Water filters – MSR Miniworks EX
Touring cyclists heading for remote locations should consider a water filter or purifier.
Almost any stream or river comes with the risk of picking up parasites and viruses without treatment and tap water in many less developed countries is not fit to drink straight out of the faucet.
We carry the MSR Miniworks EX water filter, one of many options on the market. Alternatives to buying a water filter including chemical treatment, boiling the water or buying bottled water.
Here is a summary of the types of treatment available:
| Treatment | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Water Filter | -Treat many litres at once, little future investment beyond initial purchase, portable | -Expensive to buy, hard to replace on the road, can be time consuming, doesn’t remove all viruses, can be heavy or bulky |
| Chemical | -Small, cheap and light, eliminates viruses and bacteria | -Possible aftertaste, limited shelf life, doesn’t eliminate sediment |
| Boiling | -Cheap and effective with your campstove | -Takes time to boil and cool, hard to do large quantities, doesn’t remove sediment, uses fuel |
| Bottled Water | -Quick and reliable | -Not always available, can be expensive, plastic waste |
We chose a filter primarily as an alternative to bottled water, which is costly and bad for the environment. We have used our filter when camping to draw drinking water from nearby streams and in less developed countries where tap water isn’t well monitored.
What we like about the Miniworks EX: We liked its relatively low cost, the fact that it is easily field serviceable, has no complicated parts, gives good filtration down to 0.2 microns and is sturdily constructed.
What we don’t like: The ceramic filter in the Miniworks EX is vulnerable if you leave it out to dry unprotected. A passing cat knocked ours off a table and we had to replace it. It’s a good idea to dry the filter between uses because then the deposits on the filter come off easily and the flow of water stays high from use to use. Inside the plastic housing, the filter is securely covered.
Another frustration is that filtering can be tiring business. MSR say you should be able to filter water at 1 litre a minute but it’s hard to keep up that pace for several litres at once.
-REI guide to water filters
-$89.95 from REI
-Safe Water Guide for International Travellers
Other options: With more money to spend, you might consider something like the Katadyn Pocket Water Filter. At over three times the price of the Miniworks EX it’s a costly acquisition but its advertised lifetime of up to 50,000 litres far outweighs the mere 2,000 litres of the Miniworks EX. Price and duration aside, many of its other features like weight, speed and micron size are nearly identical to the Miniworks EX.
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We started our trip with the MSR MIOX Purifier, but were regretting it in Labrador, where the water was full of sediment. We found that we rarely used it, so sent it home.
Before heading overseas, we picked up a small Katadyn Mini that we used as a “backup” when we couldn’t buy or otherwise acquire safe drinking water. In SE Asia, we found the best option was to buy ice rather than water – no plastic bottles, and it stayed cooler longer in the water bottles. Manufactured ice is safe in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Of course it took us longer than it should have to clue into just buying ice rather than refrigerated water!
We used the Katadyn most for filling water bottles while wild camping in Western and Central Canada. For cooking, we usually just boiled the river or lake water first.