Originally Posted By: Phaedrus
Well, by "fail" I basically meant mechanically, visibly so- like part of it coming out or not fitting together. Obviously the only way to really know is if you get sick or die, but that can also be said of every other portable method of cleaning/purifying water.
It's a little different with a filter. With things that "normal" treatment should handle, boiling for example is pretty foolproof, and you can verify that water is in fact boiling. With a filter, there's no way to tell if the internals are still functioning properly.

The reason I mention this is because I bought a filter in 2001. It's now about 10 years old. Should I rely on it? Should I junk it? I don't really have a way of knowing.

HJ
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Adventures In Stoving