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Aquapure Traveller
Tested
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Price:
£38.29
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Weight:134 grammes
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Features: water
purifier and filter bottle with iodine resin sleeve and
carbon filter, hold 750 ml of water, filter life
approximately 350 litres of water. Filter cap assembly is
replaceable.
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Simple, relatively cheap, effective.
Can leak if you squeeze to hard, limited life. Iodine side
effects?
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The
Concept The Aquapure Traveller is a self-contained, bicycle-type
bottle which both purifies and filters potentially contaminated
water. The underside of the lid has a carbon filter, which will
remove pathogens like giardia cysts, reduces pollutants, removes bad
tastes and will, say the makers, reduce levels of chemicals like
iodine and chlorine.
The filter also has a iodine resin sleeve around the main carbon
filter which will eliminate viruses and bacteria. It's simple, easy
to use and relatively cheap compared to more complicated water
purification systems.
Features As we said, the Traveller is actually pretty simple.
Since its first incarnation, it's sprouted a new, easier to use
shape, which allows you to hold the bottle at a less extreme angle
when it's part full and the original carbon filter has been augmented
with an iodine impregnated sleeve to kill bacteria and viruses.
Otherwise it might as well be a bicycle bottle.
In Action To give the Traveller a proper field test, we took
it for a three-week trek in the Annapurna region and used it as our
sole source of water purification apart from hot, boiled drinks from
trekking lodges.
It's
simple to use, just fill up, shake and leave for 15 minutes for the
iodine to treat the water, then squeeze out gently like any other
bicycle-type drinks bottle. We drank stream water, water form village
taps and animal troughs, Kathmandu tap water and even some pond water
without getting sick. Because we used mainly fast flowing, clear
water where possible, we didn't have any problem with the filter
clogging, though past experience suggests that if you have to use a
lot of sedimentary water, this may be a problem.
We also left the water for 30 minutes before drinking rather than
the suggested 15 minutes, since iodine takes longer to work when
temperatures are low, for example with water from glacial streams.
It's an ideal compromise for trekkers, see water, fill bottle, drink
water after 30 minutes. It's not group friendly like a pump, but for
individuals it works well.
Downsides? The filter / sleeve section has a limited life of 350
litres after which it needs to be replaced at a cost of £34. The
manufacturers say that you'll know when it's at the end of its useful
life since it'll become hard to squeeze water through the filter. You
should also take care not to squeeze to hard as it's possible to
force unfiltered water out past the cap screw threads and,
potentially, into your mouth. It takes a lot of force though plus a
blocked filter, so shouldn't really be an issue.
Simple and effective, the Aquapure Traveller protected our fragile
western guts from the ravages of Himalayan trekking nasties. It's an
ideal trail companion for an individual trekker allowing you to stay
hydrated and it's affordable compared to more complex filters though
less useful for groups.
In an ideal world we'd like some sort of indicator of remaining
filter life and you should also be aware that using water containing
a lot of sediment will clog things faster and shorten the life of the
bottle. Overall though, it's hard to fault and does what it says on
the bottle. Iodine isn't recommended for long term use mind, so don't
become too dependent...
You could also use it in the UK to drink from mountain streams
with added confidence allowing you to carry less water on hot
days.
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Performance
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Value
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Pushed for time:
Simple and effective, it's a bottle with carbon filter
and iodine impregnated resin sleeve that claims to kill
pretty much everything in water. Easy to use, relatively
affordable, it's a great bit of trekking kit that you could
also use in the UK for drinking from streams.
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Know more or want to?
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you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our gear
forum.
Dave Mycroft
