Katadyn Combi Water Microfilter Review

Imagine a group of friends seeking bonding time away from the rat race. They decide to institute a new activity – a group camping/hiking getaway – and decide to purchase a Katadyn Combi Water Microfilter based on recommendations they’ve received from others. Not being seasoned outdoors-people, they have misadventures along the way but succeed in their goal. Their friendships grow stronger and their stresses are reduced as the group enjoys nature and everything that goes along with it. Years later, each and every member of the group look back on the trips as some of the best times in their lives.

Now imagine an identical group but one with no knowledge of the Katadyn Combi Water Microfilter. Instead of minor camping surprises that later become the fodder for friendly ribbing, the friends drink or use contaminated water to prepare food and are forced to rush back to civilization to treat their possibly life-threatening illness. Years later, each and every member of the group can point back to that first trip as evidence that camping is a bad idea.

Two scenarios, virtually identical, but with extremely different outcomes. The only difference in the two imaginary scenarios is that the second group took for granted one thing that most people in the industrialized world take for granted – having fresh tasting, uncontaminated drinking water at their disposal. The Katadyn Combi Water Microfilter is engineered specifically to prevent that second scenario.

Specifications

Size: 27 x 6 cm (10.6 x 2.4 inches)

More backpack size than pocket size. A high capacity, rugged filter designed to support up to 4 people, the Katadyn Combi is both larger and functionally better than the pocket sized filters found in many hiking or emergency kits.

Weight: 580 g (about 21 ounces)

Output: 1 liters/minute (roughly half a gallon)

For a person in an outdoors setting performing heavy activity, conventional wisdom states that they should have 4 to 6 liters of clean drinking water per day. While it is clear that the Katadyn Combi can provide this, it is a little slow. If you have ever performed a simple, repetitive task for a solid minute (a task like pumping a water filter), it is amazing just how long 60 seconds can seem. While this rate can change slightly in either direction based on just how dirty the water being filtered is, the 1 liter/minute rating is going to be very close to the Combi’s actual performance in the field.

Filter Technology: 0.2 micron ceramic depth filter and activated carbon

The Katadyn Combi actually has two filters working in concert. The main filter is a silver impregnated ceramic filter. As bacteria range in size from 0.2 to 5 microns, the 0.2 micron filter is designed to screen virtually all bacteria from the water. It is also, incidentally, the reason for the Combi’s slow filter rate. Forcing water through holes that are invisible to the naked eye is a slow process. This ceramic filter is the primary method of making water found in the wilderness safe to drink. It does not, however, improve the actual taste of water filtered. For that, the second filter comes into play.

The secondary filter that the Combi uses is an activated charcoal filter. The charcoal filter is designed to remove chemicals from the water. Naturally occurring chemicals like sulfur or trace levels of man-made chemicals like those used on agricultural fields can cause an unpleasant taste without being actively harmful to the person drinking the water. The charcoal filter is a luxury that removes the foul taste of many of the chemicals commonly found in water.

Main Filter Lifespan: up to 50,000 l (Just over 13,000 gallons)

At 6 liters per person per day, the ceramic filter would clean enough drinking water to last a group of 4 nearly 4 years. This lifespan can be reduced by constant use to filter extremely muddy, gritty water.

Carbon Filter Lifespan:400 l (105 gallons)

At 6 liters per person per day, the charcoal filter will last a group of 4 just over eleven days. Since improving the taste of the water is a luxury, many people simply use the ceramic filter alone for most of their needs and only use the activated charcoal filter for exceptionally foul tasting water. Even using the charcoal constantly, 11 days worth of filtration for four people is more than enough for casual trips, and those planning extended trips can easily bring along extra charcoal filters.

What makes the Katadyn Combi special?

With an optional attachment, the Combi can be used as a countertop filter for a normal water faucet. This makes the Combi the only water filter that can be taken from the boat, RV, or home faucet straight into use in the field. When looking at a product, the more versatility it has, the more useful it tends to be. The Combi’s ability to connect to a water faucet places its versatility in a different world from other portable water filters.

What are the “Cons” of the product?

There are only two actual disadvantages to the Katadyn Combi Microfilter, and they are both situational and unlikely to affect the vast majority of users:

As durable a material as it is, ceramic is brittle. After use, allowing the Combi to rest in freezing conditions could result in the filter being cracked by the water within it freezing. The two solutions to the issue are drying the ceramic filter thoroughly near a heat source (out in the sun or near a fire) before leaving it out in freezing cold, and simply never leaving it in freezing cold.
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Designed to filter water directly into a drinking bottle, the Combi does not use an output hose. Those with water containers that do not mate to the Combi (like certain canteens) may need to find a workaround.

What do existing owners of the Katadyn Combi say?