Aquamira drops vs tablets – difference in taste?

[Yoyo]

I’m uncertain what you guys carry for backup water treatment, but I’m thinking of bringing along Aquamira drops, as I’ve found them to be virtually tasteless (or good tasting).  In the past, I’ve always brought Micropur MP1 tablets as a backup, but I can’t get past the chemical taste.

This would be a complement to my current Sawyer gravity setup, which may be soon replaced by the Katydyn Befree…stay tuned for an upcoming review once I get my hands on one.

[Matthew / BPL]

I carried AM drops as a backup until they drained all over my backpack during a long trip so now I carry AM tablets. I haven’t actually tried them so I have no idea what the taste is like.

[Rex Sanders]

It’s simpler, easier, and lighter to carry a few chlorine dioxide pills as backup than bottles of AquaMira. Remember, you’re only going to use them if your filter fails completely – which is rare.

You can reduce the chlorine taste by pouring the water from one container to another a few times. Or you can carry something to mask the taste, like True Lemon packets, available in many flavors. I don’t mind the taste of the pills, but I was raised on water systems and around pools that seemed to believe that if a little chlorine was good, a lot more must be better.

— Rex

PS – Pre-mixing AquaMira is a bad idea – the active ingredients decay or dissipate quickly.

[Yoyo]

Like I mentioned, I’ve always carried Micropur ClO2 tablets as a backup water treatment option.  Still trying to get feedback on taste of the AquaMira tablets…With regard to premixing, I notice that Mike Clelland advocates using a black dropper bottle to keep premixed AM drops.  Does anyone know how many hours they are good for before they lose their potency?

[Ken Thompson]

Little black dropper bottle is intended for the days use. Gave up on drops long ago. You try mixing in the rain.

[Yoyo]

Hadn’t thought of the rain.  Again, this would be a backup to water filtration (either Sawyer or Befree).  Don’t have the time/patience to wait for 30 min to an hour, that is, unless my filter fails.  Anyone else still using the old standby AM drops these days?

[Bob Moulder]

I sometimes use the AM tablets for overnight water treatment. Maybe a slight chlorine taste but it doesn’t bother me in the least.

Even when there’s some of the chlorine smell/taste it doesn’t bother me, however as I’ve mentioned before I’m something of a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal when it comes to such stuff…. minor inconvenience if I’m really thirsty.

Review HERE of some of the tabs.

I have not tried Rex’s method of pouring the water back and forth in containers. But it makes perfect sense that it should help to aerate the water and encourage the off-gassing of any remaining chlorine.

However, I don’t filter and have been using AM liquid pre-mix for a few years as my main water treatment, mixed in a small, clear (well, translucent) 3ml bottle. I keep it in my shorts pocket or my pack’s waist pocket and haven’t seen the need for the black bottle. It still has that reassuring urine color all day and into the next, which the AM instruction sheet claims as the indication it is still potent.

Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I’ve had to drink some very nasty swamp water a few times and have never gotten sick.

Sometimes it tastes more than a bit chlorine-y to me, although that generally occurs when I’ve put a full 14 drops into skanky water from a really bad source. Nice, clear flowing water that isn’t laced with lots of floaties sometimes gets only 6-7 drops and more time for the AM to do it’s thing.

 

 

[JCH]

I can’t answer David’s question directly as I’ve never used the AquaMira tabs.  Back in the day I used the Micropur tabs as my main, and only, water purification. The taste didn’t bother me, but the wait was certainly not ideal. Now that I have moved to a Sawyer gravity system I carry a few as emergency backup.

Referencing what Rex said…I view them as emergency backup and expect to never use them.  Were the conditions to arrive that they needed to be used, I would be very pleased to drink safe water and the slight chlorine taste would not be of any concern.  As for the drops…that just seems like a lot more work (in the rain? egads!) not to mention the opportunity to screw it up and just *think* my water is safe.

[Cameron M]

My impression is that the only practical difference between the drops and the tablets is the level of dilution. Same between different brands of chlorine dioxide tablets. This fact affects the degree of taste as well as the speed of efficacy. I have never understood the reason to carry the heavier liquid method.

You might want to consult this discussion, which may contradict what I just claimed:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/19236/#comments

 

[Bob Moulder]

For trips up to about a week you don’t need to carry the full kit when it comes to liquid AM.

Repackage into smaller bottles and do the daily mix in the tiny 3ml bottle.

The whole kit weighs less than 1 oz (yes, those A and B bottles are full).

 

 

[Nick Gatel]

For the past 10 years or so the tablets have been my only means of purification, except for a few long trips where I used the drops to save money. Taste? What taste? I used iodine for 40 years or so and they have a taste that you can get used to. Filter? Never owned one because they are heavy and apparently you need a “backup system.”

[Yoyo]

Bob,

What size bottles are you using in your kit?  Also, do you feel that the mixing cap is necessary, or can you insert the drops from A and B directly into the mix bottle (Mike Clelland does this, I think).

[Bob Moulder]

Hi David,

The A and B bottles are 10ml and the daily mix bottle is 3ml. (All from US Plastics)

I feel the mixing cap is necessary because I found that frequently removing and replacing the dropper portion of the 3ml bottle compromised the fit of the plastic and led to leakage.

The way I do it now is to put about 25 drops each of A and B into the mixing cup and then squeeze the 3ml bottle and vacuum up the mix through the dropper, thereby never removing the dropper section from the bottle. This has, in fact, proven to greatly reduce the chance of leakage from the 3ml bottle.

[Yoyo]

How many drops are you using to treat 1 L of water, assuming it is freely flowing and clear (as most water sources are in Colorado)?

[Bob Moulder]

Normally I’ll use about 7 drops of the mix for running water that is clear and I typically give it about 1/2 hour to work. Increasing number of drops as the water gets nastier with more ‘floaties’….

[Author]

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