AquaMira tips for a Newbie?

[Dan Parisian]

Up until now, I've always used a mechanical filter, but on my next trip, I plan on using AquaMira.

My wife & I travel with 3 liter camelbaks (not always full) & will likely be purifying the water in those. So before I head out into the great unknown, let me summarize what I think I know about this new miracle purification system.

I should probably pre-filter with a bandanna to get all the big chunks out of the water.

The mix time is important & needs to occur in a container (i.e. cap) that's small enough for the chemicals to mix.

I also understand that I should double the wait time if the water is a bit cloudy.

Question: can I half the dosage if I plan on letting the water sit two times the recommended wait time? What if I'm gonna let the water sit overnight?

Are there problems with the fact that the chemical will be doing its work inside a sealed Camelbak? Do I need to vent it (I'm picturing a Mentos/Diet Coke reaction going on)?

Any other thoughts & tips would be appreciated.

[Richard Matthews]

I prefer smaller containers for treatment. I carry two 20 oz. Gatorade bottles and two quart Playtpus bladders.

I use half a dose for water sitting overnight or for water that will be boiled.

No need to vent treated water.

I filter with mosquito neeting.

[Peter Sustr]

I have been using AquaMira for two years and have not had any problems with it. I simply drop 5 of each into on of the caps that comes with it and then then drop it into my container. I do like to drop it in then, pour some water back into the cap, then put back in to make sure I put it all in. If your doing the camel back, no need to 'vent' or leave it over night. I do suggest, that if its very cold water to give it a full 30 mins. I wouldn't suggest using half strenght just for piece of mind.

Aqua Mira has killed some really nasty looking water in the past so I have 100% confidence in it.

[Jason Brinkman]

In theory the dose could be reduced for longer detention time, but not sure what you are really saving there. However, dose would not necessarily be a linear relationship with time – example 1/2 dose might require 4x the wait (who knows?). I would probably just give it the full dose to be sure.

[Jay Wilkerson]

This depends on the length of your trip-but if you are going on weekend trip repack the AquaMira in BPL dropper bottles or cleaned out eyedrop bottles and use a chapstick lid as your mixing container. All that for 1.1 oz. GOODLUCK

[Daniel Bell]

Hi,
My first Aqua Mira trip was a 4-dayer last July in the Blue Range Primitive Area, which is on the East/Central border of Arizona. Since much of the trip meandered along the Blue River, I didn’t think water was going to be an issue. However, it was the monsoon season, complete with spectacular thunderstorms (and one short hail storm) every afternoon, so the “Blue” river was actually a swollen opaque brown and saturated with silt. It turned out to be fairly challenging to find side streams and pools of clear water that day.

For me, I want to find a prefilter that’s more aggressive than just mosquito netting or a bandanna. I tried to filter the river water through paper coffee filters, which was my coffee system at the time, but that didn’t work. I’ve looked at the Steripen pre-filter which screws onto the top of a nalgene type bottle, but that seems too over-engineered somehow. I’m also considering using my MSR mug-mate coffee filter (my current coffee system), or getting a 2nd mug-mate as a dedicated prefilter or, as someone else previously posted on this site, make a homemade prefilter with a chunk of permanent coffee filter material.

Otherwise, the Aqua Mira worked great, i.e. I didn’t get sick (although it’s hard to say if I would’ve got sick had I not used it…). I’m going to continue using it as my main water treatment (always using the full dose), but I want to find a better pre-filtering system.
Best, Dan

[Christopher Holden]

Dan,
In cases like you mention where the water is dirty only because it has been churned up, you would do well to pre-filter it first, then let it settle out before using a filter. This patient waiting will eliminate a lot of filter cleaning.
Hope this helps.
Chris

[EndoftheTrail]

Daniel:

I guarantee you that the Steripen prefilter will NOT clarify water that's all muddy and churned up — or green with algae for that matter! You'll need a filter to do that — either inline or gravity models like Frontier Pro, Sawyer, Seychelle, ULA… or the various different pump models.

[Author]

Posts