Water filters - which one do I need for an overland truck safari?
I've just had a great conversation with a customer about water filters and deciding what one he needs to take on his adventure. What adventure is he doing? He is getting the bus to Australia. From the UK. Cool. Now this is a trip that one day I'll be doing.
The journey takes 6 months on board a converted Scania lorry, an overland truck safari grande! My customer said that he was travelling with UK to Oz Overland taking in 23 countries in one massive hit. This is the route they are taking. That's as many countries as I have been to in my life time -let alone cramming them into 6 months, and going through Iran. Iran is supposed to be stunning and you need to get there soon in case the Americans decide they want a regime change. I'm jealous, I'll admit it.
Think of all those fantastic passport stamps and visa's that look really rather grand when you get home. Think of all the fantastic photos, places, people. The three P's sounds like a marketing wheeze. But to me it is really what travel is about. Photo's, Places, People.
So that is the amazing adventure that my client is going on. On an overland truck safari they usually provide you with clean water, but this water is kept in storage tanks on the truck and then often cleaning using a chemical process, such as chlorine. Sometimes this may leave the water not tasting brill, so you may just want to put it through a water filter to give it a thorough clean - hopefully making it taste a little better.
We went through his options and he was advised to get a water filter bottle where you can just fill up the bottle and the top is the filter. Now, 6 months on the road is quite a long time and these bottles only do 150-200 litres of water until you need a new filter. You would probably need to be drink 2-3 liters of fluids a day, especially if it is hot and more than 3 liters if it is excessively hot or you sweat profusely. So you may need to think of a new filter on the bottle every 50-60 days. so on this trip you will need to take two/three spare water filters for the bottle. Which can be expensive.
Looking at other options the Katadyn Mini Water Filter looked like an ideal alternative, but you need to pump the water through the filter, from one container to another container, or directly from the source, be it a stream or a sink in your hotel. The Katadyn Mini Filter can filter up to 7000 liters of water before you need to replace the water filter. So this may be the better option.
Before you go on an overland truck safari, talk to the operator and see what they recommend and what would be the easiest for you to use. My customer is going for an Aquamira water filter bottle -because it what was recommended and because it is simple and easy to use.
What are your thoughts? Have you used water filters on an overland truck safari? Got a question on water filters? Post your comments!!
Want to read an overland truck safari review? Rob sent this one in after his trip to India.
Come and read my blog about travel accessories, walking gear, tips on outdoor gear, info and reviews. There is a smattering of advice posts on what outdoor gear you may want and outdoor gear you need. Hey, I sell outdoor gear, 'course I'll blog about it!. Will couple this with other interesting snippets on the outdoors as and when it pops up. Keep checking back and thanks for looking at the Walk and Travel Blog. Gareth Sear
3 comments:
I used to work on an overland truck in Africa. We had a massive water tank on the bottom of the truck that we would fill up as and when we could, then put a drop of house hold bleach in it! After a day the bleach kills all the germs and evaporates away making it nice and safe and tasty!
Comment from one of the members of our Facebook group! Still not totally sure on this one -what experiences have other people had?
Gareth
Photo's, Places, People. Nice motto! I am doing a round-the-world trip in a few months, probably 2-3 months long and only 6-8 countries. I hadn't planned on taking water filtration because I'll be mostly in developed countries. But it's something to think about!
Hi Dave
Thanks for the comment - sounds like a good trip you are planning. If you are mostly in developed countries, in theory, the tap water should be fine. An old boss of mine always swore by carrying some chlorine tablets with him on any trip, and used the tap water. Possibly a little paranoid, but he said he has never been ill! I would take some though, just to be on the safe side.
Enjoy your trip and it would be great to hear how you get on.
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