

Chlorine bleach decays into nasty carcinogens like dioxin, so you don't want to use that either.

For chemical disinfection, try chlorine dioxide. It's used in many municipal water systems and is probably the safest. AquaMira is available in both liquid and tablet form, and Katadyn sells it in tablet form. Its problem is that it takes a long time (up to several hours) to kill protozoa like giardia, but it will zap bacteria and viruses in minutes.

The Sawyer filters don't contain charcoal so won't filter out the chemical taste.

However, as ETSU Pride says, check to see if you even need to worry about viruses in the locations where you hike. I would only worry if I were downstream of inhabited areas.

In addition, most of us have been vaccinated against the deadly water-borne viruses, like polio and hepatitis A. Of course there is norovirus, but that won't kill you, just make you wish it would!

I was over dramatizing the situation a bit since I see most viruses from drinking water looks to be vomiting and faulty back door complaints. I was trying to remember the AquaMira name last night and couldn't that's why I threw in Iodine as a possibility.
AquaMira sounds like the way to go. The Sawyer should filter out all the beaver fever and other nasties and if the AqauaMira kills viruses in minutes then a few drops a few minutes before filtering the water seems like the way to go to me. I was more or less wondering if it was a common thing to get viruses in the backwoods which doesn't seem to be the case so I may very well take my chances since most of hiking is done in areas leading away from human habitation.

Swizzle, I've drank the water out of dozens and dozens of Adirondack water sources with no problems. When I first started backpacking there in high school in the 70's I didn't use any type of water purification. I didn't start using a Katadyn until '90, but I had started to boil water if I thought it suspect. If you research some ADK specific sites, you'll find that there is little to fear. I still drink out of small brooks and springs high up with no filtering, as do many veteran ADK hikers. I'd never wish anyone to get sick and don't advocate not filtering or boiling your water, but some more research should allay your fears. I have filtered water out of lots of lakes like George, Indian, Thirteenth, and a host of others canoe camping, too. I know I mentioned the Sawyer in another thread, I wouldn't have if I hadn't used it in the same areas you'll be hiking in, or at least very similar .

Waterborne viruses in North America would likely be the result of sewage contamination, which in the backcountry would mean really appalling toilet habits from your fellow backcountry travelers--something that's thankfully rare. In the West I concern myself with cysts and bacteria, which the Sawyer Squeeze handles easily. For virus concerns I like UV.

FWIW Sawyer makes a "point zero one" filter cartridge that removes viruses. Its flow rate is supposedly about half of the standard cartridge.

Cheers,

Sounds awesome. I should be getting my first one today and the next one arrives tomorrow. Can't wait to test it out.

I have the squeeze and mini, but have yet to try the mini. I look foward to the weight savings!

I just got mine in the mail today and gave it a test. I thought I was taking it fairly easy on it and decided to put 10 minutes on the kitchen timer. I started to filter 2 liters of water and just as I filled the bottle and started pouring the excess into my drinking glass the alarm went off. I know I could easily improve that time too. I wasn't rough housing the bag, dont have much faith in it yet. I'm sure I'll figure out and always bring a back up in case the bag breaks. Most likely an empty 2 litter so I can rig it like a gravity set up. Only take a minute to set it all up and then set your tent up and should have enough water for the whole evening. I like that idea big time. Oh I forgot to mention to that I don't know what it took out of our water but I think it taste a whole world better then it did before. I know we have hard water and sulfer and there is a peroxide drip added to the water to kill the sulfer taste and smell.

Aquamira Liquid is not intended for our needs as backpackers. The only liquid solution I know of that is a purifier is what is made by the MSR Miox.

All one has to do is look at the Aquamira site to see the difference: “When used as directed, Aquamira Water Purifier Tablets meet the EPA guidelines for Microbiological Water Purifiers making it the safest solution on the market.” But for the liquid, Aquamira makes the following claim, “Aquamira Water Treatment treats drinking water using chlorine dioxide to kill bacteria, control the build up of slime and improve the taste of stored water.” It is only designed to ensure that already potable water remains such. That is not what backpackers are trying to accomplish.

According to the site, "Recently Aquamira procured the EPA registration for the base chemical from the supplier and we are now in the process of submitting our own label with appropriate claims to the EPA. This is a lengthy process, and requires every claim to be backed up with test data. Some of the data was not available from the bulk supplier and must be supplied by Aquamira. We expect this process to take up to a year from now to complete." It has been about three years since Aquamira's prediction as to when the process would be complete, which is three times the amount of time at the longest. Yet still no EPA registration.

What is clear is that the drops have not been registered with the EPA (unlike the tablets) and, as such, their efficacy for killing the nasties to EPA requirements is unproven. As such, why trust an unproven product that is not marketed for backpackers' uses? That is not a risk that I am willing to take given the plethora of reasonable alternatives available. I don't mind people buying the liquid, but only as long as their eyes are wide open to its limitations.

I think that anyone that recommends AquaMira liquid without noting its limitations is doing a disservice to our fellow backpackers. YMMV

A lot of people will disagree with you about AquaMira liquid, but after doing quite a bit of research several years ago, I agree with your findings.

From what I found, AquaMira liquid will zap bacteria and viruses, but not protozoa unless used double strength (providing a dose similar to the tablets) and with a similar waiting time as for the tablets (up to 4 hours if the water is really cold). Of course if you also filter the water with a filter of 1.0 micron or less, you will get rid of the protozoa (giardia, cryptosporidium) that way.

A few years ago I planned to try AquaMira's Frontier Pro filter, with which you chemically treat the water to zap bacteria and viruses and then run it through their filter to get rid of giardia. I looked and looked to find out how many microns the filter was. After a lot of searching I found on another website the figure of 3.0 microns. Per the CDC, this won't get everything out; you need 1.0 micron or smaller.

I just wish I'd saved the references to pass on. I didn't think at the time that I'd want to pass on the info.

After that experience, and realizing that they hide the info about the Frontier Pro filter (every other filter manufacturer publises the size prominently), I don't trust anything from this company. All that prose appears to be just marketing hype. The stuff is being marketed to backpackers, but with lots of purple prose and no specifications to back it up.

BTW, "I have never gotten sick" is not scientific data! It does appear to be true, however, that many cases of various intestinal ailments in backpackers are more likely caused by poor sanitation, such as not washing hands after toilet functions and before touching food.

Interesting, so I should just use the mini squeeze and call it good as long as I'm not down stream from a city then right?

Or, as William Holden put it to John Wayne in The Horse Soldiers: "As usual, I'm just pointing out the facts: the coffee tastes better if you water the horses downstream of the camp. How do you like your coffee, Colonel?"

I prefer coffee in the mornin' and lemonade in the eve

I've been using this non stop at my house now since I got it. I'm impressed with the amount of crap that's getting filtered out, some of it magnetic and I'm thinking some could be calcite. I plan on drying it out and doing a vinegar test on it to see if I can get some crystal growth. Fun project to do with my son. Well anyways I wanted to add that the I've noticed with our tap water that the filter slows down noticeably before it filters a full liter. I would highly recommend taking the plunger to back wash it regularly. It only takes a few seconds to flush it out and its flowing fast again. I also have it set up on a gravity system using a 2 liter soda bottle with the bottom cut off. Takes about 8 to 10 minutes to filter a liter by gravity and only 3 minutes if using a whole 2 liter bottle and squeezing it. I plan on taking an empty liter bottle or 2 and the 2 liter gravity system I'm using now. I can easily roll a tarp up inside the funnel so it wont take up extra space.