View Full Version : Filters and 200° water?
holyphenol
02-20-2009, 11:44
I was just wondering if running near boiling water through a filter would cause either forseeable damage to the cartridge or deactivation of the carbon. I have a spare Katadyn Hiker and was going to toy around with it for making coffee.
It probably wouldn't harm the carbon, but would wreak havoc on the rubber o-ring seals and anything that may be glued.
holyphenol
02-20-2009, 12:33
Fair enough, I suppose I was thinking that they would be able to stand up to temps if they weren't sustained for long periods of time...
mountain squid
02-20-2009, 12:39
I don't know about damaging the filter...
Boiling water (http://www.backpacker.com/march_2001_gear_water_treatments_comparison/gear/2407) doesn't need to be filtered, though. If I am boiling water for a meal or a hot drink, I don't treat it or filter it.
See you on the trail,
mt squid
I don't get why so many people bring water to a boil. 140°-160° is the perfect temperature for a hot drink or noodles of sorts.
My knee-jerk reaction to the above was to comment that water has to boil for a while to kill pathogens and that this isn't fuel efficient, better to treat and then, as Totem said, just heat to the temperature you want to consume it at (which is what I do too).
However, looking around I found this article (http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/how-long-do-you-need-to-boil-water/) that seems to contradict the notion that water has to boil for a while. It would be interesting to see a longer, more complete discussion of this point, to include a per-pathogen commentary, i.e., cysts, cryptosporum, etc.
calculating infinity
02-20-2009, 13:58
why would you filter boiled water?
maxpatch67
02-20-2009, 16:33
Don't filter boiled water. I've never had a problem in 20 years of dipping the pot in the stream and boiling it for meals and drinks.
holyphenol
02-22-2009, 12:49
I wasn't trying to filter it...
It was more along the lines of just putting my coffee in a in-line pre-filter type setup after the output of the filter.
Survivor Dave
02-22-2009, 13:04
I wasn't trying to filter it...
It was more along the lines of just putting my coffee in a in-line pre-filter type setup after the output of the filter.
There is some good advice here. I think you might be complicating things a bit. When you are out there, you wanna keep it simple.
I wasn't trying to filter it...
It was more along the lines of just putting my coffee in a in-line pre-filter type setup after the output of the filter.
Then use a paper coffee filter in your mug, remove the filter with the grounds. This assumes that you filter or treat your water before making your coffee
since most people don't seem to use soap to wash their pot, boiling water in your pot every day is a good way to sterilize it.
Even if you only need to bring the water to 160-185 degrees to sterilize it, the problem is you don't have a thermometer that can measure water temperature. So then just bring it to a boil and you'll be OK.
As far as running boiling water thru a filter is concerned, I don't that the filters were designed for that. Since filters cost so much, I would not even want to try something like that.
Panzer
holyphenol
02-23-2009, 00:35
There is some good advice here. I think you might be complicating things a bit. When you are out there, you wanna keep it simple.
You're totally right...
I've actually switched up my backpacking paradigm b/c of things discussed here. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to go out in a while and I just had my stuff out tinkering with things. Thank you for the advice!
160 degrees is about nominal a hot drinking temperature... 180 degrees is "ouch, better let it cool down a few minutes" temperature. If it's too hot for your tongue, it's probably too hot for critters.
SlowLightTrek
02-23-2009, 01:13
I have a Katydin Hiker Pro filter. I take the filter out and put it in boiling water to clean it. It works well even when the filter is badly clogged. I don't know if it still take out the bugs however. Haven't gotten sick yet though.
I'm not using it for long hikes anymore. I'm going to go with bleach or iodine. Possibly the Platypus gravity filter.