Reader Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5

In the water purification vernacular, this is the best thing since sliced bread. These little Chlorine Dioxide tablets do in 20 minutes what other treatments can take up to an hour to do, plus kill most every water "critter" that is out to do your lower tract in.

Chlorine Dioxide tablets are not a panacea, as the water realistically needs to be somewhat clear and preferably 60F or more, but given that criterion, they work very well.
They are lightweight (well under a gram each) and readily available at popular outlets. Each tablet cost about 50 cents, and purifys 1 litre. As such, they can be more expensive than some other purification options for large volumes of water, and they don't remove solids or volatile compounds, but they do an excellent job.
If you're hiking where the water is relatively clear and not near freezing, these can be an excellent alternatives.

If you're solo or small group hiking, this is great. If you're going to be purifying scores of liters of water per day for a group, it may make sense to look at some of the lighter pumps.

Rating: 4 / 5

Ive been using these chlorine dioxide pills to treat backcountry water for about a year now. Initially I was enthralled about them and to a point, still think these are good water purification pills.

However, I think they are inferior to good old iodine pills for several reasons:

1) to get the maximum effect from them, you have to wait four hours. A lot of times I dont have four hours to wait. With potable Aqua, 45 minutes it the max I have to wait.

2) These pills are expensive compared to Potable Aqua.

3) You have to keep the treated water out of direct sunlight for the four hours to get the maximum benefit...more hassles

4) Chlorine dioxide removes most or all of any minerals/metals in the water. This is great if the metal is lead, but generally bad if you are taking water from a backcountry spring or creek.

5) I actually have found I prefer the taste of iodine treated water to chlorine dioxide treated water UNLESS the chlorine dioxide treated water is kept COLD. If the chlorine dioxide treated water gets anything less than backcountry creek cold, I find it tastes nasty, even though I know the water has been cleaned well. It has this chlorine taste, like watered down swimming pool water.

I would rather just drink iodine treated water, when I am thirsty I can guzzle that stuff down even if its lukewarm.



Vlad

Rating: 4 / 5

Comparison to Potable Aqua above is incorrect.

For bacteria and viruses, Micropur is just as effective and easy to use (15 minutes treatment time). It is only for protozoa (e.g. cryptosporidium) that Micropur requires a longer treatment time (up to 4 hours). It should be noted however, that iodine is ineffective against protozoa, regardless of treatment time.

My one complaint against Micropur (as well as the related Aqua Mira) is the chlorine smell and taste left in the water after treatment. Some people are not bothered by this -- but I find the taste off putting.

Edited by ben2world on 01/06/2007 09:30:53 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

I have kept a few of these in my first aid kit for ages. They are super light and fit for emergency use. When I first had to use them I was a bit worried, but there was no reason. They worked very well. The only complaint, and it is very minor, is that the packets are hard to get open.

Rating: 5 / 5

My rating of five here is for the Chlorine Dioxide method of treatment, this is just the brand I happened to use.

Ultra lightweight, kills most wee-beasties in 20 min, with 4 hrs kills the few critters that almost nothing else can get, tasts about the same as city water, and doesn't require a big initial investment.

If you're using in an area with a lot of sentiment in the water, I've found that a coffee filter can easily get out the really nasty stuff, and with some ingenuity, can be incorporated into any resevoir system.

Exceptions:
-Extreme temps (cold seriously slows down the reaction time)
-Doesn't get rid of heavy metals
-Costs more than iodine
-Would be more expensive that UV or pump filters treatment over time (multi month thru hikes)

Overall: No water treatment system is perfect, but this is the clear choice for most UL and just about all SUL trips.

Rating: 4 / 5

drop one in your bottle, wait 15 minutes- give it a shake- hard to get easier than that

the taste is not that bad (certainly wouldn't say great)

not cheap, but not overly spendy either

the aluminum foil pouches are a somewhat of a pain- forget fingers- you need scissors

no fuss, no muss- couldn't ask for too much more