Cabelas Katadyn Vario Water Microfilter PLugged Up

[PacWestUL]

I hope my pics work! Here it is... my pieced together water filter system - the frankenfilter. I didn't even realize it until now, but both the 11.5L bucket and 8L camp bladder are from seattle sports. Both are super lightweight, collapsible, and inexpensive. The pieces I hijacked from the katadyn system were the tubing, metal tube holding clip thingy, and pre-filter. The clear/blue/white thing is my filter, and I keep a sawyer filter as backup. Will use sawyer filters in the future once my original fails. Has a quick connect end for my backpack bladder.

I find a branch in the woods to hang my bucket full of water, at least 3' up, then create the siphon and start filtering! Once its going I walk away and come back in 10 to check on it. The collapsible bucket was originally purchased to put out camp fires, and once my katadyn failed twice, was integrated into my filter system.

If I fill all of my water containers up at a source, I can carry 11L of fresh filtered water in 2 bladders, plus 11.5 L (3 gallons) extra in the bucket unfiltered, so long as I carry it to wherever I'm going. At one hunting spot, I pack in this system, and my last water source is a mile from camp. I will fill up full and carry heavy, all 22 liters, the last mile so I'm not short on water at all. I'm also a heavy drinker at 3L a day in the backcountry. Hope my setup helps you figure out yours! Glad to answer any more questions.

oh yea... $$
katadyn - $200 over 2 seasons and failed
frankenfilter - $60 over 2 seasons and still going strong

 

[Slugz]

I find it interesting to hear of all these pump filters failing. Does anyone have any pics of what the water you filtered looks like prior to pumping?

 

[PacWestUL]

Slugz, I do not have pics but I can tell you the first time my pump failed was in shallow water that started fairly clear. It was in an abandoned beaver pond at 8k', muddy bottom, fair amount of vegetation. The pumping action actually caused the water to stir and become too dirty. It picked up fine particles and shut down. The second failure was in running water that was clear as day. Maybe a better prefilter as others have suggested would have worked better.

 

[Slugz]

Slugz, I do not have pics but I can tell you the first time my pump failed was in shallow water that started fairly clear. It was in an abandoned beaver pond at 8k', muddy bottom, fair amount of vegetation. The pumping action actually caused the water to stir and become too dirty. It picked up fine particles and shut down. The second failure was in running water that was clear as day. Maybe a better prefilter as others have suggested would have worked better.

I dont know what to say then. It shouldn't have clogged that easy IMO.

 

[PacWestUL]

Theres always an element of operator error, so that wouldnt necessarily surprise me. With a pump, I feel that you are forcing your filter to accept water that it may not filter well. With the gravity filter, the filth you don't want to filter falls out to the bottom, while the cleanest water at the top is filtered. Part of my setup involves using the salvaged katadyn prefilter, which has an adjustable float attached to the tubes. Keeps my prefilter nice and high, away from dirt now. So far, I have not filtered really dirty water with my gravity filter, however when I do, I will either let the water settle, or cover the prefilter with a cloth if I feel its necessary.