aquamira

Read Ryan Jordan's 2006 article "Backcountry Water Quality Techniques, Trends, and Paranoia".

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/backcountry_water_quality_technologies_trends_paranoia.html

Ben,

As I use a gravity filter, I currently carry AM in liquid form for backup, in case I manage to crack the casing of my filter.

AM in liquid form as a shelf life of a few years.

Do you know if the tablets have a shelf life?

I might want to switch to tablets, as I don't expect to ever use them. The simplicity of their use is appealing as a back up and probably lighter than the two BPL dropper bottles I carry at 1 oz total weight.

-Tony

Tony:

If I recall correctly, they have a shelf life of 5 years (maybe more).

Is your gravity filter good enough to filter out the larger baddies — protozoa cysts (giardia, crypto, etc.)? If so, then that means your chemicals should only need to take care of the smaller stuff — which are easier to kill — like bacteria and viruses. If that's the case, then when you run out of the Aquamira stuff — just fill the drop bottle with bleach — which costs next to nothing (like 99 cents for a whole quart). 4-6 droplets of bleach per quart or liter of water will kill bacteria and viruses.

Ben,

I don't need any chemicals at all with the Sawyer Filter.

http://www.sawyerproducts.com/biological.htm

0.10 Micron

Here is the blurp from their website:

Biological Filtration: removes 7 log (99.99999%) of all bacteria like salmonella, cholera, and E. coli. And 6 log (99.9999%) of all Protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. You will find these removal rates to equal or exceed competitive options. EPA guidelines allow ten times more Protozoa left in the water than we allow.

Interestingly, the link above now shows that they have their own gravity filter system.

No weights are listed, but it looks heavy.

Sawyer makes a larger filter that also removes viruses.

Thanks for the shelf life info on the tablets…think that it is longer than the shelf life of the AM that I have in my gear closet.

I'll get some as back up.

There are only two ways that I know of that would cause my filter to fail…I take a fall and crack the filter casing or if I opened up the filter and poked around the insides and damaged the tubes inside. (I'd have to be stupid to do that).

As usual, you are a wealth of information…thanks.

-Tony

Oops, I forgot you use the Sawyer purifier!

I've used AquaMira on pristine alpine water. I've used it on murky, algae filled water in Los Angeles canyons. Warm water and cold water. Highly questionable sources and sources that would surely needed no treatment.
I've under dosed.
I've overdosed.
I've waited too long and too little.

I'm alive and well!

Caution is good, but in many cases I believe we've become a bit too paranoid about our water.

Ben,

Actually, I don't use the purifier….just their standard filter for biological stuff, which covers everything except viruses.

-Tony