First Need Deluxe Water Purifier Review

My son is the quartermaster for his scout troop. We had 3 older (circa 2000) First Need water filters in our troop and they have been used on dozens of trips backpackingall over Michigan and the rest of country. When time the time came to replace the canisters we were not able to find replacements and the older systems had been well used. I came right back to First Need because I knew they worked and was not disappointed. I bought two of these this summer for a trip to North Manitou Island in Michigan for 10 boys & 4 adults. We filtered easily over 50 gallons of water over 5 days from Lake Michigan.. We also had 1 MSR MiniWorks filter... these First Need filters would fill a large Nalgene bottle in about 1 minute, where as the MSR takes 5-6 minutes. We would fill a 5 gallon collapsible water jug at the the lake, bring it back to camp and then, pumping from the jug, fill all the Nalgene bottles (about 15) and everyones water bladders in about 15 minutes using just two of these pumps. Also using the gravity filter option using the storage back works fine but it is slow.. if you have the time or are using a low volume of water, this is very nice feature.

On our trip, lake water has a lot of sand. The first line filter at the end of the plastic tube would plug with sand sometimes so you need to clean it and if the pump slows or becomes difficult to pump you need to back flush "FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS" to get it flowing. We only had to back flush one pump during the 5 days we were out. Make sure when you store them, you back flush w/a few drops of chlorine in the water, from a good water source before you put them away.

The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5, is the the pumps have started very minor leaking around the O-rings and I am concerned about longevity. I have followed the instructions to lubricate them since we got back, but have not had them in service long enough to be sure if there is a problem or not. For sure we will test them! Boy Scouts are known for being VERY ROUGH on equipment. If they don't break it, you won't using it for yourself.

PROS:
Fast
Efficient
Great tasting water
Fit Nalgene Wide Mouth Bottles & has adapters available to fit others

CONS:
Bulky
Heavier than competitors
"MUST BE BACK FLUSHED OCCASIONALLY AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!!"

Mike Cody - Troop 294 Richland, MI

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Product Description:
The First Need Deluxe Water purifier has a 0.1 micron carbon matrix filter element which cranks out a rapid 1.8 liters per minute. The First Need by General Ecology has an incredible filter and a the super-fast pump rate. This advanced water purifier has a capacity of 135 gallons - which is substantial if you consider that the average person consumes about a half gallon per day. Many backpackers like this water purifier because it is compact and its redesigned handle fits comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Product Features

Purifying Element: Structured Matrix chemical-free technology
Purification Rate: 1.8 L / min
Output: 135 gallons per filter
Country of Origin: United States

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