liquid iodine?

What you think is liquid iodine might not be.

Iodine is stable in a solid crystalline form and sublimates to a gaseous form.

This was state-of-the-art about 25 years ago. You can dissolve iodine in water, and then add that to raw water in a concentration of about 4ppm. When left for a contact period, that works effectively to kill giardia and some other bugs. It takes some practice to get the concentration correct. Also, as it turns out, some people are very sensitive to iodine concentrations like this, and they can get very sick.

If you have access to 4 grams or so of iodine crystals to start with, you will be one step ahead of the DEA agents who seem to want to close down every practical source of over-the-counter iodine. You pretty much have to carry the iodine crystals in a brown glass bottle with a very good cap.

I don't think that owning iodine is illegal, but it is scrutinized very closely since it is a precursor in certain illegal drug manufacturing.

–B.G.–

It is very cost-effective to use iodine crystals as were sold in a brown glass bottle with a crystal-retaining inner lip and built-in thermometer (to gauge the concentration). You'd add X capfuls to a liter, top off the bottle and always have more saturated solution for use. I only ever managed to use up one set of iodine crystals over hundreds of people-nights and just refilled it from a chem lab.

The weight wasn't great – maybe 4 oz of water, plus the glass bottle so the tablets are lighter per trip. But in a large group or treating lots of water in hot weather, the cost savings are nice. And you never wonder if it's gone bad (like you do old tablets) – if there are crystals remaining, it still works.

You aren't talking about Tincture of Iodine are you? Iodine is a solid, what is sold in drug stores is Tincture of Iodine, which is Iodine in alcohol. It is difficult to know whether it would be safe to use as a water treatment, since the actual composition is unknown. Unless the manufacturer has included directions for use in water treatment, I wouldn't use Tincture of Iodine. You could evaporate the alcohol to get the Iodine crystals, but I would be concerned that the manufacturer has added other adulterants that may cause problems.

Iodine crystals in a glass bottle were my standard back in the day. I think mine were the Polar Pure brand. I probably still have a bottle. David describes the process above.

Aqua Mira liquid drops have replaced it for me; I wouldn't go back. I don't mind the taste of chlorine dioxide, iodine gets nasty on a long trip.

"I think mine were the Polar Pure brand.

Bob Wallace used to market this, but I am not aware that it is on the market anymore.

–B.G.–

As said, iodine reactions can occur. On another sight a woman had a bad reaction years ago and still has some long lasting effects from it. Of course this is not necessarily the norm but with so many other safer options today you have to ask yourself is it worth rolling the dice on this one.

Be safe, your health is everything.

jimmyb

I brought this up because I've seen references on survival shows or youtube about using a liquid iodine dropper for water treatment. All I can find are iodine bottles on amazon marketed as a dietary supplement… do those work?

"All I can find are iodine bottles on amazon marketed as a dietary supplement… do those work?"

Do you think that they contain commercially pure iodine crystals?

(No) I didn't think so.

It's really kind of hard to find iodine crystals anymore outside of a serious chem lab.

–B.G.–

I just returned from a six day Yosemite backpacking trip and used 5 drops in 1L of water and wait 30 minutes before you drink. Not real good for long term though.

"5 drops in 1L of water"

Five drops of what, exactly?

–B.G.–

Polar Pure is on Amazon.com for $20 including shipping. Treats 2,000 liters of water.

Maybe it's old, but unlike most other chemicals, if the crystals are in the bottle, they're still active and effective.

Do you really want to go that route? Mmn tasty. +1 on the Aqua Mira. I'll send you some to try if you'd like.

I used Polar Pure for years…. I actually loved it and lost my last bottle and have been using Chlorine Dioxide ever since.

I really liked the Polar Pure because for all practical purposes it was an infinite supply. You paid a slight weight penalty but I'm going to buy one of those Amazon bottles and take my chances with the feds.

Since iodine is not recommended for long term use, can cause allergic reaction, and has been demonstrated to be ineffective against crypto as well as less effective against giardia, I suggest chlorine dioxide.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11990150

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html

Iodine is cheap. Downsides: tastes bad, relatively ineffective compared to other available methods, bad for you.

One thing I've learned in life: it's not a bargain if it doesn't perform.

Disinfection with iodine or chlorine is not effective in killing Cryptosporidium…
Disinfection with iodine or chlorine has a low to moderate effectiveness in killing Giardia; …Water that has been disinfected with iodine is NOT recommended for pregnant women, people with thyroid problems, those with known hypersensitivity to iodine, or continuous use for more than a few weeks at a time.

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html

I see Lori already hit many of these points.

"people with thyroid problems, those with known hypersensitivity to iodine"

Somes a backpacker will not know that they have a thyroid problem or hypersensitivity to iodine. That gets worse if the leader or water-treater is a bit lax on getting proper concentrations of iodine solution in the raw water.

One friend of mine got hit by this and spent months in recovery. Actually, it took the doctors a long time to figure out the diagnosis.

–B.G.–

I must have a thyroid made of steel. I used that stuff on several multi-month trips.

And the danger of making absolute statements about biocides is just that. I know for Chlorine it's efficacy is attributed strongly with pH. Hydrochlorous acid provides the predominant biocide efficacy. Due the dissociation constant chlorine based products lose effectiveness in high alkalinity environments. So you need some pH test strips with your chlorine dioxide tablets, and a strong acid to maximize its efficacy.

Chlorine Dioxide is pH independent because it is a dissolved gas.

Iodine fumes have a very corrosive effect on steel.

Yes, I think a lot of us used iodine for water treatment back in the old days. You start thinking about these things once you've seen a thousand dollar ceramic water filter destroyed by freezing.

–B.G.–

Justin. I think the tablets are way better than the drops. They are a tad more expensive, but I feel confident that they work. I used the tablets at night, on the JMT, to have my water ready for the next day. I did filter a liter for my evening meal and breakfast using a sawyer mini. I guess I would rather spend a few buck for the convenience and safety.

I've used tincture of iodine to treat water that I was unsure of. 5 to 10 drops per liter of water, and as was previously said, wait half an hour. tincture of iodine is a disenfectant for wounds, so I use it as such. Water purification is a secondary, emergency use. I don't particularly like the taste of tincture of iodine treated water.

"I don't particularly like the taste of iodine."

You mean iodine in an alcohol solution.

–B.G.–

No, I've been know to enjoy the taste of alcohol, sometime to excess. Tincture of iodine has its own kinda bitter taste that tightens the edge of my tongue. I don't get that reaction from alcohol. From wiki

"SP Tincture of Iodine is defined in the U.S. National Formulary (NF) as containing in each 100 mL, 1.8 to 2.2 grams of elemental iodine, and 2.1 to 2.6 grams of sodium iodide. Alcohol is 50 ml and the balance is purified water. This "2% free iodine" solution provides about one mg of free iodine per drop."

"its own kinda bitter taste"

Because it is not drinking alcohol.

–B.G.–

A bottle of iodine costs about $7 around here and treats about 6 gallons of water. On a multi-day trip you could go through a bottle in 3 or 4 days.
After treating 18 gallons of water I could have just bought a sawyer mini.
I've probably spent well over $100 on iodine in my life… which is why I now own a saywer mini.

I don't have a real need for liquid iodine, it's just that after seeing it used on a few survival shows I was curious because I've never seen it mentioned here.