Why and How You Should Test Your Camping Water Filter
If you regularly go out camping in the wilderness away from civilization and camping sites, then you're probably aware that unless you have a large bulk of water with you, you need to be prepared to drink water from lakes and rivers.
This will particularly be the case if you get lost and it takes longer for you to return home than expected.
To be on the safe side, it's always important to carry a camping water filter when you are out there camping.
The truth is, a lot of lakes and rivers carry a lot of bacteria and toxins that you need to eliminate with your camping water filter.
Without filtering unclean water, it can make you very sick, and in the most severe cases could lead to death, especially if you're quite far out in the wilderness.
However, it's important to understand that not every camping water filter is necessarily 100% functional.
Just about anything can be defective, and it could potentially be an awfully bad situation if you were filtering water from lakes and rivers that wasn't being completely eliminated of its bacteria and toxins.
So, what can you do to ensure that your filter is completely functional and gets the job done? First of all, you need to start thinking about labs.
You will need a sample of water from a nearby lake or river tested in a lab for you.
The idea will be to filter it before sending it off to the chosen lab, and if it comes back as a clean result, it means your filter is working.
You can find the contact details of appropriate labs by calling your state certification office and asking them to give you a list of the labs that are permitted to perform water testing.
Start getting in touch with the labs from your given list and ask about pricing and how long it will take to get a result.
Explain that you're testing the functionality of your camping water filter, and they should then be able to explain the results to you more appropriately.
When you have decided on which lab to go for, they may send you a container for you to fill with the filtered lake water.
You should then be able to send this straight back once filled up, or in some cases you may have to drop it off, but it's definitely worth it in the end.
Before filling the container with the filtered lake water, make sure you follow any instructions carefully so that you don't contaminate the sample.
Once the lab receives your sample, it's just a matter of waiting for the result.
You may receive it via the phone or through the mail - it really depends on the lab you've chosen.
It could take between a few days and a few weeks to get your result, but it's worth the wait for knowing whether your camping water filter is safe to use or not.
This will particularly be the case if you get lost and it takes longer for you to return home than expected.
To be on the safe side, it's always important to carry a camping water filter when you are out there camping.
The truth is, a lot of lakes and rivers carry a lot of bacteria and toxins that you need to eliminate with your camping water filter.
Without filtering unclean water, it can make you very sick, and in the most severe cases could lead to death, especially if you're quite far out in the wilderness.
However, it's important to understand that not every camping water filter is necessarily 100% functional.
Just about anything can be defective, and it could potentially be an awfully bad situation if you were filtering water from lakes and rivers that wasn't being completely eliminated of its bacteria and toxins.
So, what can you do to ensure that your filter is completely functional and gets the job done? First of all, you need to start thinking about labs.
You will need a sample of water from a nearby lake or river tested in a lab for you.
The idea will be to filter it before sending it off to the chosen lab, and if it comes back as a clean result, it means your filter is working.
You can find the contact details of appropriate labs by calling your state certification office and asking them to give you a list of the labs that are permitted to perform water testing.
Start getting in touch with the labs from your given list and ask about pricing and how long it will take to get a result.
Explain that you're testing the functionality of your camping water filter, and they should then be able to explain the results to you more appropriately.
When you have decided on which lab to go for, they may send you a container for you to fill with the filtered lake water.
You should then be able to send this straight back once filled up, or in some cases you may have to drop it off, but it's definitely worth it in the end.
Before filling the container with the filtered lake water, make sure you follow any instructions carefully so that you don't contaminate the sample.
Once the lab receives your sample, it's just a matter of waiting for the result.
You may receive it via the phone or through the mail - it really depends on the lab you've chosen.
It could take between a few days and a few weeks to get your result, but it's worth the wait for knowing whether your camping water filter is safe to use or not.
