Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System
Product Review & Walking Gear Test

	Squeeze Water Filtration System Vital Statistics: Weight: 85 gms SRP: £60.00

Squeeze Water Filtration System

Vital Statistics:

Weight:
85 gms

SRP:
£60.00

Features to Note:

Squeeze bottle filter utilising a hollow fibre membrane
Tested to US EPA standards for removal of protozoa and bacteria
Kit includes 3 (0.5 Litre, 1 litre, 2 litre) pouches, Sawyer 0.10 Absolute micron hollow fibre membrane filter, replaceable pop up drinking spout, cleaning syringe
Pump free
Can be cleaned during trips
Life expectancy: 1 million gallons guaranteed

In-use Test:

Keeping well hydrated is important even on short winter walks but carrying enough water on longer day walks or multi-day trips in warmer conditions can be a challenge. It's important to purify water from any non-domestic source (even in the UK) and there are a variety of options available both chemical (eg Chlorine Dioxide tablets) and non chemical, (eg UV sterlisation or filtration) methods. Sawyer's Squeeze system is filter system based on a small (18cms x 6cms) cylinder containing a hollow fibre membrane.

There are a few ways of using the system. Firstly you can collect the 'dirty' water into one of the Sawyer-supplied pouches. You screw the cylindrical filtration unit into the top of the pouch containing the water to be treated, invert and the purified water then flows into a 'clean' receptacle. You can speed up the process by squeezing the bag containing the dirty water. In our testing, it's taking just under two minutes to treat 1 litre of water. (The manufacturer's instructions suggest that this will increase with repeated use.) Alternatively - instead of collecting the purified water in a separate container - you can use the spout on the cylindrical filter to drink directly.

Another option is to ignore the pouches and to connect the filter directly to a bottle of 'suspect' water.

A minor challenge here is if using the drinking spout on the cylinder, you do need to make sure that you do not lose its plastic cover!

The filtration unit is supposed also to connect directly into a hydration system. However, we've yet to fit this successfully to a Source Hydration system - so this obviously depends on which hydration system you're using!

The remaining component is a syringe which is used to back-flush the filter periodically as/when the flow rate drops. (The manufacturer suggests every 5-10 gallons.)

I could detect no untoward taste at all in the treated water - it tasted absolutely fine.

I've encountered a few issue-ettes with it so far. You have to be careful to avoid 'dirty' water running down the outside of the collecting bag and into the 'clean' water container. And I think that collecting water from a standing source may also be a bit tricky. Otherwise though - whilst it's too early to comment on the durability of the system (the bags in particular which are squeezed repeatedly) - this seems a remarkably simple, extremely light weight and compact water purification system.

Buying Advice:

As an alternative to chemical treatments, Sawyer's Squeeze water filtration system is supremely quick and simple to use and is compact enough to keep in your backpack in case you need to top up your water supply quickly. Perhaps not the best option for a large group but great for an individual walker and/or one or two companions.

What do you think?

Have you got a Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System ?

We would love to hear what you thought of it - good, bad or indifferent. Perhaps you simply disagree with the verdict above - or feel an important feature has been negelected.

Let us know by clicking this link - What I think of Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System - so we can publish your important views below.

• I got one of these last October and it is most definitely the best bit of kit I have ever bought. It is way lighter AND smaller than its competition, and it's micro pore size is half the size of its nearest rivals, which makes its flow rate (faster than you can drink) astonishing! BTW, you need the adaptor kit SP110 to fit it to a hydration pack which I also bought for £6.95. So I don't know how you have tried to fit it to your source system, but I also have a source and it fits fine? Also, no more replacement cartridges to worry about! I haven't needed to clean mine yet BTW, and I have used it A LOT.

Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System Product Review & Walking Gear Test

Log On

Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System
Product Review & Walking Gear Test