I did not want to hijack someone else's thread, so forgive me if there's already an existing topic. At Wal-Mart today, I decided to pick some up (finally!) and found myself torn between the only two varieties they had. I opted for the cheaper of the two because: 1. It was cheaper and 2. It claimed to do 5 more quarts of water than the more expensive type.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time in walmart trying to google the differences, so I just grabbed the Coleman brand with the two vials (the brownish/greenish box shown below).

I am hoping some of you might be able to tell me what the differences are between the two, and which of the two might be preferable (and why).

My guess is that the primary difference is that one is chlorine based where the other is iodine based....? But what are the implications either way?

I appreciate any insight. I will try to properly link the two specific products I was comparing, never done a link before so hopefully it works!

the one i got

the one i almost got

The Coleman tablets you bought are Iodine tablets with a secondary additive to remove the Iodine taste.

The Portable Aqua tablets you show are Chlorine-Dioxide.

According to the CDC, both of these will safely kill most organisms found in groundwater, with the exception of Cryptosporidium. Iodine is ineffective in reducing Crypto to safe drinking levels. Chlorine-dioxide is effective if higher concentrations of chemical is used for extended treatment times.

As for taste, most people are used to a slight bleach odor and taste from public water supplies. At the normal dose (2 drops per liter), chlorine-dioxide treated water is palatable. Iodine-treated water is tolerable but has an unpleasant taste. The taste of either treatments can be made more palatable by adding a small amount of vitamin C. The chlorine odor and taste can also be reduced by leaving treated water in open containers or pouring back-and-forth between two clean containers to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Iodine does not dissipate over time.

Krista - you ROCK! Thanks this is the question that's been brewing in my mind. Thanks for asking!

If you're only going to carry one, what's it going to be?

I'm a complete new by to this but I'm attracted to the single tablet solutions, as opposed to the two step process. Am I just being lazy?

I learn something new here every day. Thanks Mark!

If you can get to an EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports)store or Bass pro shop,they sell MP-1 tablets,of which are chlorine dioxide,of which will be generally much more pleasant to use,than Iodine!1 tablet per Qt./litre of water for 4 hrs is the recommended dosage.Boiling is much more effective/quicker,If you can!

Chlorine dioxide.

Here's some reasons why:

Once opened, Iodine tablets expire after a year. 4 years if left unopened. Chlorine dioxide tablets are individually sealed and each tablet is good for 4 years if left as such.

Chlorine dioxide is effective against cryptosporidium, iodine is not. Both have a treatment time of 30 minutes for water that is clear and of roughly room temperature. The exception being water that is murky or very cold, in which a 4 hour treatment time is recommended for chlorine dioxide against cryptosporidium.

Finally, ingestion of too much iodine over time can lead to thyroid problems and iodine does not evaporate from treated water. Whereas, chlorine dioxide will eventually dissipate from the treated water if the container is left open and given ample time.

The big downside for chlorine dioxide is cost. They're more expensive than iodine tablets. However, if I was truly cost conscious I would be treating my water with liquid bleach anyway.....which is effective against all the same waterborne illnesses and parasites as iodine tablets, but is a lot cheaper. Like iodine though, liquid bleach is ineffective against cryptosporidium.

Thanks for the great input! I am now wishing I had spent the extra money on the other kind! I guess I can get some of those too, as these things are mostly for BOBs and/or vehicle kits. At home, bleach sounds good to me!

I had to research the crypto-bug thing on the CDC website, worth noting is that boiling the water before treating with the iodine tablets should take care of it.

Although, I am really liking the idea of the chlorine tablets, especially if they do dissipate over time from the water, as Paul810 noted! I like tasty water.

Boiling in and of itself will kill most common water borne illnesses. There are a couple things it doesn't work against, but none that I would really worry about for the purposes of water purification.

[It is worth mentioning, one notable thing standard boiling doesn't kill, is botulism spores. This is one reason why it's important to use a pressure cooker for home canning. While botulism toxin itself is killed by regular boiling, killing the spores requires a greater temperature than simple boiling can produce. A pressure cooker allows for those temperatures (some 250*F), thereby preventing the spores from producing botulism toxin.]

Because of the name of this thread, there's one warning I feel compelled to throw in here: Neither of these tablets 'purify' water, they only 'disinfect' it to some degree.

It's important to remember that water contains runoff from the surrounding land. If there are crops, there are agricultural chemicals in the water. The same holds true if there are manufacturing or mining sites upstream.

Bringing water to a boil will kill everything that either of these tablets will kill.

To remove other impurities, you will need a filter.

What do you guys think of these and why are they being sold as useful for treating water for pets?

ETA: I guess links are not allowed for some reason. It comes up "censored". It was an eBay listing for something called Aquatabs. 170783369698 if you are interested.



This guy has lots of 30 to 500 being offered. 500 is a lot of water treatment.