Aqua Mira Warning

[Al Shaver]

I’ve used Aqua Mira on numerous trips and as far as I know it performs as touted (not by the manufacturer which makes no claims for it purifying water in it’s literature). I leave it to those such as Dr.J to make such determinations.

My warning relates to McNett’s claim of each kit treating up to 120 quarts water. The instructions say to use 7 drops each of partA and PartB (15 drops for cloudy water). The first time I used Aqua Mira was on a 15 day trip. The directions said I had plenty of chemical, but I ran dry on day 11. Since then I measured 4 kits and found the Part A bottles to hold 435, 460, 480, and 557 drops. The B bottles held 545, 700, 600 and 518 drops respectively. This means you can count on only around 450 drops of each chemical per kit (once one part goes dry, you’re done) which treats 64 quarts, not 120 quarts. BEWARE and plan accordingly.

Other Data: At 64 quarts and $11.04/kit it works out to $.172/qt, 30grams(30ml) liquid/bottle, empty bottle with cap weighs 11 grams(you can use these numbers to calculate how many quarts you can treat when you start a trip with a partially used kit), .93 grams chemical/quart water treated = 1.2 oz chemical for 5qt/day, 7 day trip.

[John S.]

That’s just one more reason to go with chlorine dioxide tablets instead. You can’t be lied to that way.

[Bernard Shaw]

Thank you Al for the attention to detail!

Evan

[Steven Hanlon]

i went with the Klear Water because it requires me to not think. fill up 2 quarts, put a capful in the water, shake, and then wait 20 minutes.

i would screw up something more complex. i just didn’t see myself mixing equal parts of liquids before putting it into the water. i would screw that up real good.

years ago i tried the tablets and for whatever reason they never fully dissolved. i wasn’t sure if there was something wrong with the tablets and then i was worried that my water was not really treated.

-Steve

[David Lewis]

I tried Klear Water and it kept going clear on me. I wasted a LOT of that stuff as a result… i.e… had to pour a lot down the drain that had gone “bad”. I think I put it in a clear container… that’s why. But it was in my pack the whole time… so you wouldn’t think light would get to it. I’ve done back to good old Pristine.

[Greg Vaillancourt]

The instructions here http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/potable_aqua_chlorine_dioxide_30.html

say the tablets need 4 hours to work. Is this a missprint?

[J R]

Potable Aqua requires only 30 minutes.

4 hours is an EPA required treatment regime for the destruction of cysts in the water, however lab tests show that this is only required when trying to kill cysts in very cold, very dirty water. Under average field conditions, the cysts should be killed within 30 minutes. Virii and bacteria will be gone within 15 min.

[Will Rietveld]

I have been using Klear Water and like the simplicity. I take what I need on a trip in a dropper bottle. I have some Aqua Mira to use up and was wondering if I could pre-mix the amount of Aqua Mira I need for a trip and take it in a dropper bottle. Anyone know if that works?

[cat morris]

I have had AM off-gas by mixing ahead of time.

I also want to comment that a “drop” is not a calibrated measurement. The pressure & subsequent size of drop could be quite varied due to variables such as strength, pressure applied with the squeeze,size of the hole in the bottle etc. So unless we are using AM under regulated laboratory conditions with a pipette, how can we compare number of drops per bottle?

[EndoftheTrail]

Wil:

I remember reading that you CAN’T pre-mix Aqua Mira beforehand. It’s the oxidation that kills “germs” and when pre-mixed too far in advance, the solution will simply oxidize — and then become “flat” and useless.

[Scott Ashdown]

I asked the question of McNett, the makers of Aquamira whether it could be premixed before a trip. Here’s their reply by email:

Dear Scott,

Thank you for your email and question regarding our AquaMira Water Treatment.

The two solutions must be mixed at the time of use. The ClO2 solution that is created by mixing the two liquids is not stable over long periods of time and will not be effective if mixed in advance of your trip. The website http://www.backpacinglight.com has a selection of smaller dropper bottles.

You may be interested to learn that we have created a tablet form of AquaMira that is currently going through the EPA registration process. This new product is expected to be available by the end of this year.

Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Kind Regards,

Customer Service

McNett Corporation

[Al Shaver]

Cat – A drop size actually is quite consistent with a given liquid and dropper mechanism. If you’re finding variations with pressure, I think you’ve gone from drops to a stream – in which case all bets are off.

I found this consistency with repeated trials on the Aqua Mira bottles. If you change the dropper mechanism shape, size or material it can substantially affect drop size. See the Gossamer Gear Aqua Mira kit with smaller bottles. GG claims it takes 10 mini bottle drops to equal 7 AquaMira bottle drops.

I have exchanged a series of emails with McNett Customer Service re. the original subject of this thread. Initially they attempted to placate me with: <we did have an issue awhile back with one part running out before the other. This is due to the fact that Part A is actually more viscous than Part B and therefore has a different surface tension which created larger drops. It sounds like the problem you were having might have been due to this reason.>

When I informed them that that dog wouldn’t hunt they told me that their Aqua Mira R&D team will look into this discrepancy and report their findings to me.

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