Coleman Water Filters

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Does anyone have any experience with Coleman Brand Water Filters? There were eight or nine on the shelf of a local discount store for $9.99, 500 gallon capacity, giardia etc. capable. Wally World here in N. Ca. does not stockthem, nor do several other outlet places. Thanks in advance.

-- J. Henry (shotgun12@att.net), June 13, 1999

Answers

J,

Huge topic. Checkout the Survivalist archive at the bottom of this forum. Here are a few issues:

You can die in a few hours in the winter with no shelter. You will die in three days with no water. You can live over 2 weeks without food. So, you see, water is one of the first things you should prepare. Luckily, though the other bsic needs can eventually cost thousands of preparation dollars, you can handle the water issue inexpensively or with just several hundred dollars.

You will need a minimum of a gallon/day/person. Note that your water heater stores several gallons of dringking water (shut off your connection to outside meter when/if water utility fails in order to keep bad water from contaminating your supply). You can store additional drinking water in 55-gallon FDA approved drums (see www.usplastic.com $44 + shipping). You can store non-drinking water in bathtubs, etc. I recommned a 10' kiddy pool capable of storing 500-1000 gallons for this purpose ($40 K-Mart).

You can convert bacterially contaminated water to drinking water by either boiling for 10 minutes or by using bleach. Add 1/8 tsp common bleach to each gallon of water and let it set for at least 15 minutes. If is still smells like chlorine at the end of 15 minutes it is OK to drink. Otherwise, treat again.

Another good way to remove bacteria is by filtering (your original question!). Since bacteria are very small, you need a filter with a maximum (not nominal or average) of 2 microns. Most filters costing less that $100 are fit only for filtering tap or well water. I recommend the more expensive PUR or Katadyne. The Katadyn has a .2 maximun pore size, filters over 10,000 gallons, and has a relpacable filter element. It costs several hundred dollars with an extra filter, but I think it is the world renowned leader in its field.

Some chemical contaminants may be removed by using an activated charcoal filter. Fill several feet of a narrow PVC pipe with this stuff and pour the water thru. Note that this technique will still leave bacteria (which must be treated as above noted), will degrade over time and pass more pollutants, and it is difficult to determine its effectiveness.

A superior method (although I have not tried this one) may be solar distillation. It should remove most chemicals and all bacteria. Just dig a hole in the ground and put a bucket in the middle. Cover the hole with plastic and weight the center (over the bucket) with a rock. The sun should evaporate enough water to condense on the plastic and drip into the bucket. The bucket should contain bacteria and chemical free water. You can optimize this solution by lining the hole with black plastic, by adding your own grey-water to the hole, and/or by installing a plastic tube to the water bucket so you can drain the bucket without actually opning the plastic cover. Heck, you could even build one of these things above ground with some common hardware.

Well, I think I am rambling. There is a lot of information below as I noted at the beginning of this over-long post.

Good luck! Risk is everywhere.

-- Uhm... (jfcp81a@prodigy.com), June 13, 1999.


Thanks, Uhm. Water follows oxygen in my list of gotta-haves. I should have made my query more explicit: Are Coleman water filters of the same quality as the rest of their outdoor products? And, if so, how do they rate with other ones like Pur or Sweetwater?

-- J. Henry (shotgun12@att.net), June 13, 1999.

I am not familiar at all with the Coleman filter, but $9.99??, that can't be much. Bad water can kill you, this is one area that I would not scrimp on. Dry Clorine bleach is CHEAP, see http://home.earthlink.net/~kenseger/surv/bleach.txt and Ace hardware has it on sale for $8.88, about 1/2 price.

On the Katadyn, if you can prefilter the water through a towel or coffee filter to remove big junk, you'll have to clean it less often with their special brush, causing less wear, giving it a longer life. Drain and dry it THOROUGHLY if it is going to be exposed to freezing temperatures. Wrap it in shock absorbing foam for travel.

On the activated charcoal, never pass untreated water through it, run only sterile water through it because the germs will multiply in there like gangbusters and deactivate it sooner.

One gallon per person per day is absolute minimum and is not enough in hot weather. 3 gal per day, 1 for drinking, 1 for food preparation, and 1 for hygiene would be my minimum and 5 gal/day/person in warm weather.

I don't want to nag but if one is in a situation where you can't have plenty of water, you are puting yourself at risk. Purifying water is easy and cheap. Being a couple miles from a river or lake means exposing yourself to hazards and spending effort and time that could be used better for more productive tasks.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), June 13, 1999.


J,

My research on filters is much too old for me to remember brands and specifics. Perhaps one of the regulars on this forum can help?

Until then, here is what I do remember about judging various filters. You may to read the box (I could find no info on Coleman filters, even at the Coleman web site). Check mainly to ensure:

1) The max pore size is less than two microns. If the words 'average'or 'nominal' are used, if the pore size is not mentioned, or the pore size is greater than 2 microns, the filter is made for filtering tap water only (it is likely an active carbon filter). Now don't get me wrong, I have a Britta filter to do just that - filter out that odor and flavor from just plain tap water. But the filter will not filter out some very dangerous bacteria. By the way, the Britta filter notes on the box that it is not fit to filter contaminated water.

2) The filter will actually filter the amount of water you envision needing. If you may purchase additional filter elements, what is their cost and the total cost to provide your expected needs? Can you buy enough of these filters in advance?

3) Pore size is important for bacteria. Many good bacteria filters also have an additional charcoal filter for removal of chemical contaminants. Note: the charcoal filters are usually warranted for many fewer gallons of water than the primary filter, and the cost of any additional filter elements should be factored into the toal cost of the filter.

Sorry I can provide no additional info. I hope someone else on the forum has persoanl experience with the Coleman filter. The regulars here are a great source of knowledge.

Good luck!

-- Uhm... (jfcp81a@prodigy.com), June 13, 1999.


What about radiation? What if there is a ... ahem... radiation "incident"... is water contaminated? And is there any way of decontaminating it?

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), June 13, 1999.


Linda - Pages 71-74 in Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearney http://www.oism.org cover water, radioactivity, and decontamination of same.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), June 13, 1999.

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