Drinksafe Systems Aquaguard Eliminator Inline Hydration Filter and Purifier

for those who may want extra connectors for this or just want bladder tube connectors which will probably last you a lifetime, they are the APC 1/4" range of CPC Couplings and are available here. they come with valves or without.

Tom Parker

and they ain't cheap but that's the price of quality.

many thanks to Giles for the info.

The connectors aren't too badly priced when you see how much shipping costs

I actually phoned to see if they really needed £26 for 4 connectors, the answer was unfortunately yes, it's the software you see, the computer has control and no one has the inititive to operate outside of that.

Looking at them, I take it the female part is:

cAPCD17004S
IN-LINE HOSE BARB BODY WITH
SHROUD 1/4" TUBE ID SHUT-OFF

and the male part is

cAPC220-04
PLASTIC QUICK INSERT ACETAL
1/4" ID HOSE

Unless you want shut-off in both parts

cAPCD220-04
IN-LINE HOSE BARB INSERT
1/4" TUBE ID SHUT OFF

Is that right?

Thats right, I've just ordered some, both ends 'Dry Break' and a couple of extra open inserts.

I've fitted my filter to a Source Convertube, works really well even though you have to draw against gravity and the filter. Tried it with PET bottles, Sigg Bottles and plastic collapsable bottles. It can't do gravity feed with the Convertube but you can squeeze through or syphon.

Parky, cheers, I didn't see that as I'd previously added more than £30 to the basket, go over £30 and the Recorded Delivery option isn't there. Don't know why I wasn't told about the cheaper option if the order is below £30. 

I set my Eliminator up last night and had a bit of a play with it.

I'm using it with a 3L Source Widepac.  Obviously I don't carry 3 litrtes of water but I've always found that a partially-filled bladder is easier to pack than a full one for only a few more grammes.

I cut a 6-inch section from the Widepac tube about 8 inches from the end that fits into the bladder and attached one end to a screw-in connector.  This section is to be used for gravity feeding my Platy bottles when pitching for the night.

Next I attached a screw-in attachment to each end of the filter and fitted it in-line.  The Q/D attachments are too narrow for Source tubing and, in any case, I can't see why you would want to detach the filter in the field.  The filter lies in the hydration sleeve, near the top of the bladder.

I tested the set-up for both drinking through the bite valve and gravity feeding and it works really, really well.  You do have to suck a bit harder (fnar fnar) to draw water through the filter but that's only to be expected. 

Unscrewing the bite valve tube and attaching the 6-inch tube, I had to suck water through to start the flow for gravity feeding but the flow was then plenty adequate - not 300ml / minute but not far off and fine for filling a couple of Platy bottles in the evening.  It was also way faster than my previous method of iodine tabs.

And the water quality?  I was only using tap water but the filter clearly removed the chlorine taste and the water tasted great. 

In short, this is a great bit of kit.  The only additional weight is that of the filter and a few grammes for the connectors and for that you've got instant clean, clear water.  I'll be testing it in anger this weekend but so far I'm well chuffed with it.  

Jake wrote (see)

 The Q/D attachments are too narrow for Source tubing and, in any case, I can't see why you would want to detach the filter in the field.  The filter lies in the hydration sleeve, near the top of the bladder.

I wanted to be able to disconnect the filter so that I could submerge the bladder to re-fill it without contaminating the outlet end of the filter or without having to remove the feedtube from the rucksack. I'll be adding a 'Dry Break' insert to the feed tube where it connects to the filter (I have mine set up with the Q/D body fitted to the bladder end of the filter and the insert end fitted to the outlet end) so that I can re-fit the bladder or indeed carry the bladder without losing water out the open end of the Q/D.

The Convertube must be smaller diameter than the feed tube on the Widepac, I have a Widepac but I didn't try the Eliminator, in fact I haven't opened it yet.

the widepak must use a wider diameter tube because the valve thingies fit my source tubing just fine. have you tried some ptfe tape around the connectors to see if they fit that way?

i want the valves for the same reason as r_mac, to be able to dunk or refill easily without fiddling about with the tubing and also to use the bladder as "gravity feed" (used with an different bit of "connected" tubing) for filling bottles, cooking and washing.

the connectors make moving the filter a doddle to use in other applications. only limited by your imagination and some extra tubing e.g. use two filters in series or parallel. use a "used" filter case as a sediment filter. use an "old" filter as a sacrificial one.

Hi Parky, thanks for the info regarding shipping for the valved Q/D fittings

This is how I have my system set up, I'll add the 'Dry Break' fittings when they arrive.

http://maceachain.blogspot.com/2009/05/source-convertube-aquaguard-eliminator.html

Parky Again wrote (see)

i want the valves for the same reason as r_mac, to be able to dunk or refill easily without fiddling about with the tubing and also to use the bladder as "gravity feed" (used with an different bit of "connected" tubing) for filling bottles, cooking and washing.

I got my Valved fitting this morning from Tom Parker.co.uk. Great service, I ordered them on Thursday night IIRC. Fitted a valved insert to the feed tube where it attached to the input side of the filter. Information and pic's on my blog.

http://maceachain.blogspot.com/2009/05/valved-dry-break-qd-connectors.html

Gave my set-up a trial today, videos pt 1 & 2 should be online later.

The Eliminator is a brilliant product, best product I've bought so far this year by a long long way, delivers all that it promises and more.

great videos r_mac.

now to play with different configurations that should be a doddle with the connectors.

Thanks Parky

Well, back from a 2-nighter on Dartmoor and the Eliminator has been an excellent bit of kit.

A bit more effort to draw water through the filter when on the move but infinitely better than the waiting for iodine plus neutraliser or hauling the weight of an MSR or Katadyn filter.

I'm perfectly happy using the screw-in connectors as the only time I have to unscrew one is when switching from bite valve tube to open-ended tube to fill my bottles for the evening.  Gravity-fed flow rate could be better as I find it difficult to eliminate all the air bubbles from the tube section downstream of the filter but it's not a big deal.

I highly recommend it.

One final point on the fitting of the Q/R connectors to Source tubing; I tried them on a Widepac that I have had for a couple of years and they were definitely too narrow -pulled out very easily and would not have been watertight under pressure.  A couple of days ago, I tried them with a new Widepac that I had bought and the fit was better, although still not as good as, e.g. the fit of the tubing in the fittings supplied with the Widepac.   

Jake wrote (see)

One final point on the fitting of the Q/R connectors to Source tubing; I tried them on a Widepac that I have had for a couple of years and they were definitely too narrow -pulled out very easily and would not have been watertight under pressure.  A couple of days ago, I tried them with a new Widepac that I had bought and the fit was better, although still not as good as, e.g. the fit of the tubing in the fittings supplied with the Widepac.   

> He said that there was too much sediment, however I used this system to filter mountain spring water from a hose!  And when this broke I used chlorine drops and did not consume any sediment!

You might not notice any such sediment.  Mountain run-off, especially glacial mountain run-off, can be very high in sediment, which would be likely to block the pores of the filter.  I imagine this sediment would be fairly obvious if the filter were examined destructively.

Given how helpful many users here have found Giles to be, I think it unlikely that he's ripping anyone off.  It's up to him to choose how he handles device failures that he considers aren't inherent faults; some suppliers would replace even if they considered themselves not at fault.  Without his side of the story, it's hard to make a judgement.

i would echo the capt's comments.

giles has always been extremely helpful and generous.