Katadyn Micropur Users

[Ken Helwig]

Was wondering. I have decided to go back to chemical treatment instead of other means. I have tried the Katadyn Micropur and for treating a litre of water the cholrine (or lack of) taste did not bother me. The instructions indicate that a 4 hour mix time should be used to kill all bacteria. From my understanding, most of us like the ease of use with chemicals but a 4 hour wait. Hmmm. What do you do?

[Ken Thompson]

4 hour time is to kill crypto. Most else is long gone in half an hour if the water isn't too cold. I used Micropur regularly for years with no ill effect. I received a Steripen Adventurer for Christmas last year and love it, no waiting. I use the tablets now as my backup.

[Steven Evans]

Helwing,
I use Micropur solely, and find it is a great tool if used with 2 water bladders. I usually start with 2 Liters of water in a 2L Platy. After I have finished the first liter of my 2L platy, I fill a second 1L platy with water and treat. By the time I finish the rest of the water from my 2L platy, my 1L platy should be good to go. And I continue along these lines. Before I go to bed, I fill my 2L and treat, then drink from my 1L during the night. I'm not so good with wording it so it may sounds complex but it works great! I don't wait the 4 hours recomended, just the time it takes for me to drink 1L of water.
HTH

[EndoftheTrail]

Ken:

Count yourself lucky that the chlorine taste doesn't bother you. I wish I could say the same, because I think the combination of a "bottle cap filter" plus Micropur makes for a treatment 'system' that is truly UL and yet effective!

I have spoken to Micropur and normal treatment time for all three baddies (bacteria, viruses, and protozoa (eg. crypto) is 15-20 minutes. However, treatment time lengthens with colder water — and if water is just above freezing — then the treatment time can be as long as 4 hours for the harder to kill, hard-shelled protozoa.

[Ken Helwig]

Thanks for the replies folks. Some interesting ideas put forth.

Ben, I can still detect a taste of cholrine but it has not bothered me as much as AM.

I do have a Steri Pen that I have used over the past year with great sucess. It's like trying to find that ever so perfect backpack…same goes for water treatment for me. I hate pumps but when I am with my wife we have to use them. Same goes for tents.

I will say this though. Nothing beats, pristine, cold mountain water on a hot, miserable day!

[Ryan Gardner]

Micropur vs. Aqua Mira:

I use Aqua Mira and don't notice any taste that bothers me. I'm thinking about throwing some Micropur tabs into my kit for "backup". Does Micropur leave more of a taste than the Aqua Mira?

(Also, can anyone give me the exact weight of one packaged tablet?)

[Steve McQueen]

Why not throw in a Nuun tablet if the chlorine is bothering you? I usually use a one nuun for 1 liter of water. Or would that tip the scales of your pack to the high side?

[EndoftheTrail]

Ryan:

I find AM and Micropur taste equally offensive — so probably six and half a dozen. As for the weight of one Micropur with its "bubble wrapping", it's essentially "weightless". 30 tablets inside the aluminum wrapping weigh just 0.6 oz. total. Pretty hard to get lighter than that! :)

If I could tolerate the taste (I know many people can) — then I would pick Micropur over A.M. anyday! There's no reason not to.

[Brian UL]

I would like to switch from klearwater to the micropur tabs, but one thing naggs at me about the tabs.
how long does it take to disslove the tab? And do you ever find that they dont dissolve all the way, especialy in more murky waters.
Do you start the wait count-down after the tab is completly dissolved or when you drop it in?

[Steven Evans]

Hi Brian,
While I've never timed the length it takes to disolve a Micropur tablet, my estimate would be in the 60 seconds department. Sometimes, I end up shaking the bottle around to speed it up – but it is not required. I guess you could start the timer after that, or before :). It starts to dissolve as soon as it hits the water, and the tablet is mighty small.
HTH

[Brian UL]

Thanks,
That sounds like a reasonable time!
But, do you ever find a situation in which it takes much longer or dosnt fully dissolve?

[EndoftheTrail]

Brian:

The tablet acts like Alka-Seltzer — it bubbles and dissolves as soon as it comes into contact with water. I've used it in fairly cold mountain stream water (not freezing of course) and have had no problems with it not dissolving quickly. Temperature — not water murkiness — is what determines treatment time. The 20-minute to 4-hour treatment time starts as soon as you drop the tablet in.

[Brian UL]

Alright, Im convinced to give them a try. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Kenneth Reppart]

Can you halve the Micropur dose like you can with AM & Klearwater?

The tablets seem like a pretty good option assuming I don't mind the taste. I'll definitely try them this spring along with the free Klearwater I got from BPL.

The only problem I could find with the tablets is this thread where Ryan Jordan said that you have to follow the directions carefully where AM & Klearwater have more leeway. Micropur already has a 5 minute head start over AM though so I don't see that as a problem.

[EndoftheTrail]

Ken:

The thing I like about Micropur is how easy it is to tear open the package (no tools required) and to break the tablet in halves if need be — say to treat one pint instead of one quart or liter of water.

Many don't mind the chemical taste (some even like it). Count yourself lucky if you are one of them. A few (like me) have tried both AM and Micropur and just can't stand the swimming pool taste. So I am "condemned" to lugging a 15oz. First Need Purifier instead of an UL system of prefilter plus Micropur…

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Ben

> So I am "condemned" to lugging a 15oz. First Need Purifier instead of an UL system
Steripen Adventurer

Cheers

[John S.]

The longer you wait after adding micropur, the less likely the chlorine taste. You might taste it at 30 minutes, but probably not at 1 hour and definitely not after that. Make sure you are adding one tablet to one liter of water. It would inaccurate to say using micropur always has a chemical taste.

[EndoftheTrail]

John:

Everyone's different. The water tastes awful to me even when left overnight! OTOH, some people actually like it, saying that Micropur improves water taste! So, as the saying goes, YMMV.

[Don Montierth]

I think it tastes terrible as well, but I am accustomed to filtered water at home. Even after sitting overnight, the taste is strong. But it does not take long to lose the taste if the water bottle cap is left open (after treatment time, of course).

[John S.]

Everyones different, you are right. Maybe I just overlook the taste and don't even think about it. If it bothered me, I'd still probably put something in it to mask the taste (country time, tang, etc.). No way would this backpacker be toting a heavier item when tablets are available. Using lighter gear is oftentimes an adaptation over time for sure.

[Ryan Gardner]

I hike a lot in Southern Utah, and when you drink out of a river filled with sand, it's nice to taste anything other than grit. I didn't realize how light the Micropur was – I'm going to have to give it a try.

Would Vitamin C get rid of it or does that only work for Iodine?

[John S.]

Vit C only works for iodine as far as I knows.

[E. H. Clemmons]

Couple of ideas:

I bought some Micropur and then realized they also make Micropur Forte also in a tablet form. Forte seems to call for only 30 minutes. Has anybody tried both?

We used one or the other at Philmont for running water. Also used Aqua Mira. I think the taste is about the same. Lots of the water we saw needed filtering because it came out of a static collection vessel, like a trough or rain barrel.

The chlorine reaction will challenge a PET waterbottle, if you are reusing the bottles that commercial bottled water comes in, or using gator ade or cranberry juice bottles. You can feel the chemical reacting with the bottle and causing it to deteriorate. I never see this with Aqua Mira but I do with Micropur.

[Inaki Diaz de Etura]

> Forte seems to call for only 30 minutes. Has anybody tried both?

I have used Forte quite a bit as it's the one I can get locally (MP1 chlorine dioxide tablets are not available and apparently it's not a distribution issue. It seems Micropur serves different products to different countries).

Forte used to be calciumhypochlorite, now changed to Sodiumdichlorisocyanurate (NaDCC), whatever that is, and claims (as per instructions in the box) 30 min for bacteria and virus and 2 hr for giardia and amoeba. Actually, the active ingredients in MP1 are apparently similar, Sodium Chlorite and Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate Dihydrate, how these combine to produce chorine dioxide, I don't know and what's the output of the Forte formulation, I don't know either.

I've never got sick after using Forte but I've never got sick anyway from backcountry water.

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