Appreciate the interest that has been shown regarding the Sawyer Mini Water Filter Bucket Kit. I have enjoyed using the Sawyer. It is simple to operate, reliable, and is a great value. The biggest drawback of the Sawyer is using it with multiple people. It can be done but you’re either all sucking on the same straw or using a lot of time and energy filling small bags or bottles with dirty water and squeezing through the filter. I figured there had to be a better way to use this great filter.
Enter: the Sawyer Bucket Kit.
This simple kit adapts the Sawyer for bucket use. Once a hole is drilled in the supply bucket the components are assembled(instructions included) – and then the Sawyer is attached. That’s it.
Currently, the needed drill bit is not included as I didn’t want to add the expense for something that people may have already. Regardless – any local Harbor Freight, Home Depot or Lowe’s carries the bit and of course Amazon.
Here is one of my most recent trials with the Sawyer Bucket Kit.
#1: Started with a bucket and threw in a bunch of dirt and added a couple gallons of water.
#2: Used a towel as a pre-filter to remove the larger particles.
#3: Towel caught a lot of crap. A finer pre-filter for capturing more of the larger particles would be suggested(coffee filters good for this).
#4: Below is the water ready to go through the Sawyer.
#5: Filtering operation in progress.
#6: Close up of the stream of filtered water exiting the filter.
#7: This is what the non-filtered water looked like sitting in the bucket.
#8: Filtered water is crystal clear.
I was pretty happy with the results. I was interested in seeing how well the water flowed from the bucket through the Sawyer as well as what the water would look like afterward. I was not surprised that the water looked crystal clear after all that is what is supposed to happen. Flow rate was excellent at around 5-6 gallons an hour.
I drank the entire glass of filtered water and found it had no off-taste and tasted like….well…..water. Granted this test was dealing really with only sediment and suspended particles in water. I have no way of knowing about potential pathogens or bacteria but I am still alive so I consider the test a success.
Currently, the kit is priced at $10.99 with free shipping. This is an introductory rate and will likely go up to $12.00 which I think is still a bargain. A 2-pack is only $16.99. Add the Sawyer Mini Water Filter for less than $22 and a high volume filtration system can be put together for around $30. Not bad.
You can visit the 1776PatriotUSA Survival & Preparedness Store to order.
Thanks
Rourke
Wow, that’s impressive. Thanks for documenting this. I actually found a few of these Sawyer Mini water filters at Academy that will filter 1 Million Gallons of water. Quite impressive. They were $29.99. I had to really look for them in the water bottle/ Filter section and they didn’t advertise them online. Here is the closest thing I could find online and it’s almost $60.
http://www.campsaver.com/sawyer-all-in-one-filter?gclid=CJWgzMWj8MwCFQmQaQod3K8P9Q#tabshere
I need to follow up with PR and you Rourke. Been so blasted busy these past few months..sheesh! No kidding I have maybe an hour or two of my own each night. Doesn’t matter though. I still need to re-focus on this!
Capt. Michaels – no worries – life happens.
That Sawyer you mentioned which is higher volume/life will also work with this kit.
We use the Sawyer .1 micron filter on a bucket to filter all rain water for the house. We run it through a coffee filter in a strainer basket when filling the bucket. Any water that is for drinking is then ran through a second Sawyer .02 micron filter to remove bacteria and viruses and then through a PUR charcoal filter pitcher for taste and odor. The .02 micron is much more expensive, but well worth it for added protection, since you will never know what is in the water. The pictures you show are the old style bucket attachment, so be careful the tube doesn’t kink at the fitting. They have a new setup that has a black fitting that supports the tubing at the proper bend radius to prevent it from kinking. I have a couple of each type and definitely prefer the newer style.
Thanks JAS – the kit shown is one I put together and not from Sawyer. The hose is MUCH thicker and a different kind of material. It will not kink. I thought about the cascading filter idea as well – great idea.
Found a two filter kit at REI for around 30 bucks .. might work. When I get one I’m going to dip it out of my pond to test it there.. ditto on the particulates.. looks like fun ..