Sunday 20 April 2008

Aquagear water purification filter bottle part II

Aquagear water filtration bottle

bottle 

The Aquagear Survivor arrived as seen, with a printed double-sided A4 sheet with information and instructions on how to use the bottle, the same instructions are painted/silk screened on to the bottle.

The first thing you notice this that the top of the bottle does not unscrew; I found this out after two attempts and then reading the instructions.

Personally I've never see a water filter bottle that works by filling up from the bottom but because it does, this means that the bottle can have a pre-filter fitted.  This is the 40 micron sieve which looks like a tea strainer, and help to keep large objects from entering the bottle. The filter sits between the bottle and the base. The base also has a little screw-off compartment to place either a iodine or chlorine tablet in.

caps1

40 micron pre-filter sieve & base

caps2

40 micron pre-filter sieve, base & iodine/chlorine container

This bottle only weighs 180g with the neoprene sleeve or 156g without it. The bottle is also sightly tapered; the base (7cm) being wider than the top (6.5cm), the length of the bottle is 23 cm. The body of the bottle is made from a soft plastic, this is to allow for squeezing of the bottle to push the water through the filter. It can deliver 100-300 ml/minute.  The drinking cap is a normal sports pull/push type but it does have a dust cap to help keep it free from dirt and contamination.

 

filter

2 micron filter

The main filter unit is built into the top cap. This filter does all the work removing not only waterborne diseases like Giardia, Cryptosporidium & E-coli but can also remove taste & taint, Chemicals, Hebicides, and Heavy metals.

This filter uses a system called 'Tortuous path technology'.

The high-tech porous plastic micro-filter is impregnated with both the finest granulated activated coconut Carbon available and Seychelle's exclusive adsorbing media for superior analyte removal capability.

In addition, the controlled 2-micron filter contains thousands of omni-directional pores that result in a "torturous path" for superior analyte reduction.

This gives the water bottle a capability of 99.8% reduction in 4 areas of Contamination:-

  • Aesthetic
  • Microbiological
  • Chemical
  • Dissolved Solids

sleeve

neoprene sleeve

So far I have only tested the bottle with normal London tap water, and the bottle seems to filter this as good as the water filters we use at home.

Next weekend; I am off to the Peak District for a few days and will be taking the bottle with me to test in the rivers and streams up there.

 

top_cap

Bottle top & dust cap

One little niggle I have is that after only 4-5 dunkings in water, the print on the bottle is starting to come off.  Although not a major issue; it is a bit annoying especially as the flaked off print seems to stick to my hands quite easily.

Print coming off

print_off

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:24 pm

    Any follow up to your field use of this filter bottle?

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  2. Nice series of photos here. I've linked to this page for an upcoming post about The Travel Tap. have you tired it yet?

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  3. Hi Philip

    No I haven't tried the Travel Tap, mainly because I haven't have full use of the Aquagear filtering. It probably has about 60% of filtering left in it.

    Although I may look to buy a Travel Tap for Scotland next year, as it looks easier to fill.

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  4. The bottle is only 650 ml wich is a bit perplexing. Still it looks like a nice unit.

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  5. Anonymous1:22 am

    I noticed you posted this blog several years ago, but my son was just given the Aquagear to use on a scouting trip. Did you have success with it? Did you ever use the Redi Chlor Tabs? I'm a little confused on how they work-I assume it takes a long time for them to dissolve?? Any comments/help would be appreciated.

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    Replies
    1. The full review of the bottle is at http://londonbackpackers.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/aquagear-survivor-review.html

      I've never used the bottle with chlorine tablets as I've never felt the need for extra filteration on any water I have put in the bottle.

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