Water purification tablets

Gossman Knives

Gossman Knives

Edged Toolmaker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Apr 9, 2004
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Simple question, how long are they good for? There is no expiration date that I could find on the bottle.
Scott
 
Scott, backcountry.com states the Micro-Pur MP-1 tablets have a shelf life of 5 years. I would "assume" this would be if they were left in their individual foil wrapping & not placed in some other type of container. This is the only brand I have used & have any information on.
Hope this helps.
Be safe.
 
Unopened bottles of Potable Aqua tablets should remain effective up to 4 years when maintained under controlled temperatures between 60 and 86°F.An opened bottle of Potable Aqua should not be kept for more than 1 year.

Mine had a date on them but I found this on the net... Ski
 
jaymeister99 said:
Have you ever tried drinking water after popping one of those in it?
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Sure... More times than I can count. Not the best taste but who cares. There is a time and place for filters and a time and place for tabs... They are great for back up also.

They have a new tab that is supposed to offset the iodine taste, never tried it.

Ski
 
I, personally would replenish tabs every year or so, just in case. The ones I bought said 5 years, but for the low cost, I would replace them every year. (Un-opened, sooner if opened)
 
The package may have a five year shelf life, but keep an eye on them. I had packages of Katadyn Micropur and Portable Aqua (both chlorine dioxide) start leaking and off-gassing after about two years of storage in my house.
 
ohski said:
Sure... More times than I can count. Not the best taste but who cares. There is a time and place for filters and a time and place for tabs... They are great for back up also.

They have a new tab that is supposed to offset the iodine taste, never tried it.

Ski
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Ascorbic acid kills the iodine taste. Lemon drink power has been an iodine taste cure for decades due to its high ascorbic acid content + flavoring.

Regular chlorine and iodine are not reliable against giardia or cryptosporidium, and they are the most common biological hazards in North American wild water. That leaves chlorine dioxide and a wait of 4 hours; boiling; filter + chems; or radiation (e.g. Steripen) (with all the issues of electronics that don't like severe cold or being dropped). Of course, safer is better even if not perfect.
 
I have Aqua Mira drops. They seem to last longer and are more stable since you have to mix them to activate them.
 
TheGame said:
I, personally would replenish tabs every year or so, just in case. The ones I bought said 5 years, but for the low cost, I would replace them every year. (Un-opened, sooner if opened)
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This is what I considered doing.
Thanks for the info.
Scott
 
Thomas Linton said:
Regular chlorine and iodine are not reliable against giardia or cryptosporidium, and they are the most common biological hazards in North American wild water. That leaves chlorine dioxide and a wait of 4 hours; boiling; filter + chems; or radiation (e.g. Steripen) (with all the issues of electronics that don't like severe cold or being dropped). Of course, safer is better even if not perfect.
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Nothing is 100% guaranteed to "purify" the water.

Tablets don't actually purify, they "sanitize" the water. It will kill most of the germs/bacterial but will not remove any chemicals or dirt.

UV radiation (ie Steripen) will kill most if not all the bacteria/germs, but also won't get rid of the chemicals or dirt. IMO best if you are fairly certain the water is chemical free.

A good Filter will get rid of most (99%+) germs/bacteria and probably most of the chemicals, and most if not all the dirt. But it won't be 100% against the germs/bacteria. IMO this is the safest all around for clean water.

Boiling will kill most if not all the germs/bacteria but no removal of chems or dirt.

What to do? To be a bit closer to 100% do tablet or UV or boiling AND filter. In my humblest opinion I think the tablets are the least reliable.

IMO if you are going to do only one use a filter. Unless you are fairly certain the water does not have any chemical contaminants (Hey, I'm from lower NY, lots of chemicals floating around here!) ;)
 
jaymeister99 said:
Nothing is 100% guaranteed to "purify" the water.

Tablets don't actually purify, they "sanitize" the water. It will kill most of the germs/bacterial but will not remove any chemicals or dirt.

UV radiation (ie Steripen) will kill most if not all the bacteria/germs, but also won't get rid of the chemicals or dirt. IMO best if you are fairly certain the water is chemical free.

A good Filter will get rid of most (99%+) germs/bacteria and probably most of the chemicals, and most if not all the dirt. But it won't be 100% against the germs/bacteria. IMO this is the safest all around for clean water.

Boiling will kill most if not all the germs/bacteria but no removal of chems or dirt.

What to do? To be a bit closer to 100% do tablet or UV or boiling AND filter. In my humblest opinion I think the tablets are the least reliable.

IMO if you are going to do only one use a filter. Unless you are fairly certain the water does not have any chemical contaminants (Hey, I'm from lower NY, lots of chemicals floating around here!) ;)
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Good point about chemical risks.

Boiling kills all harmful microorganisms.

Sawyer sells a filter approved by EPA to remove even viruses. Works by gravity and is back-flushable. Not sure how well it works in the field.

A commercial filter + water treatment chems does seem pretty good for bio hazards. The filter gets the relatively large protozoans (giardia and crypto), and the chems get the smaller critters.

Then there is SODIS for bio hazards. http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN Passive and time-consuming. For fixed-site treatment.

Solar distillation will produce water free of bio hazards and all but volatile chemicals. So if you have a plastic bag or sheet of clear or opaque plastic and the sun and time, something can often be done to purify water. Again, for fixed-site use.
 
The Aquatabs I buy have a shelf life of 5 years. They state the manufactured date and the expiry date clearly on every little packet.

While tablets will remove harmful viruses/bacteria, I use a bandanna around the opening and this usually gets all the larger stuff.
 
dasilvakev said:
The Aquatabs I buy have a shelf life of 5 years. They state the manufactured date and the expiry date clearly on every little packet.

While tablets will remove harmful viruses/bacteria, I use a bandanna around the opening and this usually gets all the larger stuff.
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The last is a very good point. Expedient filtering is better than nothing. Anything that makes the water cleaner reduces the biological risks and makes the task of chemical disinfectants easier.

As giardia and cryptosporidium cysts are as small as 4-5 microns, and bacteria and viruses even smaller, they will probably pass through a single layer of bandanna material. However, multiple layers of sheeting material (4-8) have been found to be very helpful in filtering out the bacteria that causes Cholera (large for a bacteria but much smaller than giardia or crypto cysts) by catching the plant materials that harbor the bacteria.
 
I notice no taste in the Katadyn Micro Pur tabs unless the water I have collected is very clean, then there is a slight medicine like taste. I figure they had nothing to do. That being said, there will be variability in where and even how the water is collected. This is what I do...

[youtube]0GUTZS7QBPs[/youtube]​
 
Thomas Linton said:
Sawyer sells a filter approved by EPA to remove even viruses. Works by gravity and is back-flushable. Not sure how well it works in the field.
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Do you know anything more on this? I remember seeing a filter "straw" not too long ago. Remember it could do 20 gallons of water. I think it was fairly cheap too. Ran around $20.

abo4ster said:
I notice no taste in the Katadyn Micro Pur tabs unless the water I have collected is very clean, then there is a slight medicine like taste. I figure they had nothing to do. That being said, there will be variability in where and even how the water is collected. This is what I do...
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Great video, thanks! I forgot about digging the hole to get the water filtered naturally. I've always said you shouldn't dip your drinking vessel in the water (contaminates the threads/top). But turning it upside down after treating it changes all that!:thumbup:
 
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jaymeister99 said:
Do you know anything more on this? I remember seeing a filter "straw" not too long ago. Remember it could do 20 gallons of water. I think it was fairly cheap too. Ran around $20.
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Sawyer® Virus Micro-Filtration Water Filter

The Sawyer Biological Filter removes 7 log (99.99999%) of all bacteria like salmonella, cholera, and E. coli. And 6 log (99.9999%) of all Protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. You will find these removal rates to equal or exceed competitive options. Therefore Sawyer offers the highest level of filtration available.

The Sawyer Water Purifier offers the same level of protection against bacteria and protozoa and is the first (and thus far only) portable filtration device to remove viruses mechanically. It does so at a 5.5 log (99.9997%) rate, exceeding EPA and NSF recommendations.

With no pumping and no chemicals required, this system delivers 4 liters of purified drinking water in as little as 15 minutes.
* Features a 0.02-micron hollow fiber membrane purifier that physically removes particles, protozoa, bacteria and viruses while maintaining a high rate of flow.
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This user bought a different Sawyer filter and was NOT impressed, http://sectionhiker.com/sawyer-inline-water-filter/ However, the Sawyer product he bought is not sold to deliver water by suction. It is supposed to be attacked to a "bucket" and to filter water by gravity. The container the reviewer was using looks like maybe a quart - not what I think of as a "bucket." He was getting 3 qts/hr. filtered. A bucket - several gallons I was thinking - would have produced more pressure.

This user bought a different Sawyer product and seems pleased: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbPvhXrfgjQ

Series of reviews by several users:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi...ews/display_reviews.html?forum_thread_id=5536

Company video (requires high-speed connection to avoid stop/start):
http://sawyer.com/Video_SP161_162.html
 
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