o.k. got a water filter/cross contamination question. I notice that everybody talk's about using a water filter pump like the hiker or hiker pro, and with these talk's there is a lot of talk about cross contamination (output and input hoses if not seperated correctly). So has anybody ever used the Katadyn "base camp" filter? the one that is the hanging bag for large groups. My question is this, if you submerge the bag in the water and there are contaminates, wouldn't it also contaminate the hose and etc. when you pack it up to move on down the trail? maybe i'm missing something but that just seems like common since.
take-a-knee
08-18-2008, 16:49
o.k. got a water filter/cross contamination question. I notice that everybody talk's about using a water filter pump like the hiker or hiker pro, and with these talk's there is a lot of talk about cross contamination (output and input hoses if not seperated correctly). So has anybody ever used the Katadyn "base camp" filter? the one that is the hanging bag for large groups. My question is this, if you submerge the bag in the water and there are contaminates, wouldn't it also contaminate the hose and etc. when you pack it up to move on down the trail? maybe i'm missing something but that just seems like common since.
If the filter has a closed section of tubing connected via a closed/leak free threaded connection to a platypus/nalgene or the like there is no concern, any drips just run down the outside of the collection vessel. If you have an open ended tube running down from the filter cross contamination could easily happen if you didn't have a drip loop in the hose. All this is mostly a moot point, especially now, because there aren't many AT water sources where you can dunk and fill a large vessel, you'll likely need a cup to fill it at most water points.