Initial Report

H20 Amigo Gravity Filter

Personal Information:
Name: Christine Korhonen
Age: 30
Gender: female
Height: 5'4" (1.6 m)
Weight: 165 lb (75 kg)
E-mail: chris@wormguy.com
Location: Western Montana
Date: July 27, 2003

Backpacking Background:
I'm in Montana where I'm enjoying the summers and becoming re-acquainted with winter. Now that I'm back above the snow line, I'm attempting some winter camping and snowshoeing. I'm a lightweight backpacker mentally, if not always in practice. I've gotten my summer multi-day pack weight down to 19 lb (9 kg), but winter backpacking is still new to me, and my winter pack weight hovers around 25 lb (11 kg).

Product Information:
Manufacturer: ULA Equipment (Ultralight Adventure Equipment)
URL: www.ula-equipment.com
Item: H20 Amigo
MSRP: US $40
Year of Manufacturer: 2004
Listed volume: 1.25 gal (4.7 L)
Measured volume: 1.25 gal (4.7 L)
Listed weight filter system: 7.5 oz (213 g)
Measured weight filter system: 8.8 oz (249 g) - weight includes some water since I weighed the filter after I used it
                filter: 4.0 oz (113 g)
                water bag & valve: 3.2 oz (91 g)
                hoses: 1.6 oz (45 g)
                stuffsack: 1.0 oz (28 g)
                flush bulb: 1.0 oz (28 g)
Listed total weight: 9.25 oz (262 g)
Measured total weight: 10.8 oz (306 g)

H20 Amigo Description:
The H20 Amigo is a gravity feed water filtration system. The system consists of a water bag with pre-filter, an in-line carbon filter cartridge, and silicon tubing.   The filter cartridge is also sold separately by ULA under the name WaterWise Inline Filter. It has a 2 micron pore size, contains activated carbon, and is advertised to remove 99.8% of waterborne contaminants. The replacement filter cartridge costs $22 US through ULA.

Documentation:
The H20 Amigo came with one page of instructions describing pre-use filter flushing, backcountry system use, care and maintenance, and use as a shower. These instructions are also located on the ULA website on the H20 Amigo and WaterWise Inline Filter pages. Information on system weight, volume capacity, filtration rate, filter type, and pore size are available on the website but were not included in the hard-copy documentation.

First Impressions:
The H20 Amigo looks like a lot of fun. When I first got it, I immediately ignored the instructions and set it up. It was very intuitive. The system came with filter cartridge and hoses all attached, so I made sure the on/off valve was in the off position and stuck it in the sink. After I had about a liter (34 oz) of water in the bag, I grabbed the drawstring's handles and strung it up.   The bag was pretty floppy, but the handles showed me where to grab the drawstring and pull. I was glad for that, because if I'd pulled on the wrong sections, the bag would collapse and water would be everywhere. I placed the drawstring handles over a hook about 6½' (2.0 m) off the ground. In this position, the bottom of the spigot just reached my 1 L (34 oz) Nalgene bottle sitting on the floor. I turned on the valve and let it go. I was impressed by how fast water flowed through the system. After a little while my bottle was full, and I turned the filter off. I didn't notice any leaks in the water bag or tubing. All in all, it was a good first go.

Features:
Filter cartridge. The filter cartridge is roughly egg-shaped, 6¾" (17 cm) in diameter and 5¼" (13 cm) long. The filter is made out of black plastic and has two ½" (1 cm) spigots, one on either end. Stamped into the plastic are the words "in" and "out" in small print over each opening. I would have missed these words if I hadn't been looking for them. More conspicuous are the stickers on the filter, a big red arrow pointing towards the "out" opening, a sticker stating "H20 Amigo" and another with the ULA website and phone number. I will see if these stickers start to peel after prolonged exposure to water. According to the ULA website, the fiter contains activated coconut carbon and deters bacteral growth. That's a good thing, because after using the filter, it was nearly impossible to get all of the water out. Even after blowing on the spigots several times, I could still hear some sloshing inside the filter. I blew quite a bit of water out of the filter on this trial run. I'll see how much water I can get out of the filter in the field and if it leaks when I don't do a good job.

Water bag. The water bag is a 2' (61 cm) in diameter flat circle made out of 1.9 oz green ripstop nylon. The edge of the circle is finished with seam binding and contains 16 stainless steel grommets. The grommets reinforce drawstring holes around the edge of the water bag. The circle turns into a pouch when the drawstrings are pulled tight, but the water bag doesn't have any stitching along the sides to make the circle into a permanent bag-shape.

I attempted to fill the water bag to its max. I put 3 quarts (2.8 L) of water in the bag at the sink, then added more water while the bag was hanging. This proved challenging. Although the drawstring pulls the water bag opening closed, there is just enough space left to add water. When the drawstring is tight, the edges of the bag form accordion folds which poke 2" (5 cm) into the main opening of the bag. I misjudged which side was the inside of one of these folds and ended up pouring water all over my floor instead of in the bag. The folds angle down some, so the usable volume of the waterbag is less than its maximum value. I loaded 1¼ gal (4.7 L) of water into the bag and was happy with that. A little more water could probably be added, but I was uncomfortable doing so because the folds were getting dangerously close to the waterline, and my floor was getting wet. For me, 1¼ gal (4.7 L) is the usable volume of the waterbag.

Reinforced handles. The drawstring is one continuous loop of cord slightly larger than the diameter of the water bag when laid flat. The drawstring has two handles, each 4" (10 cm) long, made out of of ¼ " (6 mm) diameter silicon tubing.   One of the handles is free to slide on the drawstring while the other is fixed and hides the drawcord's two ends. The handles made it easy to determine where to pull on the drawstring to cinch it up, and they also made it easy to carry the bag without having the drawstring dig into my hands. When the drawstring is cinched, the water bag hangs about 1½' (46 cm) from the handles. Because of this large distance from the handles to the bag, it was sometimes easier to grab lower down on the drawstring or on the top of the bag itself when I was carrying the full water bag.

Pre-filter. The pre-filter is a 1½" (4 cm) plastic screen attached to the water bag outlet. The pre-filter is removable and can be snapped on and off easily. The instructions indicate that with turbid water the water bag should be used as a silt settling chamber. The pre-filter pokes up into the bottom of the water bag, so large particles may be able to settle in the lower folds of the bag and not clog the cartridge filter. I will look at this in further testing.

Valve and tubing. The on-off valve is easy to use. The valve turns smoothly and the handle is large enough to grab with two fingers. There is no labeling to indicate which position is on and which is off, but the valve follows the convention of having the handle perpendicular to the tubing to turn it off and parallel with the tubing to turn it on.

The system comes with three pieces of ¾" (2 cm) diameter silicon tubing.   Two pieces are 2½" (6 cm) long, while one is 35" (89 cm). The short pieces went from the water bag to the on/off valve, and from the filter cartridge to the final container. The longer piece originally went from the the valve to the filter cartridge. All of the pieces are easy to remove and move around. I will see in further testing if the tubing provided is long enough for my needs.

Stuff sack. The H20 Amigo comes with a fairly large 10½" long x 5" in diameter (27 cm x 13 cm) stuff sack made out of the same ripstop nylon as the water bag. The bottom of the stuff sack is made out of thicker black cordura.   The stuff sack is well made, with reinforced seams, a nice pull tab joining the ends of the drawstring, and a cord lock closure. Although the seams are reinforced, they are not sealed, and some water can penetrate the needle holes. The whole water filter system fits in this stuff sack with room to spare. I will see how well this stuff sack keeps water from the filter away from my gear.

Backflushing: Once I read the instructions, I found I needed to backflush the carbon filter cartridge. The instructions for backflushing were easy. The "out" end of the filter cartridge was attached to the flush bulb, which, in turn, was attached to a sink tap. The filter was flushed after a minute. The instructions recommend backflushing the cartridge after prolonged use. I will see if I use the filter enough during testing to require this.

Test Plan:
During the coming months, I will test the H20 Amigo for ease of use. I will see if the water bag is easy to fill in a stream, if I have trouble carrying and hanging the bag, and if the filter produces clear and good-tasting water. I will see how much water clings to the system after use, and if the provided stuff sack keeps this water away from my other gear. I will also test the H20 Amigo in its capacity as a shower. I will be testing the H20 Amigo in the parks and on the trails of Montana and Wyoming.

Read more reviews of Ultralight Adventure Equipment gear
Read more gear reviews by Christine Korhonen

Reviews > Water Treatment > Filters > ULA Equipment H2O Amigo Water Filter > Christine Korhonen > Initial Report

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