# What Brand of Purification Tablets Do You Recommend?



## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

I was looking at Aquatabs, but the reviews say it has a little taste to it.
Is there an effective brand that doesn't have a chemical taste?


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

Why use tablets as opposed to filtration? I use Sawyer Minis others use Lifestraws. Besides filtration, I keep pool shock & Clorox on hand, as well as activated charcoal. The charcoal is good at removing off tastes & odors.


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

******* said:


> Why use tablets as opposed to filtration? I use Sawyer Minis others use Lifestraws. Besides filtration, I keep pool shock & Clorox on hand, as well as activated charcoal. The charcoal is good at removing off tastes & odors.


If let's say we get water from the river (to drink).....if I put a little bit of bleach, that makes it safe to drink?

I never heard of life straw - will look it up.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

charito said:


> If let's say we get water from the river (to drink).....if I put a little bit of bleach, that makes it safe to drink?
> 
> I never heard of life straw - will look it up.


Safer. Chlorine will kill most harmful bacteria & micro organisms in the water but will not take out possible chemical poisons. Similar to what the tablets do but just much cheaper. Basically what municipalities add to their city water. Filtration & chlorine would work fine for normally drinking out a river or lake but I wouldn't use after a flood, like around Houston, because of all the chemicals now in the floodwater. The Lifestraw/Sawyer type devices remove harmful things thru micro filtration and can be used over & over... especially the Sawyer which I personally prefer.
https://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Produ...d=1504611996&sr=8-1&keywords=sawyer+mini&th=1


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

******* said:


> Safer. Chlorine will kill most harmful bacteria & micro organisms in the water but will not take out possible chemical poisons. Similar to what the tablets do but just much cheaper. Basically what municipalities add to their city water. Filtration & chlorine would work fine for normally drinking out a river or lake but I wouldn't use after a flood, like around Houston, because of all the chemicals now in the floodwater. The Lifestraw/Sawyer type devices remove harmful things thru micro filtration and can be used over & over... especially the Sawyer which I personally prefer.
> https://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Produ...d=1504611996&sr=8-1&keywords=sawyer+mini&th=1


I just ordered life straw.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I have Life Straws in my BOB. For bugging in, I have bleach, and pool shock to make my own bleach. 
ince I have 18 swimming pools within 2 blocks of my house, I also have big version of life straw and a 
big particulate filter I can clean and big activated charcoal filter for chem removal.


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## RJAMES (Dec 23, 2016)

For water when you are on foot or biking a life straw or small Sawyer filter. Moving in a boat, vehicle or at home a larger gravity fed filter I think is best. 

For the 'best' water start with the cleanest water you can find. Use from a well before using surface water. Surface water look for moving water with live fish. You think drinking fish water is gross think what happened that there are no live fish in the creek? Chemical spill upstream. 

Sedimentation - let big stuff settle out do not try and filter mud. Dip it up let it settle then filter from the top. 
filtration- 2 microns to remove bacteria and protozoa - like Giardia 
Filter with a activated charcoal filter to remove or at lest reduce chemical contaminates. 
Chemically treat with chlorine to provide a chlorine residual so if bacteria was in your canteen / bottle you got something to kill it. Improves taste for most people. 


Iodine tablets do not store well long term, they are not as effective as our new filters, provide no residual, taste bad to most people. 

Chlorine tabs and chlorine - Taste a little better and can make bad tasting water taste better , they do provide a residual but will not touch viruses or chemicals. 

Filters - no residual, does not remove all bad taste, can be effective against protozia but check the filter size. 

Charcoal filter by itself - removes taste/ odors, chemicals or at least reduces levels.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Good choice on the LifeStraw over tablets.

Tablets have their place, but you need to know what to expect of them before you try to use them.
As others have stated, they only work against biological agents. They do nothing against sediment or chemical contaminants.
They also take a while to be fully effective. Some recommend a full 30 minutes to an hour before consumption.
Even then, some tablets (and even bleach) aren't 100% effective against the most common water-borne bacteria. (Giardia and Cryptosporidium)

With the LifeStraw (and Sawyer products), you get a physical barrier that restricts the flow of anything over .2 microns. (and even lower with other models)
This means Giardia and Cryptosporidium can't possibly pass through, and you filter out all sediment too, since it would also be larger than the .2 micron filter would allow.

Running the outflow through a filter of activated carbon(charcoal) will help to reduce any remaining chemical contamination.

The one thing that none of the above methods will handle is heavy metal contamination.
If there is any potential for heavy metals like lead or mercury, you should NOT attempt to drink the water, even with the filtering methods above. Don't even bother.
Removing heavy metals requires a more robust process, often reverse osmosis, which would not be suitable for most folks in a survival situation.
Find a better water source.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Besides the chemicals in floodwaters you also have to consider viruses that not all filters will remove. Treat with chlorine or boil before filtering.

Distillation will remove all biologicals and some chemicals, but may concentrate other volatile chemicals.

Chlorine will kill biologicals, as will boiling.

I have GI surplus tablets in the original wax sealed bottles, I believe they are iodine based. You can also use iodine crystals but they are hard to dissolve, and proper concentration and treatment time is problematic. Iodine crystals store well in glass bottles. Iodine is not effective for all biologicals, but better than raw water.

Liquid chlorine bleach is effective but has a limited shelf life. Chlorine based tablets store longer and are similar to pool shock.

Labor and time intensive, but a large slow sand filter with charcoal will take care of biologicals and chemicals. Takes a month or so to setup and start working. I'd still run the effluent through a purifier filter or boil to absolutely safe.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

I subscribe to the more is better school of thought. I stock pool shock because it has a long shelf life & does a good job of killing many microbes. I likewise keep several different micro-filtration devices to further clean the water. Then I too keep a 5 gallon pail of activated charcoal, to even further clean the water & to remove many odors & off tastes. The activated charcoal does a great job of absorbing organic chemicals/poisons such as pesticides or pharmaceuticals. I keep some of the "older" rechargeable charcoal filters for this final treatment stage. Granted, I should not need any of this, as I live in the country & have my own well but I guess this shows how important clean water is for survival. You don't skimp here.


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## azrancher (Dec 14, 2014)

RJAMES said:


> Chlorine tabs and chlorine - Taste a little better and can make bad tasting water taste better , they do provide a residual but will not touch viruses or chemicals.





Mad Trapper said:


> Besides the chemicals in floodwaters you also have to consider viruses that not all filters will remove. Treat with chlorine or boil before filtering.


You seem to contradict each other, and I don't know the correct answer, and am to lazy to look it up. Does Chlorine kill viruses or not?
*
Rancher*


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

From what I found, chlorine works by creating "hypochlorous acid" when it combines with water.
This weak acid can penetrate the cell membrane of some bacteria, and unfold the proteins that keep the cells functioning.
This makes the cell/organism effectively "dead in the water". It can't function normally, can't reproduce, and will die.

However, Giardia and Cryptosporidium have protective shells that cause them to be more resistant to chlorine.

Viruses can be affected by chlorine as well, but the mechanism for this is not yet well understood.

Since Giardia and Crypto are the most common bacterium found in untreated water, I personally choose to put a physical barrier between them and my drinking glass.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Chlorine kills viruses. They are much more difficult to filter but easier to kill chemically.

Protozoa like giardia and crypto that form cysts are somewhat resistant to chemicals. They take longer time and/or higher concentrations of chemical treatment. But cysts are big and easier to filter.

Dirty water may make chlorine/iodine less effective as will lower temperatures.

Iodine treated water should be ~ 70 oF or above to be effective. But is more effective treating cysts.

P.S. many years ago I earned a B.S. in Biochemistry, then went on to Chemistry doctorate, but I'm not full of BS:tango_face_grin:

P.P.S. you can make home grown 2% tincture of iodine to treat water from iodine crystals. Iodine is non-polar and not very water soluble, but quite soluble in ethanol. To make iodine more effective potassium iodide (KI) is added, when in solution with iodine forms tri-iodide anion. Dissolve the iodine and KI (2.0 g each) in 50-mL alcohol first then dilute with 50-mL water.

Becareful handling iodine, pure crystals can burn your skin, and it sublimates and forms a toxic gas. A capped container will build up the reddish gas

Note that iodine (I2) is a good item to prep but is corrosive like chlorine. Store in a glass jar with plastic or teflon cap, you can seal the cap with wax or teflon tape. 

KI is also good to have on hand for an iodide source in case of a nuclear fallout situation (protects thyroid from radioactive cesium).


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