Water filter

Clean water is the first thing you lose when pipes stop working. This small filter lets you drink from a stream, a pond or a rain barrel without boiling.

Inside are thousands of tiny hollow fibres. Water passes through their walls, but bacteria and parasites are too big to get through. These are common causes of illness from untreated water.

The filter works only with gravity or a gentle squeeze. It needs no batteries and no fuel, and you can reuse it for months.

Why it’s in the kit

Shops sell out of bottled water within hours of a crisis. Boiling uses fuel you may not have. A filter gives you safe water from almost any fresh source, quietly and quickly. For water that may also contain viruses, such as near sewage or in flooded cities, treat it with purification tablets as well.

Storage & maintenance

Store the filter dry, in its bag, at room temperature. After each use, backflush it and let it dry. If it freezes while wet, treat it as damaged and replace it. Check the cap seals once a year.