1. After purchasing your Purifier/Microfilter, familiarize yourself with the unit before your back country trip. Learn how the unit works, feels, and the amount of water that it produces. Read the user manual and understand how to trouble-shoot.

2. Slow even pumping strokes will produce more water with less effort. Fast, hard or erratic pump strokes will cause cavitation that will result in lower water output and possible damage to the filter or unit.

3. Lakes or still-water generally have less suspended particulate matter and are easier on your filter. Fast moving streams and rivers agitate sediment and can cause your filter to clog prematurely. If possible, keep your prefilter off the bottom to avoid drawing sediment directly into the filter unit. The middle of the lake is ideal.

Important Note: In heavily sedimented water, wrap a disposable coffee filter over the prefilter and secure with a rubberband. Replace as needed. Some people use bandanas and/or pieces of a t-shirt. Draw a container (cooking pot) of lake water and let sit over night. Filter water from top of the container.

4. For an added precaution, separate your intake hose from your output hose. Minimizing cross-contamination helps reduce the risk of ingesting microbiological contamination. Use a reclosable food bag to keep your hoses separate, and to keep your pack dry.

Important Note:

Surface water is one of many sources for becoming sick from microbiological contamination. Unfortunately there are many avenues for contamination.

Examples include: improperly stored food, dirty food utensils, unclean cookwear, unclean water bottle / bladder, washing-up in a stream, and not exercising good personal hygiene. For these reasons, it is important to maintain proper sanitary conditions in the back country. A water treatment system is only one part of the equation.

5. Make sure the black or red shipping caps are removed from your filtration unit before the intake and product water hoses are installed. Yes, even experienced users have made this mistake.

6. When you change your filter cartridge, take the unit apart and rinse / wipe off any visible sediment. Grease o-rings with provided silicon. Apply liberally, but do not over-grease.

7. If you're going on an extended trip, or going with a large group of people, be sure to take along a spare filter cartridge.