What water can I filter (usine MSR Miniworks)

[GrumpySmurf]

I'm a newbie to hiking. I have a MSR MiniWorks EX waterfilter which I have not really used before.

I have always been curious to what extent I can drink from the water it filters. I am not looking for 100% sterile water, nor absolute life or death survival situations. Rather, just a couple strong healthy people going for overnight walks, and have happened to run low on drinking water.

So, I'm confident I can filter water from a water tank and a flowing clear freshwater stream - of which I'd probably drink straight from anyway.

But how about a muddy farm dam? A stagnant puddle of water on the road? A brackish pond? A fish pond? The toilet bowl? Sea water (just kidding)?

[Gadgetgeek]

I would filter pretty near anything with mine. Since they can't do viruses, I would UV (SODIS) any water that I thought had a high potential for those, but that would be in a very high human waste contaminated system. Otherwise, yeah, I'd filter whatever I could get. In a situation where the water was very bad/ unpalatable, but otherwise not contaminated in a way that the filter couldn't handle (obvious chemical contamination) you can dig a seep hole, and filter the water from there. basically then you are using the dirt as a pre-filter. One of the reasons I bought a mini-works was its reputation for being both field serviceable, and capable of filtering very nearly anything. There are a lot of things you can do to prefilter, or settle the water that help with longevity between cleanings, but from a realistic standpoint, if I need water, I'm pumping water, no need to mess around.

[Moondog55]

All of the above except the sea water although I'd flush first for the toilet bowl
I'm one of the few on here who hardly ever use a pump filter and practically never use chemicals either and I'm still here.]
'When I do filter it is usually either a Millbank bag or a bandanna over a billy and Iodine solution but I'm a dinosaur
I do however carry a Frontier pocket filter "Just in case"
All filters on the market will have a longer service life if the water is pre-filtered so that muddy farm dam full of cow pats should be let drip through a bandanna first if you are not in a hurry, just as in the post above by Gadgetgeek
There's a lot in favour of always having some sort of mechanical prefilter with you, clean pantyhose legs work very well as it's so fine and another argument in favouring the old fashioned big cotton hanky [ bandanna ] and taking an empty coke bottle for UV sterilisation

[JohnStrider]

What about the Sawyer Filters? They seem to be all the rage.

[GrumpySmurf]

Thanks guys! That is very re-assuring.

[Gadgetgeek]

my personal opinion, being worth far less than the price paid, is that the sawyer filters are not all that. I get that from the fact that sawyer still sells the extractor kit, despite medical advice not to, they seem fiddly, the flow rate doesn't seem to be all that great, and if you overpressure them, how would you know that your filter integrity was good?

A lot of people swear by them, but I think that might have far more to do with water being a lot safer in north america than most think. (or maybe a lot of people who have "IBS" really have giardia?)

I don't mean to talk badly about them, but I just don't feel like they are worth the trouble. Do so if you want, for the price its not like you are out of pocket much. I just like a filter that I can rely on, and that has known points of failure. If I break it, I'll know, and I can come up with a new solution. But that might just be the fact that I want to confirm my own bias that I made the good choice buying an expensive filter.

[JohnStrider]

my personal opinion, being worth far less than the price paid, is that the sawyer filters are not all that. I get that from the fact that sawyer still sells the extractor kit, despite medical advice not to, they seem fiddly, the flow rate doesn't seem to be all that great, and if you overpressure them, how would you know that your filter integrity was good?

A lot of people swear by them, but I think that might have far more to do with water being a lot safer in north america than most think. (or maybe a lot of people who have "IBS" really have giardia?)

I don't mean to talk badly about them, but I just don't feel like they are worth the trouble. Do so if you want, for the price its not like you are out of pocket much. I just like a filter that I can rely on, and that has known points of failure. If I break it, I'll know, and I can come up with a new solution. But that might just be the fact that I want to confirm my own bias that I made the good choice buying an expensive filter.

What do you use to filter water, GG?

[Watertank]

GG I am confused about what the fact that Sawyer sells a snake venom extractor kit has to do with whether their water filters are reliable. I don't see the link.

[Gadgetgeek]

they sell one product that doesn't work, and is based on bad science, therefor, I'd rather not trust their other claims.

[Aidan]

I use a drip coffee machine filter rubber banded around the pickup with my MSR Miniworks after reading about it on a local Aussie cycling forum in the touring section
Cheap as chips at a local supermarket in the tea/coffee section.

[Strider]

The venom extractor kit is not intended for use with Australian snakebites. Though I believe this is still the recommended treatment for snakebite in the US?

[Gadgetgeek]

The independent research also followed rattle snake bit victims, and didn't find it helped there at all. Its just an old wives tale that won't die.