The majority of LifeStraw products for individual use are microfilters with an absolute pore size of 0.2 microns which remove bacteria, parasites, microplastics, and dirt/silt.
LifeStraw also manufactures ultrafilters/purifiers that, in addition to the above contaminants, also remove viruses. The absolute pore size on these purifiers is 0.02 micron.
Said a moment ago, one saved my ass. Cut the top off a beer can and sucked river water out of it kayaking. Tasted like nothing, like tap water that’s been in the sun for a while.
Sawyer filter inline with a camelback is awesome. I’d just fill up my camelback in a stream using a (clean) handkerchief to get the large debris out and then let the filter do the rest.
The most common cause of symptoms like in OP’s story are multicellular organisms. While still microscopic, they are plenty large enough to get caught in a filter. The filters are usually good enough to catch bacteria too.
Do those straws also take out pathogens? I thought you’d still need to boil the water pre filtering.
Yes
At least bacteria. Viruses are a whole different beast but usually viruses are also not the problem in natural watersources.
Be free comes to mind, very popular in europe. Sawyer filters are very popular in the US
There are also combo filters that filter sediment and bacteria and pass the water through a charcoal filter to remove taste and organics.
From Lifestraw website:
Said a moment ago, one saved my ass. Cut the top off a beer can and sucked river water out of it kayaking. Tasted like nothing, like tap water that’s been in the sun for a while.
I used a Sawyer in the boundary waters for a week, nothing short of miraculous and I didn’t shit my pants even once
Sawyer filter inline with a camelback is awesome. I’d just fill up my camelback in a stream using a (clean) handkerchief to get the large debris out and then let the filter do the rest.
The most common cause of symptoms like in OP’s story are multicellular organisms. While still microscopic, they are plenty large enough to get caught in a filter. The filters are usually good enough to catch bacteria too.