It’s not fun to get sick after drinking water that hasn’t been properly filtered. Water filters can last anywhere between 3 months and 3 years, depending on how they are filtered.
Water filters need to be cleaned and replaced because they become clogged with debris or contaminants over time. They are no longer effective at filtering water without cleaning or replacing them.
Prefiltering your drinking water is important, even if you have a water filter or purifier that works well. It can improve the quality of the water and prolong the lifespan of the water filter. If you’re in an emergency situation and your water supply is dirty, prefiltering is essential.
How to Filter Water
The water filter can be either portable (like a LifeStraw, Sawyer Handheld) or installed in the home as a pitcher. They can also be mounted on your faucet or connected directly to it. Water filtration can be done in many ways. Water filters can be single- or multi-method.
- Distillation
- Carbon Activated
- Reverse Osmosis
- Deionization
- Ozone
- Carbon Block
- Water Softeners
- The Mechanical
- Granulated carbon
Prefiltering Water
Filters remove contaminants from water, making it safer to drink. Water filters can be used to remove impurities from your water and make it safe for drinking.
Water filters become dirty after they have been used to filter dirty water multiple times.
All of these contaminants will cause your filter to be more demanding and wear faster over time. Prefiltering your water before filtering it can extend the life of the water filters. Prefilters for drinking water have many benefits, including:
- Improve the effectiveness of chemical water treatment.
- Use a UV purifier only if the water is clear or murky.
- Increase flow and extend the life of your pump filters
How to prefilter water
Most people know that clean water is essential to survival. You should always plan to have clean drinking water available, whether you’re traveling through the countryside or going hiking in the forest.
You put both your health and life in danger without clean, fresh drinking water. Many water filters are available in different sizes, shapes, and colors. They do an excellent job at removing contaminants from the water to make it safe for drinking . Even the most effective water filters require a bit of maintenance to ensure they continue working.
How to prefilter water
You can prefilter your water in many ways. The type of filter and the location you’re in will determine what you do.
Make Your Own Pre-Filters
You can prefilter drinking water using free nylon shoe footies. Fit the nylon footie on the straw filter, or any other method of water filtering.
You can let water run through your footie into the second container, then purify the water. This footie removes bugs, dirt and large debris. It will also help to prevent the water purifying hose from becoming clogged.
Pantyhoseare similar to nylon footies found in shoe stores, but they are made with a finer mesh that filters out even the smallest particles.
coffee filters are great for prefiltering drinking water. This filter removes larger particles and debris from the water. You can use it easily because you only have to pour water through the filter.
Coffee filters don’t take much room in your bag and are very lightweight. Use a rubber band to attach the coffee filter onto the straw.
Bandanas can be used to filter your water in order to remove large particles or contaminants. Prefiltering your water with a bandana will help to extend the life of the water filter.
The cheesecloth is also a great prefilter. Allow the water to pass through the cheesecloth and into the Sawyer filter, or any other container. After you have strained out the larger particles and debris from the water, you may use any water purification method you choose.
Standard fish tubing , and Fish Bubblers are attached to simple syringes to filter water in puddles or poor sources.
As the water is drawn into the tube, the fish bubbler filters it before it reaches the syringe. The syringe can be used to inject water directly into the Sawyer pouch, or any other container. After your water container has been filled, use a filter to purify it further.
Purchased Pre-filters
You can purchase a prefilter at the store if you don’t want to do the DIY or you just prefer a higher quality prefilter that will prolong the lifespan of your filter. Below are a few items that other preppers have used as prefilters.
Filter bags with a 1 micron filter are designed to prolong the life and performance of industrial filters. These bags, which are usually made of polypropylene and polyester mixed together, filter very small particles.
In a hurry, you can skip the water filter altogether and boil your water or use a chemical purifier to get rid of viruses and contaminants.
Aluminum Sulfate (Aluminum Sulfate powder) is a prefilter that can be applied to murky water. Alum powder reacts with the particles and makes them settle at the bottom of the water as a gelatinous substance. Then, pour the top of the water through the filter and leave the majority of sediment at the bottom.
Filter bagsare canvas heavy bags that are designed to remove sand and other particles from your water. The bags themselves do not purify the water. The water that is filtered by a millbank will need to still be purified or cleaned using chemical methods or with a filter. Make sure you soak the millbank bag thoroughly in water for 5-10 minutes, massage it, and squeeze.
It could take several hours to get water through a bag if you do not soak it. Millbank filters are hard to come by, so hold on to them if you find one.
The Inlet Screens for Pressure Washer pumps fit well and work with the Sawyer Squeeze. Inlet filter screens are more efficient and produce less waste than coffee filters.