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Q:
Are purification tablets or the water filters better for making water drinkable?
Question by fromthepeavine. Uploaded on May 09, 2011
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Answers (14)
It depends on what's in the water you start with. If you have clear water, purification tablets are more important--they kill parasites & bacteria that you can't see and that might pass through a filter. But a filter removes solid contaminants that are still there when you use purification tablets. In most cases, both is best, especially if you don't know what's in the water.
It's a toss up on what water source you will be using having type of contaminates chemical, biological and foreign bodies.
Be advised
It's a must to try/use the procedure 30+ days prior to traveling/use for two reason. First will it work for that environment as advertized, if not, you still have time to find another method. But most of all you and your party/present "MAY" have an allergic reaction such as iodine tablets. I know of one case were one of the guys used iodine tablets and had a severe allergic reaction. Fortunately for him, a bush plane just landed nearby dropping off other hunters.
Nothing substitutes better than boiling the water prior to use!
Giardia infection is most common were beavers are but not limited to. Other places have there own life threatening nasties from parasites to bacteria.
so it's better to give it the double whammy?
yes
I have had to treat water in some pretty scary places around the world. When possible I use both, first filter than threat with tablets. Most of the time,seems to work
Happy your testimonial is your still alive and kicking!
What's that new show on Friday night, catching some disease and dieing or nearly dieing? Anyhow, three people received transplants and all three died of rabies. I tell'ya, you got to be careful especially around critter poo and field dressing not to cut yourself! I'm surprised out of all the moose and caribou, I didn't come down with brucellosis!
I use a filter but also carry the tablets as back-up in my e-kit. Filtered water is available immediately, which is not the case with the tablets. The filter also has the advantage of possibly taking out some chemical pollutants.
I carry both along with an 8oz bottle of Clorox to put in my 7gal tote whenever I go more then a few miles in anywhere. 1 cap in a quart after running through a filter and boiling it if needed
reverse osmosis filtration is extremely effective but good systems are not very portable.
To kill even the hard shell cysts will take up to 4 hours with chemical purification from application to a drink of purified water. A .004 micron filter will instantly remove all contaminants from viruses to the big hard cysts.
boiling is the best. pumps give a particle size raiting to see what they will miss and they always miss virusus so if your not in the united states you need to think about that. tablets dont always kill parasites so find out whats in the water before you go out or just boil it
brockSamaon, you are right about virusus with a filter. Here's a summary from the Katadyn site:
Viruses (~0,02 – 0,2 Mikron*)
e.g. Hepatitis A, Norwalk virus, Polio virus. Viruses can only propagate in living cells since they do not possess their own metabolism. Their minimum size makes it difficult to filter them from water mechanically, and so filters with a pore size of < 0.02 microns are needed. However, viruses are sensitive to heat and chemical disinfectants. Usually bound to particles in cloudy water, they can also be removed to a large extent with filter pores up to 0.2 microns.
http://www.katadyn.com/fileadmin/user_upload/katadyn_products/Downloads/...
You can kill viruses with UV
http://casanovasadventures.com/catalog/water/p398.htm
http://www.basspro.com/SteriPEN-Classic-Handheld-Water-Purifier-with-Pre...
depending on how you pack and what kind of trip, a wok is a great thing to bring for cooking, frying, boiling, you name it! look up some pics online. also look for boyscout mess kits. i have one my dad used as a kid that has a fry pan, plate, and small pot/bowl. I take that on almost all trips where I'm not planning on coming back for a meal. if you're hunting in the morning and going back to camp (a lodge) for meals, you dont need to bring it in your day pack. in a pinch, if you dont have a container to boil water in, just but a DRY rock in the center of a fire, after a while lift it out with some sticks and drop it in your water bottle, and it does the trick if you dont have anything else.
DO NOT use a rock that is damp or wet, or has even been in damp soil, since these can become a stone frag grenades once they heat up. The last thing you need in a survival situation is a shard of rock in your eye.
Post an Answer
It depends on what's in the water you start with. If you have clear water, purification tablets are more important--they kill parasites & bacteria that you can't see and that might pass through a filter. But a filter removes solid contaminants that are still there when you use purification tablets. In most cases, both is best, especially if you don't know what's in the water.
It's a toss up on what water source you will be using having type of contaminates chemical, biological and foreign bodies.
Be advised
It's a must to try/use the procedure 30+ days prior to traveling/use for two reason. First will it work for that environment as advertized, if not, you still have time to find another method. But most of all you and your party/present "MAY" have an allergic reaction such as iodine tablets. I know of one case were one of the guys used iodine tablets and had a severe allergic reaction. Fortunately for him, a bush plane just landed nearby dropping off other hunters.
Nothing substitutes better than boiling the water prior to use!
Giardia infection is most common were beavers are but not limited to. Other places have there own life threatening nasties from parasites to bacteria.
To kill even the hard shell cysts will take up to 4 hours with chemical purification from application to a drink of purified water. A .004 micron filter will instantly remove all contaminants from viruses to the big hard cysts.
so it's better to give it the double whammy?
I use a filter but also carry the tablets as back-up in my e-kit. Filtered water is available immediately, which is not the case with the tablets. The filter also has the advantage of possibly taking out some chemical pollutants.
I carry both along with an 8oz bottle of Clorox to put in my 7gal tote whenever I go more then a few miles in anywhere. 1 cap in a quart after running through a filter and boiling it if needed
brockSamaon, you are right about virusus with a filter. Here's a summary from the Katadyn site:
Viruses (~0,02 – 0,2 Mikron*)
e.g. Hepatitis A, Norwalk virus, Polio virus. Viruses can only propagate in living cells since they do not possess their own metabolism. Their minimum size makes it difficult to filter them from water mechanically, and so filters with a pore size of < 0.02 microns are needed. However, viruses are sensitive to heat and chemical disinfectants. Usually bound to particles in cloudy water, they can also be removed to a large extent with filter pores up to 0.2 microns.
http://www.katadyn.com/fileadmin/user_upload/katadyn_products/Downloads/...
You can kill viruses with UV
http://casanovasadventures.com/catalog/water/p398.htm
http://www.basspro.com/SteriPEN-Classic-Handheld-Water-Purifier-with-Pre...
yes
I have had to treat water in some pretty scary places around the world. When possible I use both, first filter than threat with tablets. Most of the time,seems to work
Happy your testimonial is your still alive and kicking!
What's that new show on Friday night, catching some disease and dieing or nearly dieing? Anyhow, three people received transplants and all three died of rabies. I tell'ya, you got to be careful especially around critter poo and field dressing not to cut yourself! I'm surprised out of all the moose and caribou, I didn't come down with brucellosis!
reverse osmosis filtration is extremely effective but good systems are not very portable.
boiling is the best. pumps give a particle size raiting to see what they will miss and they always miss virusus so if your not in the united states you need to think about that. tablets dont always kill parasites so find out whats in the water before you go out or just boil it
depending on how you pack and what kind of trip, a wok is a great thing to bring for cooking, frying, boiling, you name it! look up some pics online. also look for boyscout mess kits. i have one my dad used as a kid that has a fry pan, plate, and small pot/bowl. I take that on almost all trips where I'm not planning on coming back for a meal. if you're hunting in the morning and going back to camp (a lodge) for meals, you dont need to bring it in your day pack. in a pinch, if you dont have a container to boil water in, just but a DRY rock in the center of a fire, after a while lift it out with some sticks and drop it in your water bottle, and it does the trick if you dont have anything else.
DO NOT use a rock that is damp or wet, or has even been in damp soil, since these can become a stone frag grenades once they heat up. The last thing you need in a survival situation is a shard of rock in your eye.
Post an Answer