Aqua Mira drops

Not answering your question… but why not use Aqua Mira (or Micropur) tablets? The tablets are both more potent and easier/quicker to use. You can skip mixing liquids and also the 5-minute mixing wait!

Treatment time for bacteria is the same 15-20 minutes for both tablets and liquids.

The more potent tablets, however, can also treat protozoa (crypto, giardia) — although longer treatment times are required — 30 minutes for cool water all the way to 4 hours for very cold (near-freezing) water. Not always practical — but still beats out the liquid.

Ahhh Ben…on the tablet crusade again!!!

I prefer drops for the following reasons:
1. On long hikes (10+ days, with few or no resupplies), I do not have to worry about running out or how many tablets to carry per day.
2. I can lessen the dose and increase treatment time at night to conserve and stretch my supply if needed.
3. You can dose the liquid just as strong or stronger than a tablet if treating highly suspect water.
4. In good sources I can use just a few drops so as to not worry about taste.
5. Liquid is FAR, FAR cheaper and lasts me much longer.
6. I do not generate any packaging trash from pill wrappers- with liquid I have two bottles and that's it.
7. I can repackage the liquid into smaller droppers for an overnight trip.
8. I can pre-mix the liquid on short trips to eliminate the 5 minute mixing time.
9. If needed, I can easily treat a single cup of water with a couple drops.
10. I have used the liquid extensively, from overnight trips to weeks on the trail, and have personally found no drawbacks. I'm used to it.

Edit….and on the 5 minute mixing time: when pulling 20+ mile days (I've done 50K solo days) the 5 minute wait every couple hours is a welcome and needed break. I need to stretch, switch socks, tend my feet, and eat a snack anyway. I've never felt the 5 minute wait was a burden, in fact it's welcome, even when trying to pull very long days.

Thanks for the good intentions Ben, but I'm fine.

Craig:

Fair enough. :)

Just one thing to mention though — in talking with A.M. rep. on the phone — the tablets are 3-4x the strength of the liquids — which is why the direction on the liquids can only mention bacteria — and not protozoa. If that's a concern for you, then you'll need to triple the dosage and/or treatment time accordingly.

But you are absolutely right about the foul taste (imagine tripling your dosage and drinking the water afterwards). Some people don't mind it (or can't even taste it) — but it's foul to me — both solid and liquid. I love the UL property, but can't stand the taste (and also the expense) and have stopped using chlorine dioxide altogether.

Enough digression — I hope you get a response soon — although there are plenty of other sources shown on Google.

Ben,
What have you switched to.

Craig,

Aqua Mira drops, tablets, and the Frontier PRO filter were added into inventory a few minutes ago.

– Sam

Thanks! Just got the stock alert.

OK, since Craig has gotten his answer, I'll continue with the thread hijack…

David:

I switched to using a combination of household bleach and Aquamira Frontier Pro filter.

I rely on bleach to treat only viruses and bacteria — and I rely on the filter to clarify water, improve water taste (including the removal of bleach taste), and block the bigger stuff like protozoa (crypto, giardia).

To me, the combination makes for a good compromise. Relying on chemicals to kill just the tiniest andeasy to kill stuff means just a 15-minute waiting time. And then relying on the filter to block the bigger stuff means I only need a very light weight filter. The Frontier Pro weighs just 2 ounces. I also like the versatility of this filter: it can be used as an inline filter, a gravity filter, or simply screwed directly onto a Platypus bladder for "bottle drinking".

How diplomatic of you, Ben.

I've been using Aqua Mira drops this summer, both in the Oregon Siskiyous (stock around some sources) and the Wind River Range. Like them a lot. Tasteless; light; I'm in my late 60s, small, need to cut every ounce I can. A couple of questions –

BPL talks about putting them into their smaller dropper bottles, to make a 1 oz. kit instead of 3 oz. I like it! But McNett says they don't recommend this. Do we know that (1) the small dropper bottles are a plastic that won't affect the Aqua Mira materials, and that (2) 7 drops from the small bottles is the same volume as 7 from the original bottles? I don't know – is it "a drop is a drop is a drop"? I'd think the size of the opening could make a difference.

Thanks – Doris

Doris
someone may be along with the answer but when you have the bottle it is easy to find the answer yourself. Drip a multiple of 7 drops into the new bottle and count the drops as you drip it out again.