What is the "Nano filtration" used in the Outback Plus system? How does it work?

A. The most recent water treatment filter media technology used by ESP for the removal of microorganisms such as bacteria, cysts, endotoxins and virus is Nano filtration - a method of capturing microorganisms with an electrostatic charge. This is where a fibrous filter media carries an electrostatic charge and particles carrying an opposite charge are attracted and adsorbed. Most particles including pathogens are electronegative in water, so an electropositive filter media is highly effective in attracting and holding the electronegative particles. The fibrous filter media consists of small filters, two Nanometers in diameter, which are dispersed throughout a cellulose, polymetric, microglass fiber matrix resulting in a 2 micron pore size filter media. Since the electro-positive charge of the material provides the mechanism to remove the waterborne pathogens a single layer of the media is able to retain greater than 99% of 0.025 micron size MS2 virus providing an absolute rating of 0.03 microns. The fibrous filter media is pleated to produce a high surface area filter, suitable for high flow rates with minimal pressure drop. It can also be formed into a multilayer depth filter capable of filtering virus size particles to greater than a 6 (LTR) log retention value or >99.9999%.

Bacteria: single celled organisms which lack well defined nuclear membranes and other specialized functional cell parts and reproduce by cell division or spores. Bacteria may be free living organisms or parasites.bacteria cells range from 1 – 10 micron in length and 0.2 – 1 micron in width.

Cyst: a capsule or protective sac produced about themselves by many protozoan, as well as some bacteria and algae as preparation for entering a resting or a specialized reproductive stage. Generally 2 - 50 micron in diameter.

Virus: a parasitic infectious microbe, composed almost entirely of nucleic acid, which can cause disease(s) in humans. Viruses can only reproduce within living cells. They are 0.004 – 0.1 microns in size about 100 times smaller than bacteria.
To be considered a 'purifier' a water treatment system or device must effectively remove microorganisms to the EPA standard of 99.9999 % for bacteria, 99.9% for cysts and 99.99% for virus.

Do any of the Outback Systems qualify as purifiers?

A. Yes, both the Mini-Outback Plus(OB-22NF) and the full sized Outback Plus(OB-25NF) systems meet EPA's purifier standard using the NF7 filter (Nano filtration). The Mini-Outback (OB-22FF) and the standard Outback (OB-25FF) can function as purifiers but require the assistance of either a chlorine or iodine additive to meet that standard.