Brown Water After Filtering?
Christopher Jackson
I tried out my brand-new PUR Hiker last weekend, pumping from a pond with
lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
Thanks for any input,
Chris Jackson
Lloyd Bowles
>
> I tried out my brand-new PUR Hiker last weekend, pumping from a pond with
> lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
> brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
>
tannin from rotting vegetation. Don't worry about it.
My MSR removed all tannin colour & taste but plugged up quickly & needed
regular cleaning. My PUR Hiker lets some tannin pass through so I use
juice crystals to disguise the taste. The Hiker's element is uncleanable
but lasted about 100 litres in water that would have me cleaning the
MSR's element every few litres.
--
Lloyd Bowles
The Mad Canoeist
"Keep the open side up!"
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/clearstreets/358/index.html
ORBS Bear Canisters - Rentals and Sales
Jackson) wrote:
> I tried out my brand-new PUR Hiker last weekend, pumping from a pond with
> lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
> brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
Maybe defective, maybe not. Filtered water can have a color from
(harmless) dissolved molecules which are too small to be filtered
out, or there could be a defect in the filter which is allowing
through molecules which should have been filtered out. If there is
such a defect, the filter might be letting through mircroorganisms
which would love to set up housekeeping in your belly - a bad thing.
My First Need's instructions say to put a few drops of ordinary red,
green, or blue, food coloring in a glass of water, and filter that
colored water. If it comes out clear, the filter is ok, but if it
comes out colored, the filter is bad. (The food coloring molecules are
apparently just a bit larger than the maximum size that the filter
should let through.) I've relied on this test for the 5 years I've had
the filter, and carry the food coloring in the woods with me.
Don't take a chance. Replace if in doubt.
-- Jeff
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Ronald Correia
>lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
>brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
It's normal. I had the same experience with my PUR Scout and rushed back to
EMS for an explanation. The discoloration is the result of the resin used
to emulsify the iodine in the filter. There is no way to eliminate the
brownish tinge and it is not harmful. If you have a charcoal filter
attached to eliminate the iodine taste, you'll find that the water does not
have any offcolor flavor as a result of the brown tinge.
-- Ron
Lloyd Bowles
>
> >I tried out my brand-new PUR Hiker last weekend, pumping from a pond with
> >lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
> >brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
>
> It's normal. I had the same experience with my PUR Scout and rushed back to
> EMS for an explanation. The discoloration is the result of the resin used
> to emulsify the iodine in the filter.
The PUR Hiker doesn't have iodine, unlike the Voyageur & Scout. The
brown colour (if clear brown) is probably tannin. The Hiker's granular
fiberglass element & granular carbon just don't manage to remove
tannin's colour or flavour.
Bill Rhodes
FILTER
FILTER
FILTER
take it from someone who (now) knows better, well I knew better then too,
but...well it looked so clean, yaknow?
arlen speights
>> It's normal. I had the same experience with my PUR Scout and rushed back to
>> EMS for an explanation. The discoloration is the result of the resin used
>> to emulsify the iodine in the filter.
>
>The PUR Hiker doesn't have iodine, unlike the Voyageur & Scout. The
>brown colour (if clear brown) is probably tannin. The Hiker's granular
>fiberglass element & granular carbon just don't manage to remove
>tannin's colour or flavour.
I think the Hiker has a small amount of iodine (or similar material) to
keep it clean before you open and use it. You flush it out with the first
few pumps, but it's hard to notice unless you do it indoors.
FWIW, I've gotten brownish water many times, mostly the ruddy tannic stuff
that accompanies a recent hard rain or a lot of down wood in the area. I
feel prettty good, and I figure the filter also lets the sweet, mountain
stream taste through.
Arlen
--
Nature is indifferent to our
love, but never unfaithful.
--Edward Abbey
Gary Pagac
>
>I tried out my brand-new PUR Hiker last weekend, pumping from a pond with
>lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
>brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
I've had my Hiker pumping from shallow, warm, ranch-infested
lakes...you know, water that's so algae filled that you cannot see
down six inches...it has always come out clear.
Gary Pagac
speights) wrote:
>I think the Hiker has a small amount of iodine (or similar material) to
>keep it clean before you open and use it. You flush it out with the first
>few pumps, but it's hard to notice unless you do it indoors.
Nope it really doesn't. The only iodine my Hiker has in it is from
when i finish up with a trip. I pump a pint of iodine-treated water
thru it.
Gee, i've never gotten anything but clear water from mine.
jayw...@my-dejanews.com
gpa...@gnNtech.net (Gary Pagac) wrote:
> Gee, i've never gotten anything but clear water from mine.
I have gotten reddish water out of my Hiker when pumping from streams in NY
and Mi near iron mines. The water in the streams in dark red, and the filter
removes some, but not all of the minerals... It won't hurt you. I have been
drinking it for years and olskrp9 soljk if you take aolpieu liuljh uyKE
h>.qaf.....................................THUD!
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Ed Lancaster
Lloyd Bowles
>
> Should have bought MSR.
I did, about 7 years ago. That's why I now use the Hiker.
Alan Hogg
> On 26 Sep 1998 15:46:35 GMT, chja...@indiana.edu (Christopher
> Jackson) wrote:
>
> >
> >I tried out my brand-new PUR Hiker last weekend, pumping from a pond with
> >lots of vegetation. To my surprise, the water had a very noticeable
> >brown tinge after being filtered. Is this normal? Is my filter defective?
Christopher,
A filter like the Hiker cannot remove dissolved organic matter, only
particulate material. In parts of New Zealand, such as Westland, the water
is full of tanins and although very brown is still drinkable. There may
not be a problem with your filter.
--
Dr Alan Hogg,
Director, Carbon Dating Lab,
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer
iodine filter stage -- the color is from iodine. This phenomenon diminishes
over time, but is necessary to kill viruses too small to be filtered out.
The joker with his MSR doesn't have that problem because his filter lacks an
iodine stage -- as well as the ability to kill viruses. Incidentally, I
presently own the PUR Voyageur, SweetWater Guardian+Plus, and MSR's
WaterWorks. They all work.
Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer
www.amazon.com www.barnesandnoble.com
Lloyd Bowles wrote in message <36113663...@bmts.com>...
jayw...@my-dejanews.com
"Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer" <lmwr...@x2.alliance.net> wrote:
> The brownish tinge in water pumped from your PUR is attributable to its
> iodine filter stage -- the color is from iodine. This phenomenon diminishes
> over time, but is necessary to kill viruses too small to be filtered out.
Actually, Len, the original poster is using a PUR Hiker (like mine), which is
merely a microfilter with no iodine. The PUR Explorer uses an iodine core,
but that is the next step up in their product line. I am still voting for
iron content...
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Lloyd Bowles
>
> In article <6vcruk$qgv$1...@news1.triton.net>,
> "Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer" <lmwr...@x2.alliance.net> wrote:
> > The brownish tinge in water pumped from your PUR is attributable to its
> > iodine filter stage -- the color is from iodine. This phenomenon diminishes
> > over time, but is necessary to kill viruses too small to be filtered out.
>
> Actually, Len, the original poster is using a PUR Hiker (like mine), which is
> merely a microfilter with no iodine. The PUR Explorer uses an iodine core,
> but that is the next step up in their product line. I am still voting for
> iron content...
That would be a lot of iron but would be possible. Reminds me of the
iron medicine that my mother said a hospital fed me as a kid. Turns out
it was made at the hospital by adding iron filings to water & letting it
rust. Yuck.
The clear brown water I get from my Hiker is tannin from rotting
vegetation.
If you have a PUR Hiker & don't have enough iodine in your diet, buy a
PUR Voyageur element. It has iodine & fits the Hiker. It may even be
able to kill viruses. :-)
Mike Nowacki
> That would be a lot of iron but would be possible.
Speaking of iron, tannins and brown water. Does anybody here know the source of the
coloration in Ink Lake in Algonquin? I've never tried filtering it, nor would I
ever unless I was using someone else's filter.
It's one hell of a portage to get there Tom Thomson, and no matter how thirsty I am,
I just can't bring myself to filter that water.
Cheers,
Mike
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Arlen Speights
: > Actually, Len, the original poster is using a PUR Hiker (like mine), which is
: > merely a microfilter with no iodine. The PUR Explorer uses an iodine core,
: > but that is the next step up in their product line. I am still voting for
: > iron content...
: The clear brown water I get from my Hiker is tannin from rotting
: vegetation.
I've always thought the tannins produce a reddish color, at least in the
Adirondacks. This summer I spent some time in the Five Ponds area, which
had been hit by severe storms in '95 and last winter. All the lakes were
a deep ruddy red color, even the ones a few miles from blowdown areas.
The color mostly passed right through my PUR Hiker. Iron could just as
easily produce the same color, but if there isn't a lot of red dirt
around, that's not likely to be the source. I grew up around "red hills"
areas of Northwest Louisiana, and in my recollection the water didn't pick
up much color, not nearly as red as in Five Ponds. But different areas
surely have different factors.
FWIW, the PUR Hiker filter is packed with a small amount of Iodine for
storage; it produces a dark grayish color with the first few pumps from
the filter, then the filter pumps clear (notwithstanding the above) for
the rest of the life of the filter element.
Arlen
cy...@visi.com
it'll stain your water bottles pretty darn permanently, too. I think
the tannins are more of a brown up around here. Root beer colour. In
fact I think the Root river was named for that. Pines and tamarks,
mostly, I've heard.
-----
I only answer my email every few months, on average.
Patience helps.
Robert
> Speaking of iron, tannins and brown water. Does anybody here know the source of the
> coloration in Ink Lake in Algonquin?
Hey! It's a small world; I've been there. It's tannin.
Cheers, - Robert