Originally Posted By: Paragon


Aquamira claims the “Frontier is tested and certified to filter out >99.9% of Cryptosporidium and Giardia”.



Yes, but those are relatively large in size. IIRC, the Frontier had a filter size of around 3 microns which is much larger than other filters and doesn't catch much bacteria at all. For example, Cryto spores are around 5-6 microns in size. Bacteria are under a micron in size.

For comparison, Sweetwater, Katydyn, PUR and MSR filters all have filters rated to around 0.3 microns.

To quote Aquamira: [the Frontier] ... is not certified to remove >99.9999% of bacteria and >99.99% of virus required by the US EPA water purifier standard.[my bold and underline]

To quote Doug Ritter: Avoid, also, straw style filters through which you literally suck the water. Though the concept is appealing, especially for weight conscious survival use, they don't filter very well in the first place and clog very quickly and are then useless. In fact, the EPA forced them off the market a while back, but you still see them around, or you may even have one, in which case, you ought to ditch it.

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-- David.