Does anyone know if this filters flouride, chlorine, and other chemicals?
Do most "hand pump water filter" filter chemicals too?
Thanx

Andrea: Timothy answered your question correctly, but let me add some points on activated charcoal inside Katadyn filters. Activated charcoal improves water taste, removes organic chemicals (which can be downstream from agriculture or industry), and will remove chlorine as well. However, once you start using a filter with activated charcoal: the charcoal is only active for about 6 months. No problem with it being unsafe when it used up-----it just is not improving taste and removing organic chemicals. All the small Katadyn filters, except the Mini & Pocket have activated charcoal inside them. The MSR Mini-works also has activated charcoal.

Andrea, The hiker pro filters down to .3 micron, which is sufficient for bacteria and protozoa. However it will not protect against viruses... this being said, I don't think you are asking for back country filtration purposes, are you? This lead me to do a search for you on chlorine removal and it seems that activated carbon is the preferred method of dechlorination and this filter does contain activated carbon, as seen on page 2 here: http://katadynch.vs31.snowflakehosting.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/katadyn_products/Downloads/Factsheet_Hiker_EN.pdf So I think the answer for chlorine is a tentative yes. The learning process for both of us continues into the wee hours of the night... Flouride is generally removed using reverse osmosis or distilling, but can also be filtered out using activated alumina. Long story short is; No, this filter will not remove fluoride. To answer your final question: No. Most hand pump filtration systems are designed on the premise of "catching nasties" through their physical size, whereas the removal of chlorine and fluoride is more about chemistry. I hope this was both helpful and educational!