Aqua Partner
This battery operated system features carbon block filtration, using a two-step filtration process to eliminate everything from dirt and silt to giardia. Seventy-five – 100 gallons of water, at a rate of one gallon per minute, can be filtered per battery charge.
Three Step Purification Process
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Sediment Filter – this filter removes dirt and particles larger than 1 micron.
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Carbon Block Filter – this filter, made of activated carbon, filters out particles to .5 micron – ensuring the removal of cysts such as Gardia Lamblia.The carbon filter also removes chlorine, bromine, and other organic compounds.
Collecting Water to Filter
The Aqua Partner water filter - like all water filters - works best with the clearest source water available.
The cartridges for the filter are changeable, not cleanable. Failure to filter clear water can make the filter inoperable. We do send a back-up gravity filter, but the battery operated filter is much easier and if it's easy to make water, people will be more apt to drink water and then they are more pleasant to be around.
The main stem of the Colorado is usually good for collecting water to filter. If the river is muddy, you have the ability to turn that muddy water into clear water. You can set up buckets of muddy river water when you get to camp and allow it to settle overnight, and/or use Water Wizard to settle it. PRO foodpacks include the Water Wizard for quickly settling water.
How to Use "Water Wizard"
The “Water Wizard for River Runners” is Poly Aluminum Chloride (PACL or PAC for short). PAC is very safe in proper dosages and is commonly used as the main coagulant in municipal water treatment. PAC is a “NSF” (National Sanitation Foundation) certified product!
Dosage - a little bit goes a long way...
River runners usually do not have a fancy turbidity meters to measure the clarity of the river water. That’s okay, just using your eyes and experimenting with different dosages will do the trick. Here are some suggestions for settling a 5 – gallon bucket.
Fill a clear container with river water and hold the instruction sheet included with the water wizard behind the container.
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Unable to read the print at all? – 1 full syringe (1.0 ml)
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Hard to read – very fuzzy? – ¾ syringe (.75 ml)
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Fuzzy, but readable? – ½ syringe (50 ml)
Mixing
The key to success using the Water Wizard is proper mixing. After adding the water wizard, start a circular pattern with a mixing spoon moving to the center of the bucket to create a vortex. Stir enough to keep the vortex going for 20-30 seconds.
Settling
You will notice floc particles forming almost immediately. The floc particles will start getting bigger as they bind on particulate matter and will then start settling. In approximately 5-20 minutes (depending on the amount of sediment in the water) your bucket should have a nice clear clarified water layer on top with a thick brown mate of floc resting on the bottom of the bottom – cool, huh!
Decanting
Very Important - after settling, no matter which method you have you used for the settling water - the key is to decant the clear water off the top into a 2nd clean bucket before filtering. If you fail to decant the good clear water and you put the pre-filter into the bucket with the sediment at the bottom, it is worse than not settling water at all.
Setting up the Aqua Partner
The Aqua Partner consists of the water filter, which comes in a custom aluminum box, 2 battery boxes and a bag with spare filter cartridges and the back up gravity filter.
There are two batteries that come with the Aqua Partner - one is labeled "Aqua Partner Battery #1", the other is "Aqua Partner Battery #2" Aqua Partner Battery #1 comes with one set of cables, Aqua Partner Battery #2 comes with 2 sets of cables along with an extra fuse.
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Connect the alligator clips on the cable to the battery leads (+Red to Red; -Black to Black) on the battery.
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Plug cable into the Aqua Partner. There are two plugs coming off of the filter - you only need to plug into one - the 2nd is just in case you have 2 half-dead batteries, you could plug both batteries in and run the filter.
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Place the intake hose - which has the pre-filter - in the clear source water (bucket).
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Place the outlet hose in a clean container (water jug). River water MUST be settled and decanted. Failure to properly settle water will render the filter inoperable! Refer to for directions on using the Water Wizard to settle water quickly.
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Flip the switch on the cable. Enjoy being able to quickly make drinking water.
