Why Sawyer is the ONLY water filter.

[Moab]

Not pushing any of the religion in this video. Do with that what you will.

But THIS is why Sawyer is the ONLY water filter. It's the ONLY one that can do what it does. It does it all over the world. And NONE compare.

This is why:


https://youtu.be/tKyjvj83kAE?si=0IXfkruGFS82uTiN

[NT2C]

I just want to mention that FWIW, Sawyer was initially open to becoming one of the early sponsors of these forums and was given an advertisers account allowing them to post advertising on the site in exchange for a discount for our members.  They never followed through and the account has been dormant for two years now.

[TACAIR]

You may believe me or not, but virus infected water is a big deal in Alaska.

Clear water goes thru the Sawyer, then I add Chlorine dioxide tabs.  This sits for at least 30 min, then I'm good.

Turbid water gets a does of ALUM< then the above.

My preferred treatment is boiling, but that's not always possible.   If using just chlorine dioxide, it takes at least 8 hours (overnight is better) for treatment AND I double the does // 2 tabs per liter.  

The scarcest water is found in Native villages.  If out in the villages, all water gets treated, no ice in any drinks, canned drinks only.
At least my liver is still intact.

[Raptor]

You may believe me or not, but virus infected water is a big deal in Alaska.

Clear water goes thru the Sawyer, then I add Chlorine dioxide tabs.  This sits for at least 30 min, then I'm good.

Turbid water gets a does of ALUM< then the above.

My preferred treatment is boiling, but that's not always possible.  If using just chlorine dioxide, it takes at least 8 hours (overnight is better) for treatment AND I double the does // 2 tabs per liter. 

The scarcest water is found in Native villages.  If out in the villages, all water gets treated, no ice in any drinks, canned drinks only.
At least my liver is still intact.

Water is as vital as oxygen to humans.

All ufozs members should spend time learning the options for water treatment. There are many methods to treat questionable each has it pros and cons strengths and weaknesses. Depending upon what is in the water and the level of contamination your choice of treatment may vary.

In my area for instance ecoli (septic systems) pesticides and sulfur (egg water) are the key
concerns. The sulfur & pesticides are easily filtered out with a simple activated carbon filter. The ecoli is a bit more difficult. It requires the treatment described above. That or boil the water then let it cool and filter it. If at all possible do not place untreated water in a water filter. It will reduce its capacity. If the water is turbid or has visible crud in it, pre-filter the water. If you think it has e-coli/virus/bacteria, boil it or treat it with chlorine/iodine then filter it.

Sayer Water filers are indeed good quality products. That said even if you have one you do need to understand its limitations. For instance, it will not turn seawater into potable water, nor does it claim to do that.

IMO if you have a water supply that is questionable you should have it tested to determine the best way to treat it. If you cannot do that, then redundant treatment methods may be needed; i.e. Boil & filter the water, chlorinate and filter the water, filter the water and use a reverse osmosis process, etc. The above process is one example of that. 

One problem with getting information on this subject is the literally hundreds of sites that sell water filters and in the process mix sales puffing with facts.

IMO the place to start is to look for an NSF rating. This is an independent certification company that examines (for a fee paid by the manufacturer) the claims of filtration made by the company. That is not to say that this is a guarantee but rather a statement that some point in time someone proved the filter performed to the level and extent of the performance claims it makes. Obviously in real life YMMV. Plan accordingly.

These are the common NSF ratings:


NSF follows the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard development process. Members of public health, industry and user representatives get together and form these standards to make sure that they give us the best. Here are a few prevalent standards:

NSF 53: Involves material security, structural integrity, and contaminates reduction capacity claims.
(See the label and the claims it makes)

NSF 58: For lead and other general contaminants elimination.
(This is common for faucet mount filters which typically have a 42 & 58 certification)

NSF 42: Signifies a water filter's ability to remove chlorine from water
(This is the most common level and alone, IMO is useless for anything other than a known safe water supply)

NSF 401: It rates the ability of a water filter system to reduce up to 15 specific contaminants.

NSF 372: Certification for having lead-free fittings and components.

NSF P473: Guarantees that it reduces PFOA and PFOS chemicals in water, and harmful artificial chemicals.


 

[MacWa77ace]

@TACAIR What are the water sources and purifying processes [if any] that the native villages use up there?

That sort of sounds like Montezuma's revenge, which the locals seem to have the immune system and tolerances in place to drink with minimal ill effects. Or so I've read.

I was told not to drink the water or use ice in some Caribbean islands and Mexico. Canada not so much. In the Caribbean my understanding was it had more to do with the desalinization processes used, not virus and biologics.

[TACAIR]

Alaska Water and Sewer Challenge (AWSC)
and
An Alaskan Challenge: Native Village Sanitation (Part 3 of 12) (princeton.edu)
(honey bucket in house.  Tractor with dumpster comes by, the bucket contents goes into dumpster - the dumpster goes to edge of town and the raw sewage ges dumped out on the tundra in the "Brown Water Slue".

Native view -  Clean Water &amp; Sanitation | Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (anthc.org)
Clean Water & Sanitation | Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (anthc.org)
*****

My SIL spent much of past summer rehabbing a vacuum sewer system for a mid-sized Village.  New pumps, lines etc - all paid for with your tax (Federal) $$$.

Even before the system rehab was finished, the 'operator' showed up drunk as a skunk and managed to burn out the pump system, despite multiple safety interlocks.  ie you cannot 'fix' drunk or stupid or both.

Add in the usual problems with what I refer to as the 'welfare mentality' and you have a continued state of chaos for water and sewer.


'Welfare mentality' - I didn't pay for it, I don't have an ownership stake in it and if I break it, someone else is paid to come fix it at no cost to me.   This is no tax base in rural AK.  15% of the population is in rural Ak and sucks up a big chunk of the State budget.  Once the oil money runs out, and it will, life in the villages will be back to 1900s version of life, with all the attendant health issues.  This on top of the horrific drug and alcohol abuse issues already there.

Sure, Rural Alaska is a 3rd world country, but it is OUR 3rd world country....  You don't see this in the glitz tourist ads, only when you are there does it become very real.....

Larger villages - like Nome or Bethal have real issues, but with something of a tax base, they can provide some minimal services.

The little places (Nondalton, Holy Cross) are bad enough I refused to overnight visits for technical services.  Others that wanted to bonus bad enough would go out to the earth station and lock themselves in for overnight stays.  Everyone carried their own water, food and filtering.

Here is a peek at the shit that goes on....
Press Release - Stephanie Olrun Pleads Guilty to Murder of Her Adopted 2-Year-Old Girl (alaska.gov)

Point Hope teen pleads not guilty to 16 felony counts in shooting that left 2 dead - Anchorage Daily News (adn.com)

Acute Fluoride Poisoning from a Public Water System | New England Journal of Medicine (nejm.org)
piss poor maintenance, no real trained operator and a general GAS attitude led to this event.
****

I'm retired now and have no requirement to travel in rural AK.  Being a retired dot mil type helped quite a bit as I had dealt with sketchy living conditions most of my adult life.  

[MacWa77ace]

(honey bucket in house.  Tractor with dumpster comes by, the bucket contents goes into dumpster - the dumpster goes to edge of town and the raw sewage ges dumped out on the tundra in the "Brown Water Slue".

They dump it plastic bag and All? WTF?!?

Many households in rural Alaska use a toilet known as a "honey bucket". A plastic bag lined bucket collects urine and feces. Then, plastic bags of feces from honey buckets are disposed in a sewage lagoon.

LINK https://www.alamy.com/sewage-lagoon-shishmaref-alaska-image2347882.html

How do the oil companies deal with this as far as support from local communities. I would assume that somewhere along the line there would need to be groceries, supplies, entertainment, govt, police, and other non oil related build ups that would need water and sewer to further their endeavors. Or are they completely self contained? Their taxes don't get apportioned to any support communities to provide infrastructure. I'm talking about some village that is along the road to the remote oil location but everyone stops there on the way to fuel up and eat and use the facilities, like a rest stop, etc.


My SIL is 'off grid' for water and sewer. They have a pump well for potable water and a septic tank. But that costs money to install and maintain. Probably less than paying for city water by the 1k gallon rates.

[Moab]

You guys should watch the video. He actually describes what all water filter companies are not allowed to test for. Viruses. And how the Sawyer filter has actually never had a virus go past its filtration system. 

The guy spends his millions developing these filters. And gives them away as a global non profit. The non profit is his lifeswork. Not not selling them. 

In the process, his company proves no viruses get thru their filters. But no water filtration company is allowed to test for that. Viruses have to cling to a host to stay alive. And the nano tubes his company developed will not allow those hosts thru the filter. They are finer filtration material than anyone else. It's literally a product no other company can duplicate.

I forget which African country. But one with some of the worst water in the world. He  takes them from like 98% disentary. To about 98% not disentary. They were the first ones into Ukraine. And several other wartorn hot spots around the world. It's all they do.

This isn't a marketing video. It's actually about his missionary work. Thus my warning about religion at the top. I am not religious. But this guys intense religious beliefs is what leads him to spend all the companies money on his main goal in life. Which is to fix deaths from dirty water around the world.

There's a reason Sawyer filters are used in conflict areas all around the world. And it's not what you think. It's not a marketing tactic. It's literally the guys mission. Who has developed the best filter ever made.

Not saying it will kill everything. But I think you might learn something about water filtration from this simple video.

[Raptor]

You guys should watch the video. He actually describes what all water filter companies are not allowed to test for. Viruses. And how the Sawyer filter has actually never had a virus go past its filtration system.

The guy spends his millions developing these filters. And gives them away as a global non profit. The non profit is his lifeswork. Not not selling them.

In the process, his company proves no viruses get thru their filters. But no water filtration company is allowed to test for that. Viruses have to cling to a host to stay alive. And the nano tubes his company developed will not allow those hosts thru the filter. They are finer filtration material than anyone else. It's literally a product no other company can duplicate.

I forget which African country. But one with some of the worst water in the world. He  takes them from like 98% disentary. To about 98% not disentary. They were the first ones into Ukraine. And several other wartorn hot spots around the world. It's all they do.

This isn't a marketing video. It's actually about his missionary work. Thus my warning about religion at the top. I am not religious. But this guys intense religious beliefs is what leads him to spend all the companies money on his main goal in life. Which is to fix deaths from dirty water around the world.

There's a reason Sawyer filters are used in conflict areas all around the world. And it's not what you think. It's not a marketing tactic. It's literally the guys mission. Who has developed the best filter ever made.

Not saying it will kill everything. But I think you might learn something about water filtration from this simple video.

I was not in any way being critical of the Sawyer Filter, nor was I saying the video posted was a marketing video. If my post came across as such, that was not my intent and I apologize if the post read like this. The Sawyer filter does what it says it does.

I was addressing the fact that researching filtration can be difficult. That and there are times when one filtration process may inherently be more appropriate than another.  That and every water treatment process has limitations. It pays to know those limitations and plan accordingly.

[Moab]

You guys should watch the video. He actually describes what all water filter companies are not allowed to test for. Viruses. And how the Sawyer filter has actually never had a virus go past its filtration system.

The guy spends his millions developing these filters. And gives them away as a global non profit. The non profit is his lifeswork. Not not selling them.

In the process, his company proves no viruses get thru their filters. But no water filtration company is allowed to test for that. Viruses have to cling to a host to stay alive. And the nano tubes his company developed will not allow those hosts thru the filter. They are finer filtration material than anyone else. It's literally a product no other company can duplicate.

I forget which African country. But one with some of the worst water in the world. He  takes them from like 98% disentary. To about 98% not disentary. They were the first ones into Ukraine. And several other wartorn hot spots around the world. It's all they do.

This isn't a marketing video. It's actually about his missionary work. Thus my warning about religion at the top. I am not religious. But this guys intense religious beliefs is what leads him to spend all the companies money on his main goal in life. Which is to fix deaths from dirty water around the world.

There's a reason Sawyer filters are used in conflict areas all around the world. And it's not what you think. It's not a marketing tactic. It's literally the guys mission. Who has developed the best filter ever made.

Not saying it will kill everything. But I think you might learn something about water filtration from this simple video.

I was not in any way being critical of the Sawyer Filter, nor was I saying the video posted was a marketing video. If my post came across as such, that was not my intent and I apologize if the post read like this. The Sawyer filter does what it says it does.

I was addressing the fact that researching filtration can be difficult. That and there are times when one filtration process may inherently be more appropriate than another.  That and every water treatment process has limitations. It pays to know those limitations and plan accordingly.

Not at all. I just wanted you guys to watch the video. I learned a lot. I always knew Sawyer filters were better. Just based on specs. And once you actually read the specs. You quickly realize all of these other filters, reviews and videos reviews are marketing bullshit. Anyone recommending another filter over the Sawyer. Is a marketing shill. 

There should be no debate within the outdoor/prepping community which one you should be using and why. If you stand any chance of not getting sick or worse. Your best option - by far - is the Sawyer filter. No one  comes close.

But after you watch this video you realize it's much more than that. I think you'll be surprised how little you have to do beyond using one of their filters. One of their biggest goals and outcomes was not having to waste precious wood boiling water. Especially in some of these locales that are almost devoid of trees. And in the worst places in the entire world for water quality. 

Like the worst. People dieing of malaria and other water borne illnesses by the thousands. 

The thing that got me was how humble this guy is. He doesn't care about having a successful outdoor company. He cares about saving people's lives on a global level. He got into it to have a business. He's well educated. And very smart. 

But at heart he's not trying to stop you're poopy pants on your next hiking trip. He's trying to save the world. It's water treatment on a whole other level. The non profit isn't for marketing. It is the thing. The main thing. The US sales of filters is just a way to finance his missionary work all over the world.

I'm not even religious. And even I got something spiritual from it. But also an education in what's really up with water filters. 

They don't even boil water anymore in Liberia:

"Liberia is the first developing country in history to reach this achievement as described by UN Sustainability Goal #6, completely rewriting what's possible for global humanitarian aid.

To understand the scale of its success, let's take a look at The Liberia Project by the numbers:

·Years to complete: 12
·Wells drilled: 3,717
·Sawyer Filters donated: 130,000+
·Filter villages: 7,468
·Diarrhea reduction: 90%+
·Estimated lives saved: 150,000+
·Lives impacted: 3,200,000+"

That's about 1000 times more impressive than anything done by any other US water filtration company. And it's all because of their superior technology.

[Moab]

Link to the article about Liberia.

https://www.sawyer.com/international-projects/liberia

[TACAIR]

(honey bucket in house.  Tractor with dumpster comes by, the bucket contents goes into dumpster - the dumpster goes to edge of town and the raw sewage ges dumped out on the tundra in the "Brown Water Slue".

They dump it plastic bag and All? WTF?!?

Many households in rural Alaska use a toilet known as a "honey bucket". A plastic bag lined bucket collects urine and feces. Then, plastic bags of feces from honey buckets are disposed in a sewage lagoon.

LINK https://www.alamy.com/sewage-lagoon-shishmaref-alaska-image2347882.html

How do the oil companies deal with this as far as support from local communities. I would assume that somewhere along the line there would need to be groceries, supplies, entertainment, govt, police, and other non oil related build ups that would need water and sewer to further their endeavors. Or are they completely self contained? Their taxes don't get apportioned to any support communities to provide infrastructure. I'm talking about some village that is along the road to the remote oil location but everyone stops there on the way to fuel up and eat and use the facilities, like a rest stop, etc.


My SIL is 'off grid' for water and sewer. They have a pump well for potable water and a septic tank. But that costs money to install and maintain. Probably less than paying for city water by the 1k gallon rates.

Like I said, the glitzy tourist photos don't show any of this.

You can imagine the smell.... if you've spent time in the RoK (Binjo ditch) where night soil is still a staple.

The oil companies have nothing to do with the Villages, other than to have 'taxes' extorted out of their income stream.  Little known fact for every dollar the oil companies take in in AK, $0.88 of each buck goes out in taxes, this before expenses, etc.

The 'tax the crap out 'em' crew finally drove British Petroleum out of the State.  The funny thing the libs worried about was the loss the 'charitable giving' that dead stopped when the Brits pulled out.  It was a major hit to the leaches int he Charity/poverty pimping/handout - industrial complex here in the State.

The lost jobs and lack of investment in new production seems to have escaped their notice.

[MacWa77ace]

The oil companies have nothing to do with the Villages, other than to have 'taxes' extorted out of their income stream.  Little known fact for every dollar the oil companies take in in AK, $0.88 of each buck goes out in taxes, this before expenses, etc.

I didn't know that, but I would assume that would be enough to sink a deep well and put in some sewage infrastructure. I assumed nothing came out of that industry due to the lack of infrastructure. 

Must work sort of like Forrest's million dollar wound, ...

[Moab]

On a more primitive means of water purification. Clay Haynes builds a natural fiber filter, exposes the filtered water to uv light for 6 to 8 hours and effectively kills all bad e-coli.

I like guys that back up their reviews/research with facts:


https://youtu.be/bOKlW3M7vFY?si=zksOQoyLUruVs1Sa