Never carried a filter on a bike trip. Instead carry lots of water capacity.
For emergency use only, I do carry a 1 oz bottle of chlorine bleach. I use 4 drops per liter which is roughly twice the dose that EPA recommends for emergency water treatment.
I just finished a canoe trip where I never used my filter. Instead I usually had enough water that was boiled to top up my water bottles. Past canoe trips I usually used about a third to half of my water from the filter, the rest from boiling. For those trips I carry a Katadyn Combi. It is heavy but very robust. I also like the replaceable carbon filter in it.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
If I wanted to save weight, I'd probably buy a Katadyn Mini (8 oz vs 11oz for the Sweetwater) but I've got the Sweetwater and it will last, roughly, forever given my current usage.
The mini has a very small ceramic filter and not much surface area on the filter either. Thus, it takes a lot of work to get much water. I bought one for backpacking and concluded that it was best as an emergency-only filter. It took about 160 strokes per liter, which took several more minutes to pump than it would have taken with my other filter.