Aquamira

[sharky]

Today my Aquamira arrived in the mail and the bottles do not have dropper tops. I understand the instructions perfectly well about mixing solution A and B for five minutes then putting them into the water and waiting 15 minutes before drinking.

How do I mix only a drop or two when I have standard twist off tops?

[double d]

Well, what I do is put 7 drops of A and B directly into my water bottle (qtr. of old gatoraid bottle) and wait for about a 1/2 hour and I"m all good to drink the water. No problems.

[Praha4]

you'll have to try and find some generic empty dropper bottles to use, this topic came up before on WB, the main point was you have to match the volume per drop for the Aqua Mira dropper bottles, not every generic dropper will dispense the same size drop.

[sharky]

Does it have to be in a solid white container or will a clear dropper bottle do? I didn't know if because of the chemicals that it couldn't be in a see thru container.

[Tin Man]

The liquid might be light or UV sensitive. If you have a clear bottle you want to use, try duct tape to 'unclear' it.

[bigcranky]

Today my Aquamira arrived in the mail and the bottles do not have dropper tops.

That's odd. I've bought many sets of Aqua Mira, and all have had the dropper tops. Do yours look like this?

One issue with using different bottles is figuring out how large the drops are -- you'll need to make sure you get the proper amount of A.M. per liter of water, You can buy a set of tiny dropper bottles from backpackinglight.com which have been measured.

[sharky]

Mine are two 2oz bottles with a regular twist off cap. I wish they looked like that. The 1oz bottles would be perfect. I need enough to carry me through ten days in Vermont coming up in six weeks or so.

[garlic08]

I'm curious where you found this larger packaging. I just looked at the McNett website and couldn't find any drops other than BigCranky's link. I would suggest contacting your supplier and asking this question. If there's no way to measure the product in the field, I wouldn't use it.

I knew someone who was so weight conscious he repackaged the drops into the smaller dropper bottles from BPL. He tried that once and never again. It just wasn't worth the hassle.

PS: Also, for what it's worth, one set of one-ounce bottles has lasted my entire AT thru hike, plus 800 miles on the Arizona Trail, plus 800 more miles on the Pacific Northwest Trail, and I still have about half left. It will expire before I use it up. I don't enjoy using the chemicals all the time and I've been able to find very good water sources almost everywhere. You shouldn't need so much for 10 days in VT.

[sharky]

I bought it directly from Aquamira's website and the 2oz bottles was the only way it came in liquid form.

http://aquamira.com/preparedness/aqu...treatment-2oz/

So for me and another guy one set should be fine?

[Spokes]

OOPS! You bought the bottles used to treat 55 gallon drums not the hiker dropper bottles. Save yourself the hassle and return it for the one BigCranky mentioned. That's the one you need.

[mountainman]

how long must you wait to drink the water?

[sharky]

I bought two identical 1oz dropper bottles from rei. I want to try it out sooner than later so now I just need to find a top to mix the solutions in. I'm going to cover the bottles in electrical or duct tape and label them.

Has anyone ever used just bleach?

[bigcranky]

I knew someone who was so weight conscious he repackaged the drops into the smaller dropper bottles from BPL.

Ha ha ha. That describes me. I tried this one time on a 9-day hike. Ran out a few days before the end and had to buy more (luckily I was walking through Mountain Crossings that day...)

It's probably fine for serious UL-ers on a weekend hike.

[garlic08]

Lots of thru hikers have used plain old bleach, both liquid and crystal (pool chemical). I'm no chemist, but others on this forum have said the two-part chlorine dioxide system is superior to plain old chlorine. It's more expensive, too, and that's why some hikers still use bleach. I believe that the chlorine decays with time in the Aqua Mira mixture, so you're ingesting less harmful chemical, but I'm not positive about that. You get bleach odor when you first drop it in, but little or none when you drink it 15 minutes later. It sure tastes better than plain bleach, if that's any indication. Good luck with your dropper system.

By the way, store the bottles somewhere where a leak won't hurt anything. I had a leak once in an outside pocket and it decayed my pack. Leaks are very rare with the dropper bottles, but it has happened, I think mainly from mechanical damage.

The one-ounce bottles are rated to treat 30 gallons of water, so you should be good for two people for 10 days especially if you don't treat the good mountain springs.

[Migrating Bird]

Ditto all that Garlic08 stated. Get the little bottles, I put the 7 drops each in the little mixing cap that comes with them or my water bottle or bladder cap, when it turns bright yellow, pour it into the water bottle or bladder, shake it up and wait at least 15 min. for it to work. I hate the taste, so powdered lemon-aid (pink to be precise) does wonders. I have at least 3/4 of a bottle(s) left after 400 miles.

[ken209]

I bought two identical 1oz dropper bottles from rei. I want to try it out sooner than later so now I just need to find a top to mix the solutions in. I'm going to cover the bottles in electrical or duct tape and label them.

Has anyone ever used just bleach?

A small mixing cup should be on one of the bottles.

[sharky]

Its generally 2-3 drops of each in the mixing top? What is it with bleach?

[Fishbamboo]

I looked at their website they also have tablets, no droper needed. Would than not be better?

[ShakeyLeggs]

Here is the link for the dropper bottle AM.

http://aquamira.com/consumer/aquamir...eatment-drops/

[sharky]

I don't think I can return it now that I've opened the package. If the instructions were included online along with the product description it would help. I don't mind waiting 15-20 minutes for drinkable water. What I like most about AM is the weight and efficient long-term usage capabilities for longer section hikes.