Water purification tablets

E

erik the red

Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
343
Katadyn micropur tablets or US Military (National Stock Number NSN 6850-01-352-6129) tablets? Or do you have another brand that works well to rid Giardia, Crypto, and other water-borne bacteria/viruses?
 
Always a bottle of Potable-Aqua in my pack. rarely needed but kind of like insurance..3 brothers,1 nephew, and half a dozen assorted kids used it for all plain drinking water(not counting tea & coffee consumed) for 3 continuious days with no ill effects from either water or pills. Note that it says makes water baterilogically safe to drink..I am unsure on the virus end. Maybe a better informed member could chime in..I'd like to know about the virus factor too. best regards Anrkst
 
If it has to be tabs, I always use Potable Aqua, just because they are easy to get and cheap. But just as a PSK addition. Once you open the seal, they have a short shelf-life. You are also limited to how many tablets you have.


My favorite is Polar Pure, which for some reason is hard to find in brick and mortar stores. Just iodine crystals in a bottle you fill up with water. Can be used thousands of times and indefinite shelf-life. Good thing to have when someone touches off a nuke in your neighborhood too.
 
Anrkst6973 said:
Always a bottle of Potable-Aqua in my pack. rarely needed but kind of like insurance..3 brothers,1 nephew, and half a dozen assorted kids used it for all plain drinking water(not counting tea & coffee consumed) for 3 continuious days with no ill effects from either water or pills. Note that it says makes water baterilogically safe to drink..I am unsure on the virus end. Maybe a better informed member could chime in..I'd like to know about the virus factor too. best regards Anrkst
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Should kill the viruses. It's iodine. On filters, you can sometimes pay more for the "special" filter that kills viruses. The special filter has some sort of iodine resin in it to kill pathogens.
 
I've used both Pristine [two part liquid] and Katadyn tablets - both work very well ... I guess ... haven't gotten sick!
 
The Micropur is the only product I could find that claims to kill crypto.

Aquamira looks similar chemically.

The disinfecting agent in the military tabs is simple swimming pool chlorine.
 
Plenty of good disinfectants, so choose your poison. No single disinfection method (outside of boiling...I think) is 100%, and if the water quality is really questionable then a two stage approach is probably wise. If you can filter (a real filter, not just strain through a sock) then disinfect you're ahead of the game.
 
I have Aquamira, which are drops that come in two small bottles. You mix them to activate it. It's small, easy, and has an indefinite shelf life.
 
I like the micro pur tabs for the convienence. I keep a couple duct taped to my water bottle for example. For extended trips, 5 drops/quart water of 2% tincture of iodine does the trick on everything but crypto. Costs $2, will treat about 50 gallons and works as a disinfectent on cuts so it is multi-purpose too.
 
I prefer to carry a small bottle of povidone-iodine (3 drops per liter, 30min), because it does double duty as a wound disinfectant.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. I am mainly interested in tablets for a sheath based survival kit. I use a filter/purifier for backpacking trips. :)
 
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