My water filtration equipment for good occasions and the very unhealthy

Entry to water is at all times a priority when heading off the grid in my van — not after I’m residence in Amsterdam, a metropolis surrounded by the stuff. That certainty modified just lately when authorities ministers started quietly prodding residents to fill up on emergency provides as a result of an elevated threat of armed battle and different regional unpleasantries.

One advice, of many, is to have three liters (virtually one gallon) per individual per day readily available, or 15 liters per day for my five-person family. Which means 105 liters for only one week or 450 liters every month! I don’t have house for that. Who does?

So, I began considering: why not increase my emergency freshwater shops with a filtration and purification equipment that may adapt to all of the water sources round me? And since I’m a budding vanlifer and continual adventurer, let’s make it transportable so I can take it anyplace.

I got here up with this as a first-time prepper: pairing quick-connect water filters just like the $42 LifeStraw bought by Camelbak with Dometic’s transportable 11-liter Go water jug ($69.99) and its rechargeable Go Hydration Water Faucet ($99.99). Soiled water goes in and clear water comes out with a double-tap on the tap. It even has a light-weight!

If Europe is certainly returning to a state of turmoil, then I’ll be sipping clear water — pinky prolonged — from this luxury Twenty first-century setup, no less than till the electrical energy shuts off. Even then, I’ve made contingencies, together with safety from gene-altering viruses present in zombie poop. You’ll be able to by no means be too cautious.

Let me be clear: this isn’t a evaluate, regardless of having examined all the pieces within the equipment. It’s a beginner survivalist’s greatest guess at what’s going to assist my nomadic vanlife adventures whereas protecting my household hydrated when doomsday comes. Solutions welcome.

Filtration versus purification

My main filter is the LifeStraw cartridge as a result of it has an built-in quick-connect adapter that simply snaps into the Go jug’s CPC coupler. It options two levels of filtration. The hole fiber filter bodily removes micro organism and protozoa that trigger ailments, in addition to grime and microplastics, and has a lifespan of 4,000 liters (1,000 gallons). In the meantime, the activated carbon filter removes issues like odd tastes and smells. It has a lifespan of simply 100 liters (25 gallons), and a two-pack of replacements will be had for $13 a pop.

Utilizing the Go faucet to pump water out of the Go jug by the in-line LifeStraw filter reached 0.5 liters in 40 seconds, or 36 seconds and not using a filter in between. I even have a small MSR filter that wants a wee little bit of 1/4-inch tubing and a quick-connect adapter to snap into the Go jug. It filtered 0.5 liters in 38 seconds.

Filtration is okay for eradicating organic pathogens generally discovered within the waters of North America and Europe, however I additionally need safety towards smaller micro organism and waterborne viruses present in locations with out well-maintained sewage methods. In vanlife, you by no means know when a unclean hippie is dropping a deuce upstream.

I splurged and spent $200 on an MSR Guardian water air purifier with a pore measurement of simply 0.02 microns, in comparison with about 0.1 to 0.2 microns for filters bought by LifeStraw, Sawyer, MSR, and others. For perspective, the anthrax micro organism measures about 8 microns; giardia, E. coli, and salmonella exist within the 0.5- to 2-micron vary; and viruses unfold by human excrement usually measure between 0.01 to 0.3 microns, based on MSR. The Guardian air purifier is due to this fact my go-to answer after I have to go nuclear on a suspicious water supply.

$200 is dear, however the Guardian cartridge is rated for over 3,000 liters (virtually 800 gallons) of water earlier than needing alternative. Utilizing MSR’s air purifier creates far much less waste than 3,000 liters of bottled water, which might additionally value me about $1,250 at my native grocery retailer — and that’s earlier than costs spike throughout a disaster.

The MSR Guardian air purifier requires a quick-connect adapter to snap into the Go jug. Sadly, the rechargeable Go faucet doesn’t produce sufficient suction to attract water by the Guardian cartridge. However that’s okay; it will possibly slowly purify water if I take away the Go faucet, flip the Go jug the other way up, and set it on prime of my van to behave as a gravity-fed system.

Higher but, I’ve augmented my setup with MSR’s AutoFlow XL Gravity Filter 10L. The thought is to hold the bag excessive in a tree and watch for all of the soiled water to circulation down into the Go jug by the cartridge for purification and / or filtration — no pumping required. That means the Go jug will be 100% devoted to wash consuming water.

MSR’s $129.95 gravity bundle contains all the pieces it’s good to filter plenty of water for a number of individuals: a 10-liter water bag with an built-in quick-connect coupler, lengthy stretches of tubing, and a Nalgene-compatible cap that connects to the tubing and screws onto the Go jug. It additionally comes with a small MSR filter with a 1,500-liter lifespan, however the gravity system works with many inline cartridges, together with my LifeStraw filter and the MSR Guardian air purifier.

MSR says its Guardian air purifier has a most circulation fee of 0.5 liters per minute, which is correct in my testing at sea stage, when the gravity bag is hung at about six ft (183cm) or larger. The MSR filter that got here with the bag took simply 35 seconds to filter 0.5 liters of soiled water, whereas the LifeStraw filter took one minute, identical to the air purifier. I’m pretty sure I can velocity that up with a 90-degree quick-connect adapter that lets the LifeStraw grasp vertically.

I like these inline filtration / purification cartridges as a result of they’re so versatile. For instance, if I’ve to journey gentle, the LifeStraw and MSR filters can be utilized to extract water straight from a stream, jerry can, barrel, puddle… no matter — simply dangle the bottom water tube into the supply and begin sucking.

The LifeStraw’s built-in quick-connect hyperlink additionally clicks proper into my Camelbak Chase backpack, which holds a 1.5-liter water bladder for my private use. It’s the hydration bag I’ve been grabbing for the previous couple of years when mountain biking, path working, or mountain climbing. The LifeStraw provides further bulk and weight to the light-weight and diminutive pack and requires about 20 p.c extra suction to drink. The water bladder can be hung from a tree to function a makeshift gravity filter.

I examined the Dometic Go jug and Go faucet whereas touring round Europe in my van final summer season, however I by no means discovered it that helpful. It’s solely after including an inline filter — one thing Dometic doesn’t promote, however ought to — that I can lastly see their mixed worth.

One subject I had with Dometic’s Go jug was the plastic style it produced when water was saved for longer than a day. That’s regardless of the receptacle being created from BPA-free food-grade plastic. I most likely may have solved this had I cleaned it correctly with an unscented bleach answer, however I didn’t have any. It has two openings: one is Nalgene-compatible, whereas the opposite bigger opening makes it simple to fill and attain inside to wash. However, attempting it now with a filter connected has mounted the issue.

I additionally hacked the Go faucet to increase the hose with some 1/4-inch food-grade tubing discovered at my native ironmongery store. That means I can safely strap down the Go jug within the rear of my van (a distance of about two meters) whereas the tap is mounted on its magnetic base subsequent to the sink.

This offers me a selection between two faucets of working water: one for filtered consuming water, the opposite for unfiltered water I discover alongside the best way that’s dubiously potable (based on signage or locals) and saved in a 20-liter jerry can I maintain underneath my sink. The latter I boil — killing all pathogens — for tea and low and use for laundry up or hydrating the canine. This setup ought to assist me lengthen the lifetime of the filters and air purifier.

The Dometic Go faucet is a luxurious, however I form of find it irresistible. A double-tap on the tap begins the water flowing for one minute earlier than mechanically shutting off to preserve that treasured useful resource (a single faucet shuts it off). The Go faucet has an inner battery able to 150 liters (virtually 40 gallons) per cost.

I’m pretty assured my water filtration and purification equipment will serve me and my household properly, however I fear I’ve missed one thing. For instance, this equipment can’t deal with water polluted by chemical substances or toxins, and it requires common care to keep away from cross-contamination and to cease mould and micro organism from rising contained in the system when not in use. However what are the identified unknowns I don’t at the moment know?

I received’t have the ability to repair it with an Amazon supply if shit goes down and provide chains are disrupted — so any suggestions from the large brains… braaaaaains… of The Verge reader collective are welcome.

Pictures by Thomas Ricker / The Verge