View Full Version : Aquamira Tablets
Does anyone have any experience with the Aquamira tablets? REI no longer carriers the Aquamira two part solution because they don't believe in its effectiveness...or at least that's what one of their csr's told me.
I used Aqua Mira during my thru-hike and never had any problems. I know some of you don't use anything, good for you. But I sleep better at night not worrying about whether or not I'm going to wake up with the green apple squirts the next morning. That said, I want to always use some form of treatment, but I certainly do not want to go back to a filter.
Thanks in advance for your input.
If YOU believe in Aquamira's effectiveness, you can purchase the product at Tinman's AntiGravity Gear (http://www.antigravitygear.com/store/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=99) store.
That's where I purchased mine.
I've been using the Micropure tablets for several years and treated some nasty looking water. Never had a problem. BTW, these are available at Acadamey.
Stag3
EarlyBird2007
01-24-2007, 09:11
I have no personal experience with the tablets. I plan to use the drops on my thru. Lots of places still stock the drops, EMS & Campmor being two. There's a good article on the tablets in the latest Backpacker mag.
Does anyone have any experience with the Aquamira tablets? REI no longer carriers the Aquamira two part solution because they don't believe in its effectiveness...or at least that's what one of their csr's told me.
I used Aqua Mira during my thru-hike and never had any problems. I know some of you don't use anything, good for you. But I sleep better at night not worrying about whether or not I'm going to wake up with the green apple squirts the next morning. That said, I want to always use some form of treatment, but I certainly do not want to go back to a filter.
Thanks in advance for your input.
Footslogger
01-24-2007, 09:29
Haven't tried the AquaMira brand tablets but they sound similar to the MicrPure Tablets, which I have used now for a couple years:
http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_info.php?cPath=40_304&products_id=616&osCsid=7f013cd94593ff021de324b4b525cf64
Good news is that the price is coming down. The not so good news is that they take 4 hours to completely kill all the buggie wuggies.
I carry them as a back up to my AquaMira/Klearwater and primarily use them at night, when time is not an issue.
'Slogger
BirchBark
01-24-2007, 09:35
Does anyone have any experience with the Aquamira tablets? REI no longer carriers the Aquamira two part solution because they don't believe in its effectiveness... I want to always use some form of treatment, but I certainly do not want to go back to a filter.
I don't have any experience with the tablets, but on a section hike last summer my girlfriend & I used the Aqua Mira two-part solution. It was a fiasco. In addition to the chemical treatment, she was pretty insistent that all drinking water be filtered through a cloth prior to drinking (she's an urbanite and not about to drink water with s**t floating in it).
So between finding a pool deep enough to dip the water bottles, after straining it all through a bandana, then waiting for the Aqua Mira solution to react in the cap and then again afterwards the 10 minute wait for the water treatment itself, getting a quick drink was a major production.
After repeating the process several times a day it became obvious that too much time was being wasted on getting water. On the good side, she is much more willing to drink nasty or highly-chlorinated tap water following our Aqua Mira experience, always saying something like "this water tastes really bad, but after hiking I know that it could be worse."
If the tablets cut some of the hassle out of the procedure, that's awesome and to my mind a better system. If it works for you, run with it.
As for myself, I ran directly to EMS and bought a Miniworks filter. Now I drink floater-free (and hopefully organism-free) within seconds of walking upon a water source. I'd consider carrying a few tablets as a back-up, but screw that mixing and waiting business.
beach: drop drop, wait 30 minutes, drink. parasites? what parasites?
floaties are good for you
Fiddleback
01-24-2007, 10:45
Bota filter bottle for instant drinks along the trail, chlorine dioxide treatments (i.e., no-mix Klear Water) for larger quantities of water in camp and overnight. This system works best when there's water along the trail;) .
FB
rswanson
01-24-2007, 17:25
You can get chlorine dioxide water treatment pre-mixed in one bottle. This eliminates carrying two bottles, premixing, & activation time. Downside: shorter shelf life of the chemical and slightly more expense. You can learn everything you need about this treatment here (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/klearwater_xinix_chlorine_dioxide_clo2_water_treat ment.html).
Dick's Sporting Goods carries the 2 part solution.
I'm skeptical of the REI claim they don't believe in their effectiveness.
I bet they just make more profit on another item. You know how retail works? A product maker will cut the retailer a bigger discount if they do not carry the competitor's products. Bucks. It happens all the time.
For example this is why you can't find saccharine tablets at Wal-Mart. There is much more money to be made by selling boxes of single servings of Equal or whatever. Why sell you 500 servings for $1.98 when they can sell you 120 servings for $2.95?
You can also find Aqua-Mira on E-Bay.
Fiddleback
01-24-2007, 20:30
Yeah...my WalMart now holds the iodine behind the window in the pharmacy because of illicit drug manufacturing although they said they didn't know what drug was at issue. On top of that, I had to special order the iodine 'cause they didn't have any in stock.
About the same day I picked up the iodine I learned that betadine/providone (which is in the aisle) can be used for water treatment. Then, a couple days later, my Lady comes home from the ag and ranch store with big bottles of iodine containing an iodine soultion two and a half times the strength of the iodine I got (5% vs 2%)...no off counter controls, no special orders. And less than half price...
So now my household is awash in iodine...iodine I don't really want to use on cuts and blisters (:eek:) and that I'll use for water treatment only in emergencies.
It was one of those weeks...:datz
FB
I'm skeptical of the REI claim they don't believe in their effectiveness.
It was also claimed in an earlier thread that California won't let stores there carry it because they haven't approved it, and since a large number of REI's are in California, it would be too much of a pain from a distribution standpoint to carry it for the other stores.
Nothing beats a highly compliant gastro-intestinal tract. Start young, travel far and often, drink and recover. And don't be a picky eater.
Growing up in third-world interior Florida a half-century ago, my mother boiled everything before her first-born, my older brother, could drink it. By the time I came along she had three under age five. One day she looked out the window to see my brother giving my sister and me sips of water from a rusty tin can. She resigned herself to the fact God gave us all pretty resilient guts after all.
Overpass
01-26-2007, 00:05
I was all into Potable Aqua back when I was just a week/weekender.
Then I used it for a month.
At 6 bucks* for 30 tablets, that's 20 cents per pill. It requires 2 tabs per liter to purify, that's 40 cents a liter. Easily using 4 liters per day (and a lot more in hot weather/high mileage) between drinking and cooking, that's $1.60 per DAY for water on the trail. Multiplying further, that's $11.20 per week or $44.80 per month.
That's a lot of money for horrible-tasting water that you gotta wait forever to be allowed to drink...
* Yes, I've seen it now and then at like superwalmarts and fleamarkets for around 4 bucks, but that's not the norm. And it does have a shelf-life, so I wouldn't trust discount stuff from like cheapasdirt.com or whatever...
brancher
01-27-2007, 09:32
I don't have any experience with the tablets, but on a section hike last summer my girlfriend & I used the Aqua Mira two-part solution. It was a fiasco. In addition to the chemical treatment, she was pretty insistent that all drinking water be filtered through a cloth prior to drinking (she's an urbanite and not about to drink water with s**t floating in it).
So between finding a pool deep enough to dip the water bottles, after straining it all through a bandana, then waiting for the Aqua Mira solution to react in the cap and then again afterwards the 10 minute wait for the water treatment itself, getting a quick drink was a major production....
After repeating the process several times a day it became obvious that too much time was being wasted on getting water. ..;.
:-? H-m-m-m. Kinda sounds like a planning issue.
I have used filters, iodine tabs, and aqua mira solution. By far, the aqua mira is the best approach. Filters either get clogged too quickly, or they don't filter to the degree you need. Iodine tastes okay (if you're really thirsty) for about a day, then they start tasting horrible, not to mention the staining of the water vessels. Aqua mira provides a cheap, lightweight, long-shelf-life solution. You could eliminate your 'finding fresh water several times a day' problem by purifying 2 liters per person in the morning, and it'll last all day. I carry a 2L platy while walking and refill at dinner (along with another 2L platy). Use one for dinner and breakfast, and the other is ready for the next day's trek. I never have any hassle with water and always have fresh.
Don't know anythine about Aqua Mira tabs, though. Never thought to consider 'em, 'cause I'm having so much fun with the liquid.....:cool:
Big Dawg
01-27-2007, 10:06
Per McNett.com, the aqua mira tablets take 4 hours to treat a liter of water. Aqua mira drops takes 15 to 30 minutes. I think I'll stay w/ the drops.
GlazeDog
02-06-2007, 09:50
Aqua Mira is the gold standard along the AT for non-filter users. That REI hoo-haa is talking straight out of his or her hoo-haa. TinMan's site http://www.antigravitygear.com/ is good place to by a bottle. But just one bottle as the stuff will be available from every outfitter along the way--yes, every. When the stuff is available every-where uo the AT that means more to me than some phone rep at REI.
GlazeDog
Footslogger
02-06-2007, 09:54
Per McNett.com, the aqua mira tablets take 4 hours to treat a liter of water. Aqua mira drops takes 15 to 30 minutes. I think I'll stay w/ the drops.
=====================================
That's consistent with the PUR Micro (chlorine dioxide) Tablets as well. Primary reason I use them at night. Purify my water and disinfect my water containers while I'm sleeping.
'Slogger
=====================================
That's consistent with the PUR Micro (chlorine dioxide) Tablets as well. Primary reason I use them at night. Purify my water and disinfect my water containers while I'm sleeping.
'Slogger
Crypto in 30 minutes? I think it is easy to confuse the performance of clorine dioxide systems. 30minutes for warm, relatively clean water. 4 hours for very cold and dirty water. My point is that I don't believe there is a performance difference between clorine dioxide tablets and solutions.
I wonder...
Why so many spend so much for so little,
Without ever considering,
Just Dippen' 'n Sippen'
I wonder...
Why so many spend so much for so little,
Without ever considering,
Just Dippen' 'n Sippen'
Maybe it is because we don't want to spend our trip Squatting and Rippin?
:p
Maybe it is because we don't want to spend our trip Squatting and Rippin?
:p
Just why are you so sure that you would,
If so many that went and didn't?:D
I hear about maybe 1/2 dozen people a year that get giardia and it seems like the whole world panics. :rolleyes:
I hear about maybe 1/2 dozen people a year that get giardia and it seems like the whole world panics. :rolleyes:
Get it once and report back. If it is no big deal then I'll leave my tablets at home. Until then I'm going to drop 1 Katadyn Micropur in a quart of my drinking water and make sure that my dinner/coffee water boils before I use it. I like having some control over my bowel movements. By the way, I wear a seatbelt when I drive too.
Per McNett.com, the aqua mira tablets take 4 hours to treat a liter of water. Aqua mira drops takes 15 to 30 minutes. I think I'll stay w/ the drops.
The drops and the tablets are identical. From Aqua Mira's website: "Aquamira Water Purifier Tablets provide all the benefits of our popular Water Treatment Drops (http://www.aquamira.com/consumer/aquamira-water-treatment-drops/product-description) in an easy to use solid format". Both treat bacteria and viruses within 15 minutes & crypto and giardia in normal water in 30 minutes. The 4 hours is just for crypto in cold, dirty water. I believe all the chlorine dioxide tablets (Katadyn Micropur, Aqua Mira, Potable Aqua, etc.) are also essentially identical so buy the cheapest ones you can find...
Blue Sky II
03-11-2007, 11:29
Read the same thing about the 30 minute treatment time vs the 4 hour treatment time before I bought a pack in January. I'm not too worried about crypto so I'll do the 30 minute treatment with the tablets. I'll keep using the Aqua Mira drops most of the time, but now I can quickly scoop up some water along the trail, drop in a tablet and keep moving.
24 individually wrapped tablets weighs 0.7 oz. including the outer recloseable packaging. Carrying six tablets sets you back a paltry 0.1 oz.