SweetWater Guardian Purifier System with ViralStop

Review Date
April 28, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: Bradley(Unregistered User) ,  Day Hiker

Price Paid:  $50.00 at Travel Country

Summary:
I bought the Sweetwater about 20 years ago as a kid. First time I used it it shot out black water full of carbon fines; no big deal most carbon filters do this. I haven't used it all that much, but that water has always been clean and good tasting. Worst water I ever filtered was from a mud puddle in the middle of a blizzard. I had gone camping and it snowed 12 inches that night. We needed water, so I kicked through ice of a near by puddle. The water was only a few inches deep. I dropped the 100 micron prefilter (now it is 75 microns), into the muddy water and started pumping. The filter clogged rather quickly, but it still pumped clean water even though most of the water/slush was spraying out the pressure release valve. I am still using the original filter cartridge.
The whole filtering process is a little complicated, and you are better off with two people. One person to pump, and one person to hold the bottle.

Customer Service:
I have never had to call customer service. but I have read reviews of the handle breaking off.

Similar Products Used:
Haven't used any other portable filters, but I have used a stove to boil water before I bought the Sweetwater.

Review Date
August 28, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Backpacker Girl ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $50.00 at Mountain High

Summary:
I bought this purification system about 10 years ago and I love it. It is very dependable and I have never had any problems with. I have never gotten sick so I would say it does it's job! It is light weight and durable. It is very easy to use, it pumps out crystal clear great tasting water, and it is fast. The adapter is great because it fits my Lexan Nalgene wide mouth 32 oz. bottles and it also fits my CamelBak and Platypus bladders. This system is by far the best because it filters out EVERYTHING!!! It filters out color, odor, bacteria, viruses, parasites, cryptosporidium, guardia, etc. This is a great buy!!

Review Date
August 26, 2004

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Reviewed by: IndianaAlan ,  Car Camper

Price Paid:  $70.00 at Dick's Sporting Good

Summary:
I would not buy this filter again.
I just got back from The BWCA in Northern Minnesota. I was in a group of eight from our Boy Scout Troop. During our six day stay we used a MSR and my brand new Sweetwater Guardian. We filtered about 12 liters per meal, out in the middle of the lake.
Keep in mind the water in the BWCA is supposed to be the cleanest in the world.
Everytime I went out to filter water the filter needed cleaning. It would work fine, maybe even a little faster than the MSR, for about one liter. Then it would start slowing down and by the end of the next bottle I would be putting more water in the bottem of the canoe than in the bottle. This is because of the not-so-wounderful dump valve feature that starts dumping water to keep the pressure from building up inside the clogged filter.
After about three bottles I would stop and clean the filter, and restart pumping, only to have the same problems again.
During this time the scout using the MSR is still pumping away without a problem.
I think the reason for the difference is this:
The Sweetwater fiters by using the inside if the filter as the inlet side. The MSR seemed to be using the outside of the filter as the inlet side. With the MSR filter being about twice as large it gave it about four times as much filter area.
I think the use a paper coffee filters over the inlet filter may help the problem, but so far I have not had the chance to test this idea.
Another disadvantage of the Sweetwater is the fact that the large, wide mouth bottle adapter didn't screw on the bottle, so it was a constant battle to keep the bottle upright, the adapter in place, and my hard-won water from spilling.
On the other hand, the MSR screwed right on top of our Nalgeene and Ozark Trail bottles, making life much easier.
If I had to do it over again I would buy the MSR Miniworks, not the Sweetwater Guardian...and I still may!

Similar Products Used:
MSR Miniworks--See above

Review Date
January 23, 2004

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Reviewed by: Derek Pinto(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $89.00 at Ottawa outdoor store

Summary:
This filter is really bad. It cracked after 3 months of purchase. It leaked so badly that it became unusable after 6 months.

Customer Service:
Terrible. They never responded to any of my attempts to contact them.

Review Date
November 20, 2002

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Donald Retcherson(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from La Paz, Bolivia

Price Paid:  $60.00 at Some weird place in

Summary:
I got the Guardian at a camping shop in Mississippi before doing a nearly two-week covering of the Sipsey Wilderness in Alabama. That's a nice place. Anyway, I forgot my MSR WaterWorks 2 at home (I remember seeing it on the kitchen table when I locked the door) and all that I felt I could find was this product. It actually wasn't all that bad; the water that came out of it was clear enough and tasted fine, but the difficulty in getting it grew exponentially. All that it seemed that I had to do was clean it every single time after a filtration session and things were ok. This is a fine product if you're in a pinch and can't do any better at all. : )

Customer Service:
The customer service was lame. The proprietors knew that I was an easy target because I was so far from home without a filter and they were grubby about their return policy. I wasn't going to return the thing anyway, but they acted like I'd just put their kid through college.

Similar Products Used:
I've used the MSR WaterWorks 2, and I've been pleased with it. It's easy to clean and very sturdy, but it felt like it weighs about twices as much or more as that thing I got in Mississippi.