About 9 months ago, I called up Aquamira and asked a few questions. They gave me a number to McNett Co. who makes the liquid drops, and the tablets for Aquamira.
I asked them what the shelf life was on both. He said they used to say 3 years for the tablets, but to get a military contract it had to say 5 years. He said they will last well past 5 years, so we had no problem putting the 5 year shelf life on the tablets to make the military happy.
The liquid drops now are a different story. They really have no shelf life at all. He said as long as the mixture turns YELLOW when the two parts are mixed, it is good to go. He said the tablets break down because the chemicals are pre-mixed, but the liquid isn't, so it lasts and lasts. He said the liquid is much much more stable for long term survival. He said I would not be surprised at all to see the liquid work prefectly after sitting on a shelf for 20 years. As long as it turns YELLOW when mixed, it is fine and will work.
He also said that keeping the liquid in your refrigerator would really help with shelf life, but it is not required at all. I myself don't have any tablets as I use just the liquid and nothing else. If the sealed package of a tablets some how gets opened, those tablets will more than likely not be of any use to you at that point. Plus, I can treat much more water with the liquid than the tablets for the same amount of space.
As KEmSAT-Survival said, 7 drops of each for clear water, and for cloudy water, it is 15 drops of each. Let the mixture react for 5 minutes or so to make sure it turns YELLOW, and then add it to the water. I have used one set of the liquid, and I really like the stuff. It does help in a positive way with the taste and smell of some water.
In a PSK tablets would be okay I guess, but I now carry a Tabasco bottle of bleach. That bottle is equal to 71 drops of bleach, so 16 drops per gallon makes around 4.5 gallons of treated water. No mixing, it takes up little space, I can not accidently spill it or over treat the water as only a drop or two comes out at a time, VERY cheap to have for the amount of treated water, which is almost 5 full gallons with that small Tabasco bottle.
If I were you, I would sooner put some plain old bleach in one of those bottles and call it good. I mean really, how much space are you going to save by using smaller bottles, plus taking into account the lost of the amount of water you are able to treat??? I believe you are better off leaving the Aquamire drops in their regular bottles and call it good. If you want smaller and more compact, go with plain cheapo bleach in one of those bottles. Swap out the bleach on the first of every year so you know it is freash, and be done with it.
