Water Filtering

Hi,

I am moving over to using aquamira drop to treat my water and I wonder if anyone had any suggestions on filtering the silt out of the water before bottling it and treating it.

Thanks,
David

A coffee filter or cheesecloth would work.

As would a bandana, which you might be carrying anyway and would save you half an ounce. Yes, I'm neurotic about this stuff

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.

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 and, therefore, don’t qualify as “the safest solution on the market” as they promote for their tablets.

I just 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.

what are people's thoughts on something like this? it seems simple enough.....
http://www.youtube.com/user/hiramcook#p/search/3/-dhznlV08Y0

I haven't tried it. At just under 10 oz it isn't an especially heavy (or light) solution, but seems about average or slightly lighter than average.

The video says the main purpose is only to filter out the taste of chlorine bleach (Clorox), after using it to kill any nasties in the water, so you'd also need to factor in the weight of the Clorox and container you kept it in to arrive at the total weight.

It also seems to rely on a wide-mouth bottle, for which you'd have to experiment to see which bottles would work best. The hard plastic bottle in the video would almost certainly contain BPA, if that is a concern to you, and is not the lightest solution to water storage.

Using bleach to purify water can also create some undesirable chemical byproducts as the chlorine reacts with organic compounds in the water. I don't know if the Brita filter would remove these. The byproducts are carcinogenic.

On the whole, the system demonstrated in the video should work to eliminate any bacterial contamination, and provide you with OK tasting water. Not sure I'd recommend it wholeheartedly.

it just seemed so simple.... I was more curious about that and the difference between the brita system and the aquamira