Before I began testing the filters out in the field, I first timed how long it took each to filter one liter of water out of the box. To start, I called in or purchased the most popular backpacking water filters available, along with corresponding models from their competitors. So my testing looked at what conditions the backpacking filters can withstand and still return a reasonable (or any) flow rate. The brands of course are testing to ensure that the filters can withstand a certain level of grit, but it’s rare to learn what the flow rate of the filters are after they’ve been exposed to some less-than-ideal water sources, let alone how much grit and sediment and muck a filter can take before it craps out completely. This number, however, only reflects what the filter is capable of doing right out of the box-not after you’ve taken it out on a couple of backpacking trips-or 20. Something else that you’ll often see on the packaging of backpacking water filters is the number of liters per minute that they filter. As such, my testing did not look at how well the filters dealt with bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, because all the filters in this review use EPA or NSF standards. The thoroughness of this testing is not something that can be easily replicated in the natural environment, where the pre-existing levels of bacteria, protozoa, and viruses are unknown. coli, to test the performance of their Guardian filter. coli bacteria, but also a virus that attacks E. I visited the MSR facility where they showed me the lab where they not only grow E. All of them engage in rigorous testing, using EPA or NSF standards, both in their own facilities and through third parties, like BCS Laboratories out of Florida. Laura Lancaster How I Tested Backpacking Water Filtersīefore I even began testing, I interviewed the folks at MSR, LifeStraw, and Katadyn about how they guarantee that their filters are indeed removing bacteria and protozoa (and in the case of a few of them, viruses).
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