Camping Water Purifiers

A water filter is a good thing to have when water quality is low, and you can see all kinds of particles floating around in your water. But when water quality is relatively good and all you have to worry about is the stuff in your water that you cant see with the naked eye, camping water purifiers are an ideal solution. Water purifiers are often a lighter option than filters, depending on what kind you get, and do just as good of a job at making your water drinkable.

Camping Water Purifiers

What to look for when you're looking for camping water purifiers.

• Drinkable Timeframe – The one real drawback of many water purifiers is that they can take quite a while to make your water drinkable. In particular, this is a drawback of chemical purifiers, which can sometimes take hours to neutralize everything that might make you sick in the water. When you’re thirsty, this time can matter.
• Purification Method – There are a few different ways to purifier your water that really don’t have very much in common. Chemicals are extremely lightweight, for example, but can take a long time to work. Something like UV light, however, works quickly, but tends to burn through batteries relatively quickly. Just know that you have a few different options.

Best Camping Water Purifiers

A few of the best camping water purifiers, based on the criteria above.

• SteriPEN Adventurer - First up, a UV light water purifier. UV light a great purifier for a couple of reasons, the most important being that it works extremely quickly. At a rate of 8 minutes per gallon, you can get through quite a lot of water in a short amount of time. The drawback of UV light, however, is that the batteries don't last all that long. After about 50 liters you have to replace them. But the unit weighs just 3.6 ounces, which is 102, a very respectable weight for a lot of purified water.
• Katadyn Micropur Tablets - If what you want above all else is to save on weight, chemicals are the best way to get your water purified. These tablets from Katadyn weigh a grand total of just .9 ounces or 25 grams for a total of 30 tablets, each of which will purify 1 liter of water. The drawback with these tablets is that they take 4 hours to work, and sometimes you're thirsty now.
• MSR SweetWater Purifier System - The SweetWater is a combination of filter and purifier. It's the kind of thing you want when you would really rather not be drinking from whatever water source you find yourself drinking from. It uses chlorine to purify the water,  but basically it works just like a regular pump water filter would. It weighs 11.3 ounces, or 320 grams, so it's a little heavier than the other two options, but then it also does a much more thorough job.