Water treatment (1 Viewer)

[renago]

I normally do some overland trips in North Africa , may want to readdress this destination since the last political turmoils .
generally I don't have many problems drinking local water from wells or other sources , but my wife is much more delicate then me .
so we decided to use only spring bottled water for drinking and cooking .
it works and she never had any water issue sickness.
but what a pain, in storing so many bottles and waste plastic .
due to the wider amiability of water alters , I wonder if I can make a simple ,easy ,economic and pratica water filter system .
my plan is to filter and store the water in the 70 L water tanks that I have .
water will be sourced from rivers , wells ,lakes , ecc
tanks are in SS ,and integrated with pump and tap delivery system , will post some photos later .
Now I come to the point and questions .
plan is to use 3 filters , detachable for cleaning and changing .
first one a simple fine mesh filter to stop all sand and solid debris .
second filter ,microbial type Katadyn Be free, or similar ,
third filter , Active carbon filter in order to eliminate as much as possible bad tastes .
water pressure through this system will be provided from an existing electro pump , Surflo 12 L/min .

what do you think of this system ?
will it work ?
did any one made a similar system before ?
do you have any experience in water treatment ?

thanks for any help or advise

 

[Dharma Dude]

Pricey but this: Portable Water Purification | Bottles | Jerrycans | Cube | LifeSaver

 

[renago]

I saw this , but despite the price , that is non my concern at present , I don't want to have jerry cans around .
they are very unpratical .
I simply just want to fill my 70 L tank , with good water .
preferably ,with out hand pumping it trough the filters , but using the water pump which I already have .
thanks anyhow

 

[surfpig]

I went down a rabbit hole of silliness and stupid expensiveness on the internet looking at water filtering ideas...



We bring a Katadyn Base camp water filter with us on our camping and sometimes backing trips. It's similar to what you're looking for, easy gravity filtration (could probably be easily modified into a pumping system). It does 10L at a time; fill the bag, filter, fill the bag....

The biggest issues with any of these things is that they easily get clogged up with crap. So if you want to get the "advertised life" out of these things, prefiltering is key, especially if you have to pull your water out of a muddy puddle or something.

So yeah, I think it will work.

 

[renago]

Good hit Surfpig .
Thanks

 

[Kofoed]

Use Iodine tablets or get a back packers gravity filter...some have capactities of 10L per run

 

[renago]

I was using Katadin micropur tables , they work fine , never had any issue .
was looking for something more modern .

 

[cruiserpilot]

What about buying and then cutting into a Lifesaver jerry can? Couldn’t you just install your
70 litre storage upstream of the jerrycan with it in a permanent location so you actually only
ever fill the big tank, and pump from that through the Lifesaver can?
Then just have your discharge downstream of the Lifesaver can?

 

[renago]

not the best option to filter downstream from my water tank ,
bacteria , viruses ecc , can make a permanent home in the tank , and it will be almost impossible to clear all tanks and pipes from potential contamination .
would much prefer to clean water before adding it to the tank .

 

[cruiserpilot]

not the best option to filter downstream from my water tank ,
bacteria , viruses ecc , can make a permanent home in the tank , and it will be almost impossible to clear all tanks and pipes from potential contamination .
would much prefer to clean water before adding it to the tank .

Then just swap it around. Fill the Lifesaver, drain, repeat. I don't suppose A:there is a time limit B: probably filters fairly quickly, but it will
take the time it takes.
Look into Sawyer filters, they have an extremely fine filter that removes virus's as well. Again, smaller fill tank that drains through filter
into large holding tank. I have this filter, not used it yet.

Water Purifier Bucket Adapter System | Sawyer Products

Not sure this applies to you, but. Majority of these filters if used, cannot be frozen. Freezing separates the structure of the filters
and makes them unsafe. Keep warm, above freezing at all costs.

 

[renago]

I have looked into Sawyer and Hydrablu products .
at present I am heavily leaning towards Hydra blu .
the reasons are , better reviews on hydra vs sawyer .
hydra has a model that goes down to 0,02 micro filtration and you can screw on also a active carbon to remove bad taste .
plus Hydra filter is larger , so I assume that it will clog later or with more difficulty .
pricing is not that important , or at least not that big difference .
the model I was looking is this , Pressurized Jerry Can Water Filter Virus Free Package - https://hydroblu.com/pressurized-jerry-can-water-filter-virus-free-package/
but I will use only the cartridge ,without the jerry can .
will use my electric pump to push the water through the filters .

 

[whitenoise]

I think you're on the right track with hard-mounted tank and a filtration. Carrying those 20L containers around gets old fast. Here is mine. It is a single 60L tank with hard-mounted discharge pump, a separate fill pump which can be dropped into a bucket or stream/river, and a separate filter which can be used on both fill and discharge sides. My filter is a Hydro Life 52133 - 20 micron sediment+Activated Carbon+KDF - good enough for North America.

The simplest setup for third-world countries would be as follows :

1) Fill the tank with the best water source possible (city tap water). Use a particulate filter or screen while filling.
2) Treat every tank with chlorine bleach, which is available all over the world cheaply.
3) Use the tank water as-is for cleaning/bathing, but use a taste filter while filling a separate, smaller drinking/cooking water container located inside the vehicle.

It maybe better to carry your filters inside the vehicle rather than hard-mounting.

For an easier to use solution, but very expensive compared to above method, you could copy this guy's setup: