MSR Miniworks water filter.

User avatar
WarrenH
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 3:58 am

MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby WarrenH » Sat Mar 23, 2013 8:44 pm

After a request to give my opinion of the MSR Miniworks water filter by one of BNA ACF's most illustrious posters ... I've pulled-out some old shots and taken some new stuff of the water filter, to answer his questions.

My own question that sums up the filter's performance. Would I buy this filter again? ... yes most definitely. This filter has given me good service and I don't ever question if it is up to the job no matter how bad the water quality. The filter is not suitable for filtering salt water.

Is the filter labour intensive to use? ... yes it most definitely is, if I don't maintain it adequately. Without timely maintenance it's performance is as slow as a wet week. If I keep it clean and sterilize it once a week, when travelling, it is first class, quick and efficient. I've had the filter for a few years now and I'm still using the same ceramic cartridge, that the manufacturer expected to have a life of 5,000 filtered litres.

What isn't efficient, is then processing the water after it has been filtered. I boil every drop for 8 minutes. Why for 8 minutes? ... ask a prion.

Now for some shots.

As you can see the filter isn't very big, like a Trangia pot gripper big.

Image

What makes it look big is screwing a 1lt Nalgene bottle onto it.

Image

Filtering farm dam water yesterday on the BNT below mount Tennant. All the creeks, like the Naas (had unlinked stagnant pools or no water at all) and the Gudgenby had two dead sheep in it and it stank. I filtered water at the farm dam at the corner of Boboyan and Sunshine Roads. The long length of the hose works well when I can't get up-close to the water.

Image

Image

After reading here on BNA about covering the inlet with a paper coffee filter, to double the time between maintenance ... this has been spot-on advice. Chapeaux.

Image

Maintenance is easy. Easy to screw apart and to clean each bit adequately. Over the past three years I've only ever rinsed the parts and the hose and scrubbed-down the ceramic cartridge, when needed. It is only the ceramic cartridge that is sterilized by a rolling boil, for 8 minutes. I've been getting between 7-11 litres of filtered water at 1lt per minute, depending on the water's turbidity. Then the filter cartridge needs lightly rubbing down with a Scotchbrite scourer to clean the cartridge, if the flow falters. To keep the piston's O ring well sealed, I give it a light coating of Vaseline.

All the bits exploded (less the hose and hose intake) ... although I haven't removed the needle valve from the red piston housing for the photo. The red crescent that comes off the base if it slides over the filter cartridge then the filter has been worn down by cleaning and then need replacing.

Image

I purchased the MSR Miniworks about 3 years ago, for $135 AU after ordering it from a camping store here in Canberra.

I'll post some shots of where I've used the filter over the last few years.

Warren.
Last edited by WarrenH on Sat Mar 23, 2013 9:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
il padrone
Posts: 22931
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:57 pm
Location: Heading for home.

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby il padrone » Sat Mar 23, 2013 9:20 pm

WarrenH wrote:Why for 8 minutes? ... ask a prion.
Now you've got my inquisitiveness piqued.

How do people contract prion diseases?

Acquired infection occurs through diet (eating infectious parts of mad cow) or medical procedures (including brain surgery with contaminated equipment), growth hormone injections (which were once extracted from human pituitary glands, which is located near the brain) or corneal transplants. As doctors have identified these routes, medical procedures have changed to eliminate them....

....According to the Centers for Disease Control, 213 Americans died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in 2000, including inherited and spontaneous disease. None of the cases was blamed on eating meat.
From http://whyfiles.org/193prion/5.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you really think this is a likely risk in water, I don't see a filter or boiling at a campsite as having any effect.
How to stamp out prions? The list is short, the methods vicious:

Incineration at 1000 degrees C

Autoclaving (steam heating) at 134 degrees C for 15 minutes or longer

Exposure to highly concentrated sodium hydroxide (lye) for 15 minutes in a boiling solution.

Exposure to concentrated bleach for one hour.

BTW
Prions naturally occur in your body, so they are not recognized as foreign and don't stimulate the immune system. They have the potential to cause disease, but won't automatically harm you.
From http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthings ... 22703a.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see this as any sort of risk in the Australian bush from drinking water that is clean, or has been treated by normal methods. If you have other information it would be valuable to all, but please avoid scaremongering.

polishbiker
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:18 am

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby polishbiker » Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:51 am

Warren - Are you saying you still boil the water after filtering? I was under impression that filtering water is a process so you dont have to worry about boiling and can drink it straight after filtering?

User avatar
rifraf
Posts: 3845
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:55 pm
Location: Two Rocks, WA

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby rifraf » Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:21 am

Great thread Warren.
I'm sold :!:
I'm hoping theres now a mad rush of posts each out doing the previous with links to the hottest online prices :lol: :lol:
Oh and was the Nalgene bottle part of the kit or an optional extra :?:
Cheers
Aidan

alexf
Posts: 274
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:55 pm

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby alexf » Sat Mar 30, 2013 7:55 pm

Excellent. Just in time for us to consider for our long trip. We already have a steripen, now just need to find something that will remove particulates... :)

}SkOrPn--7
Posts: 2406
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:15 pm

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby }SkOrPn--7 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:04 am

I back up Warren the product just works and has never let me down plus if your carry a MSR Dromedary water bladder like I do as well it fits right on great bit of kit.

Ricky

User avatar
Wingnut
Posts: 883
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:01 pm
Location: Mornington Peninsula...

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby Wingnut » Tue Apr 16, 2013 3:29 pm

I wonder how MSR water filters compare to Katadyn...?

User avatar
WarrenH
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 3:58 am

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby WarrenH » Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:24 pm

...
Last edited by WarrenH on Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"But on steep descending...Larson TT have bad effect on the mind of a rider" - MadRider from Suji, Korea 2001.

"Paved roads ... another fine example of wasteful government spending." - a bumper sticker.

User avatar
WarrenH
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 3:58 am

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby WarrenH » Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:25 pm

il padrone, Peter, sincere apologies. My post to your response, posted that same evening, isn't on this thread. Thanks for waiting for my belated reply.
il padrone wrote:How do people contract prion diseases?
I've no idea. Boiling to 8 minutes will be the next best thing, to reaching a 1,000ºC takeout? But, I do know that MSR recommends boiling the filter cartridge for 8 minutes once a week when on tour and a Microbiologist who was also a Parasitologist at the School of Biological Sciences at ANU, recommended (many years ago) that I boil water for 8 minutes in this region ... and also a NSWPWS Ranger at Royal National Park when I quizzed him about Botulism in Royal, attributed to the feral Samba Deer, recommended boiling park water for 8 minutes. Who am I to question those who know more about it than me? If you have been reading the NSW Livestock Health and Pest Associations Senior Vet's papers recently, you will know that Botulism has raised its ugly head on the NSW South Coast again, after several hundred native duck were found dead around Nowra in February.
il padrone wrote:If you really think this is a likely risk in water, I don't see a filter or boiling at a campsite as having any effect.
Peter, I presume your comment was concerning prions? Over the last few years I've been exploring the Travelling Stock Routes of NSW. Many of the trails and the trails around home share sections with horse trail and the TSRs with cattle and sheep of course. Simply, stock plus rain & flying dirt equals ecoli. Perhaps some of these shots might help to describe what it is like. Also, here in the SE of NSW and the ACT feral animals especially pigs are a curse to the water courses ... not to mention inconsiderate people dumping and the possible contamination from floods debris.

Image


On a tributary of the Murrumbidgee ... and we joke here about Adelaide, drinking Canberra's waste water.

Image


In a nature reserve, feral cattle have fouled this once pristine little frog pond.

Image


On the Great South Coast Walking Track, that I spent time exploring a possible bike route, riding on the beaches alternating with fire trails, earlier this year. At Poole's Beach, the once reliable water soak, 20m north of the campsite, was not very welcoming ... to me.

Image

Image


Neddies, cattle and sheep are upstream, every where that I've camped over the last few years.

Image

Image

Image

il padrone wrote:I don't see this as any sort of risk in the Australian bush from drinking water that is clean, or has been treated by normal methods. If you have other information it would be valuable to all, but please avoid scaremongering.
I agree, about being in the bush. Scaremongering was not my intention ... but I know what I need to do.

Cheers Mate.

Warren.

PS, Another question. Even after boiling water for 8 minutes, if I don't refrigerate the water, what is that boiled water like in 24 hours time? It's nothing like it was immediately after boiling ... but I'll still drink it.
"But on steep descending...Larson TT have bad effect on the mind of a rider" - MadRider from Suji, Korea 2001.

"Paved roads ... another fine example of wasteful government spending." - a bumper sticker.

User avatar
rifraf
Posts: 3845
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:55 pm
Location: Two Rocks, WA

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby rifraf » Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:44 am

Got my widemouth Nalgene bottles (supposed to make a good hot water bottle on cold nights) and my MSR Miniworks is on its way from the US.

Wazza if your reading this, how often might the seals need replacing? I ask having seen a maintenance kit (seal replacement kit) on ebay.
Great to know Vaseline is a suitable lubricant for the unit.

Thanks for the blow up of the individual parts.
Surly Ogre, Extrawheel trailer.

User avatar
rifraf
Posts: 3845
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:55 pm
Location: Two Rocks, WA

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby rifraf » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:05 pm

My Miniworks arrived today.
For anyone looking Bike24 has them here:
https://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8; ... 2||240,245||||||||" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
88.19Euro or approx $125.87Au plus postage

as well as the popular light weight stove - the pocketrocket:
https://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8; ... 81;mid=567" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
25.17Euro or approx $35.91Au

Which for the Miniworks is a bit cheaper than the best Aussie price I can find of $143.95
http://www.hiking.com.au/p/1143243/msr- ... ilter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and
http://www.summitgear.com.au/shop/index ... cts_id=546" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another option appears to be bikewagon.com who also has an ebay site.
Their home site lists the Miniworks at $89.99US plus postage.
I've had issues with their communication so havnt used them

For any Taswegians amongst us, there is someone "down there" offering one on gumtree for $120 in Hobart:
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/west-hob ... 1021234183" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Surly Ogre, Extrawheel trailer.

User avatar
WarrenH
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 3:58 am

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby WarrenH » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:45 pm

Rif, G'day.

I've had the filter for about 28 months. It has been well used and I still have the original parts in service. I've only re-greased the O rings once, that was with a light smearing of Vaseline and that was just prior to my last trip along the BNT during June. The O rings are showing no signs of deterioration, what-so-ever. Nor is any other part if the filter. I try to be as uniform as possible when cleaning the soft ceramic element, so that I get uniform wear, when I'm scouring it.

One thing to be careful of, if you do remove the split-bolts, make sure that they are put back in from the side that they were removed from. If they're put back in from the opposite side, they feel clipped-in, but they will fall out. They don't clip-in well if replaced from the wrong side, and when least expected they will fall out ... like one of my bolts did into the Wollondilly River. Fortunately I recovered the split-bolt because the water was shallow, crystal clear and thankfully slow flowing.

Some places where I got water in cattle country, on the Great Dividing Range, during June.

The upper headwaters of the Wollondilly River, North of Broken Bridge.

Image


Corroboree Creek on the Melrose Plateau.

Image


... and Waiborough Creek in the Southern Blue Mountains.

Image


Warren.
"But on steep descending...Larson TT have bad effect on the mind of a rider" - MadRider from Suji, Korea 2001.

"Paved roads ... another fine example of wasteful government spending." - a bumper sticker.

User avatar
clackers
Posts: 2065
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 10:48 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby clackers » Wed Jul 24, 2013 2:37 pm

Btw , Warren - nice pics!

User avatar
FXST01
Posts: 259
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:16 pm
Location: Perth WA
Contact:

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby FXST01 » Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:09 am

Wingnut wrote:I wonder how MSR water filters compare to Katadyn...?
Katadyn Vario
Filter: Pleated glassfibre with carbon core and a ceramic prefilter
Filter life: 400 - 2000L
Fast flow setting: 2L/min or long-life setting: 1.1L/min
Size: 190 x 100mm
Weight: 425g

MSR Miniworks
Filter: Ceramic plus carbon
Filter life: ~2000L
Flow settings: 1L/min
Size 190 x 70mm
Weight:456g

Both protect against Protozoa and bacteria.
Both are effective against particulates.

Both look like they are designed by a committee that cheated off each other.

Image
Image
Photos not to scale with each other.

I personally have a Katadyn filter, which I bought of Amazon for much cheaper than available in Australia.
Image

User avatar
Wingnut
Posts: 883
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:01 pm
Location: Mornington Peninsula...

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby Wingnut » Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:55 pm

I've got the Katadyn too but mine is the non-plastic version...got it from Amazon half price prior to geo-blocking...it's bombproof but not the lightest...I prefer durability.

Image

User avatar
apsilon
Posts: 253
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:49 pm
Location: Hills District, Sydney

Re: MSR Miniworks water filter.

Postby apsilon » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:52 pm

I have the MSR Waterworks which is essentially the same as the Miniworks (Waterworks has an additional filtration membrane IIRC) and agree it's an awesome unit. I've never bothered boiling afterwards and so far so good. Can't hurt to boil of course except using a little more fuel.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users