NuggetHoarder,

A pool test kit will give you better information. The MIOX strips only test at one level. They are designed to be a go/no go answer only. The pool kit will tell you the level of chlorine.

Make sure you use distilled water for your test. In some places (here as an example) there is more chlorine in the tap water than required for a home pool.

You might also do a test sooner than 5 months. Try opening one, putting it in a capsule and testing it in a week. It may save you carrying it around for a longer time.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Ah, I've been wondering about this since the start of this thread. I just couldn't find any info about what the MIOX test strips are doing or how the results are interpreted.

MIOX depend on chlorine for disinfection while chlorine dioxide apparently does not. I was thinking that if the MIOX test strip is calibrated rather high, even fresh MP1 tablets may not generate enough free chlorine to register at all on the test strip, making it impossible to detect any difference between unopened and opened MP1 tablets.

OK, so the MIOX strips are out. How about something like this...

http://www.indigo.com/test-strips/gph-test-strips/residual-chlorine-test-strips.html

MIOX uses a mixture of several oxidants including (it is assumed) both straight chlorine and chlorine dioxide. Since it will kill Crypto, and straight chlorine does not, it must have more (chlorine dioxide will kill Crypto). The exact mixture is not divulged by the manufacturer, and I have not looked at it in the lab.

The MIOX test strips are set for a specific concentration of "something" as a go/no go guage. This is a standard method for insuring enough of a chemical agent like this. If there is some left, then it is not being destroyed by oxidizing living organisms. What level was set and the specific chemical they are testing is not known to me. I just spent some time with the results of their testing and decided this was an acceptable tool for me. It is not my only water purification method, but in some instances it works well.

Respectfully,

Jerry

I still have not had a reply from Katadyn so I emailed them again tonight.

Or leave them sealed and vacuum pack them into a tiny packet - perhaps 1"x1" and carry that. Waterproof and effective!