Reviews > Water Treatment > Filters > SweetWater Guardian Filter > Owner Review by Josh Moffi

SweetWater Guardian Microfilter Water Filter

Owner Review

Name: Josh Moffi
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Height: 180 cm (5 ft, 11 in)
Weight: 95 kg (210 lb)
Shoe Size: US 11
Email address: joshmoffi AT gmail DOT com
City, State, Country: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Date: January 07, 2007

Backpacking Background

I have been backpacking since I was 3 years old, owned my first pack at the age of 4, my fist tent at 9. I have backpacked in various locations New York, Vermont, Ontario, Michigan, Oregon and Alaska. Once I introduced my wife to backpacking, we expanded our activities to anything that gets us out into the woods. I usually carry the heaviest pack in any party I hike with. I have recently started getting rid of some excessive weight from my pack. I am expanding my range of activities by to include winter backpacking and camping.

Product Information

Manufacturer: Mountain Safety Research (MSR)
Year of manufacture: 1995
URL: http://www.msrcorp.com
Listed weight: 312 g (11 oz)
Weght after use: 357 g (12.6 oz)
Material: Filter Material: Ceramic 0.2 micron Housing: Plastic
List Filtering Rate: 1.25 liters/min (1.32 quarts/min)
MSRP: $64.95

Field Information

The filter was used on camping trips in the Algoma highlands, Northern Ontario, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.  The filter has been used in a variety of locations through out the Boreal forests of Ontario and Michigan.  This has resulted in the filter being used in water that ranged from clear lake water, to silty streams, to slightly tannic creeks. These trips have ranged from day trips to weeklong trips. The filter was also used during an April trip in Alaska. This saw the filter used at colder temperatures in fairly clear mountain streams. The filter has been used from the temperatures ranged from 0 C (32 F) to 28 C (82 F). Regardless of the conditions the filter always preformed perfectly.

 
Product Review
This filter has been produced under a few differnt brand names since the early 1990's. The model in this review is the original  model, the SweetWater Guardian Microfilter the and was purchased in 1995.  In 1998 Cascade Designs bought SweetWater and renamed the filter with their name infront of it. In 2004 Cascade Designs bought MSR and once again renamed the filter, to the SweetWater Microfilter, which is the model that is now being produced. In 2004 the color of the pump was changed to black, and the pump shaft was changed to a clear plastic. It should be noted that there are also olive color models out there. But these were produced as a custom order and according to a Cascade Designs representitive are not avaliable to the general public. Other than the changes in color there have been no changes made to the filter componnets, with the exception of the intake and output hoses, which have been color coded to insure that they are not ued in the improper spot.

The filter is simple and compact. The handle of the filter is pinned to the top of the pump to form a lever to make pumping easier and according to the manufacturer's website this set up has a 4 to 1 mechanical advantage over having a straight line pump. The handle is rounded for comfort. The hoses and silt filter are also compact and lightweight. The filter comes with a stuff sack that allows the filter to be packed on its own and easy to find in one’s large trail pack.  The filter once assembled is a durable unit, which is well designed and functional.

This filter was purchased in 1995. But these filters are still widely available; the only change that has been made is a change in the colour of the filter housing. It was purchased for two major reasons: A) The type of organisms that the filter removed; and B) usability. Cost was a minor concern, but the price of these filters has come way down compared to what they originally cost.

When looking to buy a water filter I realized from using other people’s filters and from gear reviews that one of the major issues was the ease of pumping when filtering water. Many filters have the pump handle on top of the body and pump straight down. This filter has the handle offset allowing mechanical leverage to decrease the amount of force needed to pump the filter.  This means that the filter can be used for an extended period without fatigue. I have used this filter on weekend trips where there were six adults in the party. This ease of pumping means that one person could pump all of the water that the party needed at a given time without tiring.

The filter comes with a wire mesh silt filter that is weighted so it will sink when one is pumping water. There is a foam float that can be clipped onto the hose to keep the silt filter off the bottom of the water source. This set up works well to keep the filter intake in a location to minimize the intake of sediments.  When using the filter in locations with fine sediments and shallow water I have to pump a little slower if the intake is just below the water surface. This maximizes water intake and minimized the amount of silt or air which gets sucked into the filter. With the design of the pump handle it is not a problem to work the pump at a variety of rates without a lot of effort.

The filter includes a water bottle adaptor, to hold the output hose on the water bottle and free up both hands for pumping. But the adaptor does not fit small mouth Nalgene® bottles. The adaptor works well with large mouth Nalgene®  as well as the lid size for pop bottles and Platypus® containers do fit. With small mouth bottles one can simply slip the output hose into the bottle. The hoses are now being made in two different colours to make it easy to keep track of which is the intake hose versus the output hose. This ensures that the hoses will not be used in reverse positions, thus possibly contaminating the filtered water. This is a smart improvement over the original filter which had the exact same hose for both the intake and output.

The way this pump is made it can be taken apart and cleaned while in the field. When pumping becomes hard, or the pump vents water out the over pressure vent, just unscrew the pump and use the cleaning brush to scrub out the inside of the cartridge. The over pressure vent means that the user must watch how they set up the filter when pinning the handle into the pump. The filter squirts water quite a distance and I have gotten sprayed while filtering water. I only got wet a couple times before I started paying attention to how I set the handle and the pump up. I think that this is well worth being able to clean the pump in the field. I have noticed a big difference in how easy the filter works before and after cleaning.  I have never figured out how many liters a minute I can pump, but when sitting staring out over a pristine lake do I really care if it takes five minutes or ten minutes to pump water? As previously stated, the handle makes the filter easy to pump water without tiring. 

Summary

This filter is an easy to use water treatment method. It is very compact and stores well within the storage bag that is included with the filter. The fact that the filter can be cleaned in the field makes filtering water much more efficient. SweetWater did a   very good job of producing a filter, which is excellent for backpacking and still small enough to take on day hikes. This is evident as the filter is still being produced with no changes. 

Reviews > Water Treatment > Filters > SweetWater Guardian Filter > Owner Review by Josh Moffi