SafeWater Anywhere
Water Filters
The SafeWater Anywhere
G2 bottle and Hydration System offer great convenience for one person, but the
GravityFilter performs a function many backpackers would find redundant.
By Mike
Lanza, BACKPACKER Contributing Editor, March 2001
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Photo by Mike Lanza |
The routine became
familiar on our first day on the trail in Idaho’s Sawtooth Wilderness. My two
friends and I would stop beside a creek to replenish our water bottles. They’d
drop their packs, pull out their pump filters, and spend several minutes
filtering a couple of liters or more for themselves. I’d remove the cap from my
SafeWater Anywhere G2 bottle, dip the bottle into the creek to fill it, then
replace the cap and start drinking--about a 15-second process. Typically, I’d
consume nearly the entire bottle while waiting for them, then refill it again
before we hit the trail.
I spent a week in the
Sawtooths trying out SafeWater’s new 24-ounce G2 Personal Filter water bottle
and 1-gallon GravityFilter. I also tested SafeWater’s 70-ounce Hydration System
on hikes in the Boise Foothills. SafeWater claims its HealthShield
technology--an antimicrobial agent compounded into all three products’ plastics
that inhibits the growth of bacteria, fungi, mildew, and molds--prevents
foul-tasting water. The company also says the primary filter in all three
products will clean 60 gallons of water, removing 99.9999 percent of bacteria
and protozoa and 99.8 percent of pesticides, herbicides, and petroleum
byproducts. I did not conduct scientific tests of the filter’s efficacy, but
the water I drank never tasted or smelled bad, nor did it make me sick.
The convenient 24-ounce G2
bottle was my favorite. Dip the bottle, cap it, and drink. I could top it off
at any creek with just a moment’s pause. The flip top keeps dust off the
mouthpiece. SafeWater says its prefilter removes 98 percent of particles over
10 microns in diameter--particles that would otherwise clog the more-selective
primary filter--and is good for up to 25 gallons of water. The prefilter
removes easily for replacing. The G2’s disadvantages are that it only
effectively serves one person, making it relatively expensive compared to pump
filters. Also, air comes through the filter with the last few ounces of water,
so the bottle’s functional capacity is perhaps 20 ounces. If water sources
aren’t frequent, you’ll have to carry untreated water in a second bottle to
transfer to the G2 when it’s empty—but that’s still more convenient than
pumping.
The GravityFilter performs
what seems to me to be a redundant function: It filters water in a campsite
bladder, where I always boil water for cooking, anyway. Given that, it seems
silly to wait for the thin stream of water coming from this bladder to fill a
cook pot. SafeWater says the GravityFilter treats a gallon of water in 5
minutes. At home, I timed it filtering a half gallon of tap water, and it took
more than 5 minutes. For filling bottles in the backcountry, that filtering
rate has no advantage over a good pump-style portable filter.
The Hydration System fits into
packs with hydration pockets and comes in 40-, 70-, and 90-ounce bladders. I
drank as easily from its mouthpiece as from any similar system I’ve used. This
unit also offers the G2 bottle’s convenience of quickly dipping it into a
creek, capping it, and drinking.
G2 Personal Filter
System (24 oz.)
Price: $45
Weight (mfr./BP): 5.8 oz./7.5 oz.
GravityFilter
Price: $70
Weight (mfr./BP): 10.7 oz./13 oz.
Hydration System (70
oz.)
Price: $64
Weight (mfr./BP): 8.6 oz./12 oz.
Contact: Safewater
Anywhere, (800) 675-4401; www.safewateranywhere.com.
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