Extending the life of your PUR Hiker filters

imported
#1

By the time I reached Katahdin my PUR HIKER (now owned by Katahdin) filter I purchased in North Adams, MA was
hard to pump. Not wishing to buy a new one for my future weekend wintertrips I decided to bleach it and store it. I pumped fresh water through it to remove the bleach and was astonished at how much easier it was to pump. It still took more effort to pump than a new filter. Near as I can tell the bleach should have no effect on the filter’s paper. I’m not sure about
the carbon. It appears the removal of the organic material from the filters pores increases the flow. I
have yet to find a way to prove the filter is still doing it’s job. I may in the future unpack my microscopes, petri dishes, agar, etc. and try some experiments. Maybe start with bakers yeast in a broth and see if any make it through. Then maybe try some
bacterial broth (I can think of a really disgusting
source too!), run it through the filter, then strain it through filter paper to concentrate it, throw it in
a petri dish with agar and incubate it for 24 hours.
I guess you can tell I was once a Biology Major LOL.
If someone can think of an easier way to test a filter, it would save me a lot of work and keep my mother from freaking out over me setting up my lab (not to mention all the paranoid neighbors and people
who see a petri dish and microscope and start thinking terrorist).

Rick The Lone Wolf

#2

We used a Hiker, and still do, on our '01 hike. I replaced the acorn( saved a half pound!) with a home made filter pre-screen cut from the side of a brass coffee machine replacement filter. One of those upgrade filter baskets you get at the home store? Cut a sizable piece of the stuff, looks like a pie wedge, and wrap it tightly around the hose. Hold it in place and hot glue the edge. Pull it off and you have a cone shaped…thingy. Now fold the larger open end over to close it and hot glue that end. Shove it back on the hose and you’re done. Work great for keeping out the silt. We started with a used filter and made it to Pa on that one and one more to Special K. The beaver water up north did it in but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Bushwhack

#3

A newer Pur filter already has the new pre-filter design. My Pur was purchased in 1999 and was the old style. At Trail Days, in 2000, Pur updated my filter to the new design.
I replaced my filter cartridge 4 times on my thru. I found out that if you called Pur and told them that you were on a thru-hike and was not satisfied with the performance of the filter they would send you a new cartridge free. I received 3 free ones.
Another problem is that everyone startes from Springer with a new filter. The cartridge needs replacement at the same time. Most outfitters don’t carry enough replacements to satisfy the demand. They become hard to find in trail towns.
You should clean and relub the pump once in a while. If the pump pumps hard when it’s not filtering water, the pump needs to be lubed.

Grampie

#4

If I remember correctly, PUR used to guarantee the filter cartridge for one year. That’s why they would send us new cartridges for free. I’m pretty sure that this guarantee is NOT printed on the Katadyn packaging. Has anyone tried to get a free replacement cartridge from Katadyn??

When your filter becomes hard to pump, it’s not always because the cartridge is clogged. Try doing some maintenance to the pump. Clean the pump and lube the O-ring with the lube that comes with the cartridge. One nice change that Katadyn made is that the lube tube now has a lid—it looks like a tiny toothpaste tube. The old PUR lube came in a one-use tube which had to be cut open. If you’ve lost the lube tube, you can use vaseline in a pinch. It’s not the same as the lube, but it works. I’ve even used neosporin before.

yogi

#5

I haven’t needed to go diretly to Katadyn for a replacement cartridge. The outfitters along the AT have had them. So, I just exchanged them with the outfitters. No questions asked.

The 1 year guarantee is somewhere on the fine print that comes with the filter when you buy it.

Peaks

#6

Post your results here Rick, I’d like to know if rinsing/bleaching works.

Once, in the BWCAW, our PUR hiker clogged IMMEDIATELY in what appeared to be crystal clear water. The PUR people said, “oh yeah, our filters dont work in the BWCAW because of some microscopic algae or something.” Weird.

In 2002 our PUR Hiker filter got clogged about every 3-6 weeks. But that was filtering absolutly everything for two people. And that was back when PUR owned it, so they did send us free replacements. Peaks is right, at least back then, the outfitters would also do it. Over the phone, PUR told us that the outfitters were out nothing because PUR reimbursed the outfitters. We did have one small outfitter in NH scream at us about how immoral we were for asking for a replacement and they made this scene in front of everyone how thru-hikers are rotten customers, etc. We put all the stuff we were going to buy there (a lot) back on the shelves and walked over to the REI instead.

We experimented with using pre-filters, bandanas, coffee filters, trying not to stir up the water, lubing regularly etc., but we could never get more than a month or so out of a filter.

Jitterbug