I am thinking about getting a First Need XL water purifier. IF we have an incident (I live just a few miles from the New Madrid fault line) I want to be able to have a safe supply of water wherever we wind up. I am worried about dead animals in the water and other assorted nasties floating around and possible toxic chemicals.

Does anyone have experience with this system/know if it will take care of the above concerns. If not, what would you recommend?

Thanks

Great question. I have given thought to one of these too but all I have ever used is the tablets, bleach, or boling and straining.

Sorry I don't have any experience with the purifier you mention. I do have experience with these and they all work as advertised:

http://www.katadyn.com/usen/katadyn-prod...adyn-hiker-usa/

http://www.katadyn.com/usen/katadyn-prod...er-bottle-blue/

http://www.aquamira.com/consumer/aquamira-water-treatment-drops/

I actually prefer the Aquamira Drops to the others for small size, light weight.

Have you checked out the new SteriPen purifiers at MEC, they look kinda neat !

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detai...D=1251487078517

Looks like they have limits, and are expensive. That was 1st impression.

I know that I probably am just being paranoid and I know that water FILTERS would probably work, at least 99.9 percent of the time. But with the health problems that my wife has and the ones I am starting to develop, I don't want to take any chances if I don't have to. I specifically mentioned dead animals and the runoff from livestock farms, and chemicals that would leak out from farm supply warehouses. I know this is a worse case concern, but the flood we had around here a couple years ago brought home the fact that there will be many animal remains in the water and as I said, I just want the security of having the means to have clean water in ANY situation.

Randy

Randy - I understand and appreciate your concerns, particularly given your location. Although we sit quite high where we live, I still have a few Katadyn models - the Pocket, Combi, and Gravidyn filters in case of a catastrophic event. My plan would include hauling some water from my pond, pre-filtering and boiling it, then running it through one of the Katadyns once it has cooled. You do NOT want to get sick during a crisis! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> I also carry a Pocket model in my vehicles in case something happened while in transit. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I am a firm believer in the axiom "better to have it and not need it, rather than to need it and not have it". <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I never had any luck with the First Need filters (I've owned two of them). They always seemed to clog quickly, even with relatively clean backcountry water sources.

On the other hand, the Katydyn products (formerly PUR), have been amazingly reliable and have handled tremendous filtering loads and abuse without any problems for me.

I will put my trust in a Katydyn filter with chlorine and iodine as backups. For particularly turbid water sources, a large staging container should be used to allow for both settling of heavier contaminants and floating of hydrocarbons (like a septic system).

Cody Lundin's books do a good job of describing several other options (natural UV, distillation, etc.)

I like my Katadyn for backpacking, also the Aquamire are great for pretty clean/clear water, just to filter the crap out, any floaties and I will use my Hiker. MSR makes some really nice water filters as well, and are field fixable.

Put a coffee filter over the intake. It will act as a pre-filter and not clog as much.

Thanks Klink, I'm MOSTLY that way as well, depending upon what it is I MIGHT need sometime. My concern is mainly with contamination coming from dead amimals in the water source. I know what the FILTERS take (or can take out depending on which one you get) but what about waterborne HUMAN dieseases, Hepa and some of the other stuff? I plan on the coffee filter trick, scooping out a 5 gallon bucket of water to let it settle etc and boiling. Would that along with clorine take care of what I am afraid of If I am using a FILTER instead of one that supposedly is a PURIFIER?

Thanks everyone for all your thoughts on this. It really means a lot, and just continues to show that although we are all of varied backgrounds and countries of origins and races we are all the same, we are members of the humane race and we just let all that other stuff get in the way.

Randy - I believe the pre-filter, boiling, and chlorine would do the trick for you. Some might think this is being a little extra cautious - and it is. But as I said before, you do not want for you or a family member to get sick - especially during a crisis. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Tom