Cleaning Sawyer Water Filter

[FlipperFla]

How do you clean your Sawyer filter? I am using the plunger that comes with the inline filter we have on our hydration packs after our camping trips back flushing them with filtered water from our fridge. I read an article that said the small amount of water left in the filter after back flushing can produce bacteria and they recommened a very mild bleach solution instead of just water. Has anyone tried this method or any other suggestions? Will this damage the membrane? I tried contacting Sawyer and they never responded.

 

[Kerensky97]

I've never heard anything about adding bleach, the only additive I've heard them officially recognize is soaking in vinegar for 30mins before back flushing if you have high mineral content.

They say if you've left a dirty filter in storage from a long time to soak in in hot water (below 140F), then let it sit a few days before flushing with clean water.

 

[Bayou Boy]

Just FYI, none of the official cleaning instructions say this but the filter will screw apart into two halves and then you can remove the filter media from the black case to allow it to totally dry. I don't trust anything to be truly clean that I can't get totally dry.