MBJ wrote:My primary plan is to stay at home. I would only ever leave it as a last resort as you give up so much when you effectively make yourself a refugee.
What do people think of this Reverse Osmosis filter? Is this thing really going to get rid of everything?
Hiya
I have a RO unit fitted at home.
I'm not sure that the RO filters get rid of everything, but they do get rid of all dissolved solids. Effectively you are left with super soft water with a hardness of 0. Before buying one I'd defo research further if you want one for prepping means.
Ours isn't for prepping, but for water for aquariums.
Good units can be had for less than £100.
Unless you are DIY savvy, you will also need a plumber.
If using all the time and not just for SHTF, they can be costly to run if your water is metered, there is a LOT of waste you see. They aren't like normal filters.
Personally, I wouldn't bother.
I stick to the sawyers, puritabs and boiling for my prep planning
I'm not on a water metre and my water bill is very reasonable.
Do you have to connect the RO units up to your mains or can you just run water through them?
The small domestic units (like the one you linked) are designed to be plumbed into mains. To my mind that is a big -ve regarding SHTF prepping.
Like others have said, the 4L Sawyer bag to bag, which removes viruses and bacteria, is easy to use, is portable, is IMO, preferable.
I'm hoping to get one in a couple of months time, before going on a three week camper van trip.
Just to add couple of other products: as with the Sawyer products, the LifeStraw portable straw jobbies will filter bacteria but don't filter viruses. However LifeStraw also do "Family" and "Mission" filters which do claim to filter viruses, and are rather cheaper than the Sawyer virus filtering products:
I've not tried either the Sawyer, the MSR or the LifeStraw, so can't comment on which may be easier/better - reviews online seem to imply that the LifeStraw whilst the cheapest is the most difficult to use. I guess your mileage will vary. Just offering suggestions whilst doing research of my own.
Blog: http://ukpreppergrrl.wordpress.com
التَكْرَارُ يُعَلِّمُ الحِمارَ "Repetition teaches the donkey" Arabic proverb
"A year from now you may wish you had started today" Karen Lamb
ukpreppergrrl wrote:Just to add couple of other products: as with the Sawyer products, the LifeStraw portable straw jobbies will filter bacteria but don't filter viruses. However LifeStraw also do "Family" and "Mission" filters which do claim to filter viruses, and are rather cheaper than the Sawyer virus filtering products:
I've not tried either the Sawyer, the MSR or the LifeStraw, so can't comment on which may be easier/better - reviews online seem to imply that the LifeStraw whilst the cheapest is the most difficult to use. I guess your mileage will vary. Just offering suggestions whilst doing research of my own.
Thanks for those links. The Lifestraw products are certainly much cheaper than the Sawyer equivalents but it does make you wonder how they manage that?
Just a heads-up if anyone else has it on their wish list that the price of the Sawyer SP191 has dropped on Amazon by 16% to £137.86 with free delivery (£27 knocked off).
Just got a letter off United Utilities this morning saying that they're going to be doing some work on the mains and that the quality of water may be affected. They say the water should still be safe to drink but I really don't believe that. I'm so glad I store water because I may need to use it very soon.
Another great example of how prepping is more about preparing for the more mundane but equally as serious stuff rather than the nuclear apocalypse.
ukpreppergrrl wrote:Just to add couple of other products: as with the Sawyer products, the LifeStraw portable straw jobbies will filter bacteria but don't filter viruses. However LifeStraw also do "Family" and "Mission" filters which do claim to filter viruses, and are rather cheaper than the Sawyer virus filtering products:
I've not tried either the Sawyer, the MSR or the LifeStraw, so can't comment on which may be easier/better - reviews online seem to imply that the LifeStraw whilst the cheapest is the most difficult to use. I guess your mileage will vary. Just offering suggestions whilst doing research of my own.
Thanks for those links. The Lifestraw products are certainly much cheaper than the Sawyer equivalents but it does make you wonder how they manage that?
It's all to do with the life of the filter. Sawyers filter up to 300,000 litres, the Lifestraw Family and Mission filters up to 18,000 litres. So there's your difference in price.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain~anon
Glad there a thread for filters, this is the next thing on my list to purchase. I can't store water as its not practical, so will need to filter what I can for a family of 5.