Tulip water filter (first look / review)

For long term emergency water filtration, I found the Tulip water filter to be one of the best designs. I have not used it yet (in mine normal life I'm mobile and just carry water or have a pump filter). But looking at the design, I really like it how it's thought out. I have had a lot of water filters and with experience from those.

The Tulip water filter is a gravity powered, silver impregnated ceramic filter with a carbon core. In English a water filter capable or filtering bacteria and absorb chemicals. The silver impregnation prevents bacteria from growing inside.  

The Tulip water filter is made for poor countries where clean drinking water is not always available. One of their ways to fund this is to sell the same filter to the general public. When you buy one, they will donate one. They don’t cost much either for a normal consumer; just €32,25 each and the price drops when you buy multiple ones. However I’m not sure if the post it internationally.  

I have been using all kinds of water filters for a long time. For emergency situation when you are not on the move, a gravity filter is ideal. You do not want to spend to much time and energy during an emergency situation.

The Tulip is a siphon style gravity filter. Which means you can put it in to any water container large enough to fit the filter in and use it without modification. This means you do not need a dedicated water containers for the dirty water side of the filter. On water filters like the Royal Berkeley you can’t really use the water container for anything else (they are however great if space and weight are not an issue). You want to keep the clean side clean and the dirty side has the filter mounted on it. On a siphon type, the filters are dropped in allowing you to use the container for other uses (laundry, washing up, etc.). Unlike other siphon style filters, like the Katadyn Siphon, the Tulip has a build in balloon type pump to start the siphon action. This is great, since you are not adding bacteria from your mouth to the hose (from sucking on the hose). There is a red piece of plastic which help to position the filter and keeps water from dripping the wrong way.

If you want to mount these filters in a dedicated system like in a Royal Berkeley, you can. The end is equipped with a thread and a plastic wing nut. Just add an o-ring and you can mounted it inside a bucket.

This ceramic filter has great features to protect the filter. This is the only gravity filter I know with a plastic case protecting the ceramic. A very simple solution which nobody else seems to be using.

To prevent the filter from getting dirty the filter has two ways to pre-filter the water. They put the scrubbing pad of the filter inside the plastic tube, covering the waterhole at the bottom. This means the scrubbing pad is used as a pre-filter. Also the ceramic is protected by a cloth ‘Sock’, which can be removed and rinsed or washed separately. The effectiveness of the sock really depends on the water quality.  

If the filter get clogged, you can clean it. The siphon pump can be used to back flush the filter, by closing the valve and squeeze the balloon pump. If that is not effective anymore, you can clean the ceramic. Mine experience is that you do not need the scrubbing pad right away. You can rinse ceramic filter and wipe it with a cloth first. If that doesn't work anymore, use the scrubbing pad to clean it. When you use the scrubbing pad, you are actually removing some of the ceramic. A gauge mounted on the top allows you to check if the ceramic is still thick enough. If the filter is to thin, it’s time for a new one.