aqua mira & old school mini dropper bottles

I have some that I bought last year, and I use 11 drops from each component per liter of water I want to treat.

I think it's 7 from the bottles that the AM comes packaged in, and as I recall the micron sizing of the BPL bottles is smaller. Seek another opinion though, you know how things can get confused over time (things and me)

There are a few different sizes of bottles now. As mine are fairly new, I'm not sure which is "old school". Put 7 drops in a cap from one of the AM bottles. Do the same with the mini dropper and count how many drops it takes to get to that same quantity of liquid in the cap.

If you went to this link:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/dropper_bottle_assorted.html

And scroll down to Drop Size Comments, it says:
"Our old style dropper bottles, shipped until May 2008, resulted in drop sizes of Aqua Mira that were about 50% larger than the drops dispensed from Aqua Mira stock bottles."

Which is why I would be tempted to use fewer drops from the BPL bottles. Like I said though, this used to be definitively available information, and I could use some confirmation if anyone has it. Thanks again… -G$

Just do what Christopher suggested up above and take out the guess work once and for all.

Back when I used AM with micro drop bottles (which produced a smaller droplet size) — I did the same — and it came out to about 11 drops — as compared to 7 from the AM bottle itself. 7/11 — easy to remember.

But when you finish your current AM stock, I highly recommend that you switch to either AM brand solid tablets or Katadyn Micropur (same stuff) — the tablets:

1. have 3 times the concentration of chlorine dioxide (good against viruses and protozoa instead of just bacteria)

2. are easier to use — no more separate bottles or counting droplets or spilling

3. far quicker to use — no more of that 5-min. premixing wait

that ratio kind of rings a bell for me… maybe BPL staff messed up and meant to say that the BPL mini bottles produced drops that were 50% smaller than stock AM drops, which would give you 11 drops per liter.

i use an ULA amigo filter primarily, and just have the drops as either backup for really filthy stuff or I'll leave the filter in camp and use drops for any backcountry day hikes. as a result, my stock purchased 3 years ago is doing fine… and will likely reach it's 2009 expiration date before I run out.

the tablets look much much easier… looking forward to the switch one day.

Hi Ben,

Are you referring to the tabs with the 4 hour wait? I use 'em and like 'em plenty, but I'd love it if there was a way to use tabs *and* only have to wait 15 to 30 minutes until it's safe to drink the water. Anything like that out there?

– Dave

Gillian:

The tabs and the liquid both share identical active ingredients — chlorine dioxide — except the tabs have about 3 times higher concentration (per discussion with AM).

If you read the liquid's label — it mentions a 5-min. mixing time plus a 15-minute treatment time — but ONLY bacteria is mentioned. Due to lower concentration of chlorine dioxide, the liquid is not allowed to mention viruses or protozoa (cysts).

However, if you read the solid's label — it mentions effectiveness against all three. Micropur indicates a flat 4-hour treatment time — which is the maximum for water that's just below freezing.

Katadyn Micropur used to have a table on their website indicating:

Treatment time @20C water temp:

bacteria and viruses – 15 minutes
cysts/protozoa – 30 minutes

Treatment time @4C water temp:

bacteria and viruses – 15 minutes (same)
cysts/protozoa – 4 hours

Conclusion — the tablets can do everything that the liquid does — same treatment time — but the tablets go beyond that to treat cysts/protozoa as well. Finally, speaking with the AM rep., she said the liquid too can treat cysts/protozoa by simply upping the dosage three to four times. But that would make it expensive — not to mention tedious for counting so many droplets.

Hope this helps.

Don't knock KlearWater. It isn't a tablet, but it's still quick and easy.

Christopher:

I was only comparing AM/Katadyn tablets with AM liquids.

The one strike against Klearwater… it's short shelf life once opened. Not good for folks who are mostly stuck at work and can only go on occasional multi-day hikes — like me. :(

That's useful information. Thanks Ben.

And, for the record, I use Klearwater whenever I can (which is most of the time), but when I'm out on longer trips its short shelf life makes its usefulness pretty limited.

Ben,

Appreciate your comments on the tablets vs. liquid. I am considering trying the non-pump method (when the hiked area is most suitable) and had initially leaned towards a tablet until I (too) saw the 4 hour wait time. I decided to go with the drops though not my first choice. This encourages me to reconsider the tablets.

I went to Katadyn and reviewed the entire site (far as I know) and unfortunately did not come across a chart as you mentioned (though you said "used to") to ease my concerns about waiting any less than 4 hours. But, what you say makes a lot of sense as I know water temperature makes an impact on treatment.

Again, thanks for the comment.

One additional consideration–I had occasion to use tablets a week or so ago, and found that there was a noticeable bleach type taste to the water. Didn't make it non drinkable, but was noticeable and definitely reduced the taste quality for me. For me, when using the drops, that to the extent that there's any taste at all, it's very slight–much better tasting water to drink. I assume this is because of the much higher chemical concentration in the tablets. If taste matters, you might want to stick with the drops, despite the additional fiddle factor.
Gerry

Guess I'll just have to try them both and decide for myself – thanks too for your comments.

Erik:

Taste is definitely subjective — and reports about AM / Micropur taste range all over the board. Some hate it, some don't mind it at all — while others swear the stuff actually improves water taste!

Moi, I'm very sensitive to the clorine taste and I dislike the taste of both AM and Micropur. If after doing your tests, you either like or at least don't mind the chlorine taste, then you're home free. But if like me, you hate the taste as well, then I may have a solution for you…

I appreciate all the insight about water treatment options. I have been a user of AM liquid treatment for many years, but I'm intrigued by the simplicity and weight savings of the tablets.

As far as treatment times for various water temperatures (the colder the water the longer you have to wait to drink), does anyone know the ballpark temps for mountain rivers/lakes in North America? Is there a big difference depending on proximity to snowmelt? I can understand there being a difference, just wondering how much? If the water temp is average, would 2 hours be plenty of time with the tablets?
Thanks.

> does anyone know the ballpark temps for mountain rivers/lakes in North America?
I think you can count on it being in the range of 20 C (shallow pond) to 0 C (snow melt).

You might think this is not very helpful, :-), so I will add one extra bit of information. The chemical reactions involved will take twice as long at 10 C compared to 20 C, and four times as long at 0 C compared to 20 C. So you will need to increase the treatment times for very cold water.

The next big question is what water temperature are the manufacturers assuming. I don't know, but check their technical information, or ask them.

Cheers

> does anyone know the ballpark temps for mountain rivers/lakes in North America?

Enjoyed giving that a thought.

North America – Mexico to Canada – Jan to Dec…

That's a good sized ballpark