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169 of 176 found the following review helpful:
 Comparing chemical treatment methods Sep 04, 2010
By Arthur Bradley
"Arthur Bradley"
The EPA estimates that 90% of the world's fresh water is contaminated and unsuitable for drinking. The days of kneeling down on a hike and sipping from the stream are long gone. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because water looks clear or tastes good that it is free of contaminants. That includes frozen water, which can house hepatitis A, Salmonella, and Cryptosporidium for months.
There are many options for purifying the water, but this post will compare commercial products that rely on halogen chemical treatments.
Polar Pure - contains iodine crystals, has an almost indefinite shelf life if kept tightly sealed, and very inexpensive per dose cost, requires measuring the dosage using the cap (which can be imprecise).
Potable Aqua - contains iodine tablets, shelf life of up to four years if properly stored - if they've turned a light green don't use, moderately expensive per dose cost, easy to administer doses (two tablets per quart of water).
Micropur MP1 - contains chlorine dioxide tablets, has a shelf life of at least four years, moderately expensive per dose cost, and comes in easy to administer doses (one tablet per quart of water).
Simple household bleach - 2 drops per quart of water (assuming a a bleach solution of 5-6% hypochlorite), may wish to double the dose for cloudy water, shelf life of bleach is only about 6 months, must use a dropper to administer dose, very inexpensive per dose cost.
Tincture of iodine - 5 drops per quart (assuming a 2% iodine solution), may wish to double the dose for cloudy water, almost indefinite shelf life if properly stored, must use a dropper to administer dose, modest per dose cost.
All of the methods are effective at killing bacteria, somewhat effective against viruses, and of limited value against protozoa cysts. Cryptosporidium in particular is resistant to halogen treatments.
Most treatments only require 30 minutes. However, very cold water (i.e., less than 40 degrees F) should be allowed to sit for 2 or more hours, or be treated with a double dose.
As far as taste, all will introduce some chemical taste into the water. In a very unscientific taste test of chemical treatment methods, my own family concluded that iodine-treated water was by far the worst smelling and tasting, bleach-treated was second, and water treated with Micropur MP1 ready-to-use tablets was the least objectionable.
Finally, you can add Kool-aid to treated water to help the taste. Not only will it help to mask the chemical taste, but the ascorbic acid (vitamin C) converts the chlorine or iodine to tasteless chloride and iodide.
Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.
Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family."
82 of 85 found the following review helpful:
Effective, doesn't make water taste too bad Sep 30, 2007
By David
I've used these several times over the past year, and compared to other chemical water treatments they're relatively painless. You don't have to force yourself to down chemical-tasting water.
To the earlier reviewer who mentioned treatment time: 4 hours is a worst-case scenario mandated by the EPA for killing one type of organism (cryptosporidium) in water that is both very cold and very dirty. All bacteria and viruses, except cryptosporidium and giardia, are killed in 15 minutes (even in cold water). Cryptosporidium and giardia are both killed in 30. In cold, very dirty (cloudy) water, it can take 4 hours for a full crypto kill.
50 of 52 found the following review helpful:
Katadyn Micropur MP1 Water Purification Tablets Review Mar 23, 2006
By Johnny Conrads
I trust sodium dioxide over iodine as it protects against Crypto. If you give it enough time that is. Four hours to handle Crpto, I think. It also tastes a lot better. These tablets are much more convenient than the two solution version I have been using. That involved mixing two chemicals in a cap, letting it mix for a few minutes and them dumping it into your water bottle. The tablets are a simple one step procedure.
44 of 48 found the following review helpful:
 Lightweight and effective... Apr 06, 2007
By wenfei
One has to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of this product based on one's needs or requirements. IMO, the pros and cons are...
Pros: These tabs weigh only a few ounces, but can treat up to 20 liters.
They are very effective at killing off viruses, bacteria, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium(EPA accepted). This product is great if you can't build a fire or boil water.
Cons: One tab for one liter so unless you stock up, you can only support one person for 5 days if you use 1 gal. or 4 liters per day for roughly $10. Compare this to 96oz(~56000 drops) of Clorox for $4 and it only takes 16 drops to treat 1gal. of water. Katadyn claims that their tabs leave virtually no taste to the water, but I disagree. There is a very strange taste in the water that is less tolerable than chlorine IMO. Minimum treatment time is 30 minutes for both.
Alternative: Boil water for 5 minutes at any desired quantity at virtually no cost! :)
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
It worked... Oct 24, 2010
By Max
It's impossible to tell if things like this work because if you don't get sick, you don't know if the water was infected or not. Nonetheless, on my last backpacking trip I planned on getting water from a stream that I saw on a map.
The stream ended up being extremely low, almost dry actually. The water was brown, almost completely still and very sketchy looking... I was pretty reluctant to drink it but I didn't have any other source of water for the trip.
I filled a 40oz container and added the pill. Waited 4 hours and drank the whole thing. Then got more water for the rest of the trip. I didn't get sick so it must have worked!
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