Sawyer Filter with drink additives

[tflaris]

Does anyone have any experience adding drink additives (Nuun tablets, Gatorade,etc) to the “dirty” water and drinking directly from a Smart Water bottle with a Sawyer Filter (not “mini”) attached.

Mainly interested in filter performance and if excessive amounts of backwashing was necessary.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

TF


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[nsherry61]

Any nutrients added to your dirty water will increase the rate of biological growth and fouling within your filter. Anything containing more than salts, that completely dissolve, will likely contribute to clogging.

I wouldn't do it. I'd keep a secondary bottle of filtered water to add my drink mixes to, maybe in a concentrated form (double or triple strength). Then your filter doesn't need to manage your drink mixes and you can manage your electrolytes (and whatnot) independently of the concentration you initially add to your bulk drinking water.

Good luck and have fun.

[T-Rx]

When I did a 650 mile section hike in 2015 one of my hiking partners did just that with no problems. He did backwash routinely but it seemed to work just fine for him. I have never done it myself so this only what I observed. I typically do as nsherry suggest and keep a secondary bottle for my drink mixes. Good luck!

[Slo-go'en]

I would think the molecules of whatever the drink mix is made of would be small enough to pass through the filter.

I rarely filter my water and more often then not add drink mixes to it. The only time I've had issues was back when I used to use Ice Tea mix with real sugar. That would grow science projects in the water bottle before long in hot weather. Not an issue with the sugar free drink mixes.

[Odd Man Out]

If the substances are truly dissolved (rather than suspended particles) then they won't clog the filter directly as they will be much smaller than 0.1 micrometer. You should be able to tell by appearance. Solutions with dissolved substances are clear. Liquids with suspended particles are cloudy. However the concern about microbial grown fouling and clogging the filter legitimate.

[chknfngrs]

Try it at home first! I wouldn’t do it, personally.

[Traveler]

FWIW - As a practical rule, I separate dirty water from filtered water, and filtered water from flavored water. For me, there is little logic in flavoring dirty water that needs to be filtered. I also do not want to have flavor residue in fresh water bladders or containers, so I carry some small plastic water bottles for flavored water use.

[rhjanes]

Maybe I've got an operator (me) error, but when I use tablets, it is into filtered water in a dedicated Smart Water bottle or something similar. There always seems to be a residue floating in the water from the tablet and also a very faint "smoky" look to the bottle after I've drunk it. Washes right out. No sure what that might all mean, but I'd not want to have my filter, have to filter something out that I'd added.

[Gambit McCrae]

I am missing the point here....why would you even consider putting additives in pre filter process??

[Starchild]

Also I separated flavored water from non flavored water, there is usually a non-removable residual taste that lingers. It ruins the flavor of pure water.

Putting flavored water though the filter might cause it to be a breeding ground for the little microbe critters, IDK.

[Starchild]

I am missing the point here....why would you even consider putting additives in pre filter process??

I think the idea is to drink though the filter like a lifestraw.

[Analog_Kidd]

I wouldn't add more stuff to potentially clog the filter. If flavored water is that important, take 5 minutes and filter it into a bottle, then add flavoring.

[Deadeye]

Follow the directions... filter first - into a separate container - then add flavor if you want.

[blw2]

I am missing the point here....why would you even consider putting additives in pre filter process??

I'd guess the idea is to eliminate having to squeeze into another bottle. I would understand the idea of how nice it is to just fill the bottle at the spring, put the filter on the bottle, and go.... no dealing with clean bottles, dirty bottles, etc....

[shelb]

I did the additives to my water AFTER filtering with the Sawyer Squeeze... That worked great! (in the bag or in Smartwater bottle...)

[Miner]

As mentioned, drink mixes tend to promote bacteria growth. Thus, I limit what container gets them on a hike; usually using a reused gatoraid/poweraid bottle that can be tossed later so I don't have to clean it. I don't use them in my playpus resevoirs which would have to be cleaned and disinfected later along with the drinking tube; usually having to resort to using a brush to do a good job. If I just use water in them, cleaning is usually simple by using a little bleach. So the idea of running mixes through a filter just seems to scream bacteria growth inside. I'd prefer to minimize that if I could as I'd likely feel obligated to replace the filters more often, even with back flushing with bleach frequently.