I'm trying to build my first BOB a few items at a time. Rather than buy the water filter/purifier right away, I wanted to start with some chemical water purifiers. It appears that the Katadyn Micro-Pur is the best bet (but only 3 year expiration period). Does anyone know how effective Aqua-Mira happens to be? Also, are their any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Potable aqua also has a chlorine dioxide tablet out now, same as the Micropur MP1 tablets. I expect the price will be slightly lower too.

Thanks for the suggestion. I found the Potable Aqua tablets next to the Katadyn tablets at local camping store. The PA tablets were a few bucks cheaper, but had only 20 tabs to the Katadyn 30 tabs.

I looked at them online- four hour suggested wait time!?! Do the MP1s have that same suggest?

If so, I'm going to stick with my iodine tablets. If I need water, I want potable soonest. And that isn't four hours from now.

*sigh* everyone says that.

Do yourself a favor and look INTO it before dismissing it.

It kills viruses and bacteria in 15 minutes. The 4 hour time is how long it takes to kill cysts (something Iodine can't kill) in the worst possible water conditions (cold and dirty). They're required to list the longest wait time for the worst conditions IIRC. If the water is not cold and dirty, it will kill cysts significantly faster (30 minutes I think)

If you're not worried about cysts in your area, you're good to go in 15 minutes.

Even if you did have to wait 4 hours, it's a hell of a lot faster than transpiration bags and solar stills <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Brian, YOU CANNOT afford to compromise the safety of your water supply. Either boil it, or filter it. If you cannot do either of those then you must use chemical purification. The key to that is organisation. Set up a rolling cycle of purification. Mark/number your waterbottles so that you have one to drink, one spare and one purifying. Just to make the point: At Agincourt, for every English Man at Arms who was KIA or died of wounds received, Four died of water related illness.

FWIW, I carry PolarPur iodine chrystals, a single bottle treats several hundred gallons, and there's NO expiration date... although, I filter the water after treatment, that covers what the iodine might not kill off, and goes a long way toward getting rid of the after-taste <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Troy

Leigh,

I agree completely. I had an gastro-intestinal virus in April and I do not want to experience that suffering during an emergency.

I plan on buying a water filter in the next two months. I'm still doing the research to find the right one (including searching the past forum comments.) The chemical treatment (and I did buy the Micro-Pur tablets) and bottled water I keep on reserve is just the initial solution (no pun intended...). Right now I would filter the water through a coffee filter (get the larger dirt particles out of the way), then boil it, then add the Micro-Pur.

...An ounce of prevention is easier than a pound of treatment...

Potable aqua has a 20 tablet and a 30 tablet setup...why they have both is beyond me.

Brian,
When my unit in the 82nd Airborne went to Panama for Jungle Warfare School, we had a kid, about 21, 6', maybe about 195......they thought that sometime out in the bush, he had drank some unpurified water. The last we heard of him, after we got back, he was in Womack Army Hospital at Fort Bragg, and his weight had dropped to 130+......he looked like the walking dead! I may be a Newbie, but I learned a lesson there.....Do Not Take Shortcuts when it comes to your drinking water!......Krell