Anybody use Aquamira Water Treatment Drops instead of a filter or UV Treatment? I've always thought that the Chlorine Dioxide tablets would be great if they worked any faster than the recommended 4 hours. But I understand that the drops can work in 15 minutes. Seems like a good weight savings idea....

I think when you drill down into the recommendations for either, the treatment time for crypto is four hours for both the wet and dry ClO2 products. If you're not worried about crypto (uncommon in most mountain settings) then 30 minutes is probably good for either.

Tablets are much handier, but the 2-part liquid is much cheaper if treating a lot of water.

Cheers,

Aquamira Liquid is not intended for our needs as backpackers. The only liquid solution I know of that is a purifier is what is made by the MSR Miox.

I don’t want backpackers out there using the liquid and having a false sense of security. A certain concentration level and contact time is needed. A weak mixture of chlorine dioxide just isn’t going to kill the nasties and that is what AquaMira liquid is.

The chlorine dioxide tablets are good. Just ensure that they say they can kill all the nasties. If they are good, they will say that a contact time of up to four hours is required.

Aquamira’s website has this to say about its tablets: “When used as directed, Aquamira Water Purifier Tablets meet the EPA guidelines for Microbiological Water Purifiers making it the safest solution on the market. Great for weekend hiking, camping, hunting, or fishing trips.” Nothing of the sort is stated for the liquid.

I was always hearing before from others that it was just a bureaucratic issue about EPA registering and that it didn’t mean much. I always thought that if Aquamira wasn’t willing to have proper laboratory studies to get it EPA registered, then they didn’t care enough for my needs. Now that they have gotten their tablets registered, a different picture seems to be painted. The drops don’t meet EPA guidelines for killing all the nasties and, therefore, don’t qualify as “the safest solution on the market” as they promote for their tablets.

ndsol: Thanks! Great info.

The MSR Miox says it'll work in 30 minutes, and at 3.5 oz seems like a good option, but it looks like they are discontinued. Anybody have experience with this or know why they were discontinued?

Some people don't treat their water at all. Others want to filter, boil, then chemically treat just to be extra extra extra safe (okay, maybe I exaggerate there but still).

There's also an in-between state where you get out most of what can get you and all of what's most likely to get you. I use A.M. liquid, have done so for most of three long distance hikes. I did get some giardia-like thing on the AT, but likely I was drinking from springs and not treating at that point --- or equally (more?) likely I got it from another hiker or in a trail town.

On the CDT last year there was a lot of classic "nasty cow water" in New Mexico and a few other places --- standing water that cows drink directly out of, and often stand in and defecate in. The only water source.
Double-dose with A.M. and I had no problem with that stuff.

I'm not saying that A.M. is a complete, bullet proof treatment. For me, however, it's plenty. Selecting backpacking gear is always about balancing risks, and unless you both filter and chemically treat you're not entirely safe from every possible thing --- filters don't block viruses. Even the steripen (UV light) only claims to get "99.9%" of bacteria, viruses and protozoa.

Read up and find your own balance of safety vs. practicality. I don't suggest that you think of it in terms of "all or nothing", as having to choose either a 100% bullet-proof shield or no treatment at all.

Brian, wow, you really had to drink some skanky water there.... geez, wasn't there a porta potty you could have dipped a sierra cup into??

Just kidding- I camp exclusively in high alpine regions, very rarely even take water from still lakes. I have been camping in the high country for 40 years now...and certainly 30 of those never treated a drop. Seems like overnight, all of a sudden we were filtering everything.

But on my short list of things I wish someone would invent (after freeze dried water) is two things: Instant chemical water treatment, or, failing that, some kind of test strip that would show giardia and chrypto.

The four hours' time for the chlorine dioxide tablets is for the absolute worst case scenario: cryptosporidium cysts, cold (just above freezing) water that is turbid (full of gunk, silt or whatever). If the water is clear and you're not worried about crypto, it won't take as long. However, no authorities will tell you how long! If the bottle is somewhere that will warm up while being treated (such as in the sun), that will shorten the time.

There's a good article on Backpacking Light last week and this week (third installment probably next week). However, it requires a paid subscription to read. Basically, there is no such thing as water that is 100% free of "bugs." Even municipal water systems don't have to meet that test.

With Brian's "cow water" (been there, done that), the big risk is not giardia but the many varieties of E.coli. While some varieties of E.coli live in human intestines (and are essential to your digestion, something you'll realize if you go on a long course of powerful antibiotics), they can do nasty things in the stomach (or bladder, as many of us women know) and our symbiotic E.coli bacteria are not at all identical to those of a cow.

Mouse- Thanks!
I guess one can see why the authorities/ manufacturers only want to list the worst case scenario treatment time of 4 hours...

Is crypto kinda rare in the high country?