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Being able to safely drink water from almost any source is an essential tool to have. With all of the traveling Kait and I do, we have tried several portable travel water filters over the years and the GRAYL Water Filter is one of our favorites. If you on the hunt for a reliable water filter can be easily refilled, check out this GRAYL water filter review to see if it’s the right option for your travel needs.
GRAYL Water Filter Review
GRAYL is an innovative water purifier bottle that incorporates a filter element at the bottom of the bottle. “Fill. Press. Drink!” is their motto and it really is that simple to use. All you have to do is fill the outer bottle with water, and like a french press, press the inner component down to force the water through the filter element. In less than a minute, you have purified water that is ready to drink. Check out these step by step instructions on how to use the GRAYL GeoPress.
Table of Contents
GRAYL GeoPress Water Purifier Bottle
We have been using the GRAYL water purifier bottle system since 2015 and started with the Quest water bottle which came with a variety filter pack. In 2019, GRAYL released the GeoPress 24 ounce water purifier bottle and the team sent us each a bottle to test and provide an honest review. Now that we’ve been using the bottle for over two years, I wanted to provide an update and review of the GRAYL GeoPress.
Eliminate Buying Bottled Water
Buying bottled water gets expensive and can be difficult to find at times. In some countries we have to be careful of bottled water to make sure it’s not refilled local tap water with the top glued back on. This is where having a quality filtered water bottles come in. Plus, it helps to cut down on the plastic waste as recycling can be hard to find or nonexistent depending on where we are in the world. Visit our Travel Destinations page for some of the places we’ve written about.
Portable Water Purifier Bottle for Travel
Kait and I each have a GRAYL GeoPress and bring it with us when we go on long hikes in national parks, traveling internationally such as our trip to Everest basecamp in Tibet, or on the rare occasions when we have to fly for business. When we don’t have access to our Berkey purified water filter, we use the GRAYL GeoPress.
We’ve done extensive traveling with the Berkey Sport Water Bottle, but one issue we had with the bottle is that it doesn’t do well with elevation changes when there is water in the bottle. Water will leak due to the change in pressure and end up all over our bags. This is why we prefer the GRAYL water bottle.
The GeoPress is easy to carry with a “two finger” loop at the top and the non-slip grip makes it easy to hold on to especially when the bottle is wet from dunking into a stream or creek.
24 ounce capacity is enough for us to share on shorter hikes where we don’t want to carry both GRAYL water bottles. For hikes where we know there won’t be access to water, we will carry a regular water bottle for more capacity.
What GRAYL Filters & Removes
According to GRAYL’s website, the replaceable filter cartridge in the GeoPress will remove and filter:
- 99.99% of viruses such as Norovirus and Hepatitis A
- 99.9999% bacteria such as E. Coli, Salmonella, and dysentery
- 99.9% of protozoa such as Giardia and amoebae
- Particulates such as microplastics, sediment, and silt
- Chemicals such as chlorine and chloroform
- Heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and chromium
“Each batch of purifier cartridges we make are thoroughly tested and meet or exceed United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Drinking Water Standards.”
Grayl.com
GRAYL GeoPress Pros
The water tastes great. We’ve filled our GRAYL from a variety of sources (water fountains, bathroom faucets, streams) and the purified water tastes great. Kait will sometimes put restaurant water into her GRAYL because she prefers the taste.
10 year warranty. We had a problem with the flip top lid not sealing properly on the Quest water bottle and when I contacted GRAYL customer service they promptly sent out a new one which worked correctly.
Replaceable filter. Each replaceable filter cartridge is rated for 350 cycles, approximately 65 gallons. The filter will remove waterborne pathogens and absorb chemicals, pesticides and heavy metals.
GRAYL GeoPress Cons
No indicator for filter replacements. The GRAYL GeoPress filter is rated for 350 cycles, but there is no indicator or easy way to track this (unless we make a note each time we use it). It does get more difficult to press down as the filter gets closer to replacement time, so we have been using that as an indicator.
No way to recycle the filter cartridge. Right now there is no way to recycle the GRAYL filter cartridge, however, they are working on a “Zero-Waste Cartridge Recycling” program.
At the end of a purifier cartridge’s life, you will be able to send back expended cartridges in a pre-paid mailer to Grayl. In partnership with TerraCycle®, we will ensure that Grayl cartridges will not make their way to landfills. This program will be supported online and by participating retailers.
Grayl.com
Overall, we really like our GRAYL water purifier bottles and have been taking it everywhere the Travel Berkey can’t go.
Thanks for reading! If you found this review helpful and decide to purchase the GRAYL, please consider ordering through our Amazon affiliate link. There is no additional fee for the buyer and in return we receive a small percentage of the sale. Thanks for your support! We really appreciate it.
Disclosure: GRAYL provided the product free of charge in exchange for a honest review. This review represents our own opinions of the product.
I took GRAYL on my recent trip to SEA and I was impressed by the ease of use of the bottle and think it’s an excellent water treatment solution. Looking forward to taking it on my hikes as, we have to filter or purify drinking water.