Can a water filter (ie First Need) be used to recycle urine into drinkable water? If so, anyone out there have any experience with this?

thx
Robert

Short answer is No.

If you distilled it it might work. Urine is much more akin to sea water than fresh water. The major problem (other than taste) is the salt content. If you had a marine water-maker or a reverse Osmosis unit you could get something that way. In the end you are only delaying the inevitable since you won't be able to recoup 100% of lost water only some.

You need to desalinate the urin. There are filters that do this (http://www.equipped.org/watrfood.htm#SeaWaterIntoFreshWater).
The ads for the First Need filter state that it doesn´t desalinate. So you can´t use it to turn urin into drinking water. That´s also true for the other filters for just purifying water.

Distilling it is probably the way to go then. I know I won't get 100% back, but in a desert survival situation every little bit helps!

Thx

well digging a solarstill usses a lot of precieus juice to ! Like everything else, test it first before you rely on it.

Hmm, you make a good point. Between the volcanic rock and the caliche here in New Mexico you can die trying to put in a fence post.

Any other ideas? Or are the reverse osmosis and marine water makers my only options.

Thx

Queries like this send me running to recheck my own water supplies. My comment is your key.The sheer wieght of a desalinator can easily be substituted with more water. This means properly hydrating yourself before any adventure, carrying as much water as possible and knowing the local sources. Do you know how to find tinajas ( rain cachement ponds in the desert) or other sources? Do you have a map noting previously noted sources? Ever considered cached containers from earlier trips? "Water is precious, sometimes more precious than gold."- Walter Huston, Treasure of the Sierra Madre