Gear: MSR Autoflow

Posted by Madden Driver Coghlan

There is an age old debate among the camping community...what should I use to purifier my water? Each year seems to present a new option. The organization I have spent the last three summers with continues to use Potable Aqua, also known as iodine tablets. Iodine makes your water taste like chemicals, stains your water bottles yellow (and probably your insides too) but it kills giardia about 99.9% of the time. It is also makes refilling 12 water bottles at once a much simpler process than most pumps or alternative methods.
At the beginning of this past summer I was given an MSR Autoflow as a gift. The Autoflow is part of a newer segment of the water purification market. The Autoflow is a relatively simple concept. Fill a bag (similar to a dromedary) with dirty water, hang the bag, and let the water run down throw a filtration system and into a hose that connects easily to most common water bottles. When functioning at 100% it filters about 1.75 liters per minute, and the bag holds up to 4 liters.
The concept behind the Autoflow is great; fill the bag, hang it, and forget about it. There are, however, several design changes before if is actually that carefree to use. First of all, the reservoir could be about twice the size, allowing for refills less often. The biggest downside to the Autoflow is that the filter requires backwashing after every 8 liters. This means that after filling the reservoir twice, one must waste 1 liter of water backwashing the filter (which needs to reversed for the backwashing process).
In the end, I say stick with the iodine. After the first bottle or two, you get used to flavor and there are never any parts to worry about cleaning or replacing. Plus, it won't be until years from now that you know the full extent of the damage done by ingesting all those chemicals.