Customer Reviews

Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I'm fairly confident I can get a fire going and boil water on extended camping adventures, it's a good idea to have a few water treatment options. Now, water purification has two stages to consider....bacteria and chemicals. We use these chlorine tablets to treat the bacteria, then add the included ascorbic acid (vitamin c) to remove the taste of the chlorine...and this water is very drinkable. We then sometimes elect to use a Berkey water filter to aid in removal of additional chemicals.

Some people opt to use Iodine to treat the water...but while this may work for short term use, it's not recommended for longterm. Chlorine/bleach seems to be the preferred method...and the included ascorbic acid tablets help in the taste.

Follow the directions and decide on a "water policy" for your camp...or survival strategy.

I use these tablets primarily for fastpacking and trail running in the Smoky Mtns. When fastpacking, I use both the tablets, so that the water does not have any aftertaste and it works great! When trail running, I just take the iodine tablets and not worry about the others. The iodine taste is noticable, but you get used to it after a while. I also have a filter that I take at times, but when it comes down to weight savings, I prefer these tablets. I've never had any problems getting sick after using them to treat water in the Smoky Mtns.

This exact same potable aqua, along with the tablets can be found at walmart for 5 dollars. Its the same thing, just cheaper, and at walmart. Oh and it works too btw.

I learned of this product through my hiking class in April. I got this one instead of just iodine to test if I could tolerate the taste. I tested twice with normal tap water. After 30 minutes, it was not too strong and tolerable iodine taste and smell, but some people hate this iodine taste without the neutralizing tablet. Well, this made the about 98% of iodine taste to go away, but my plastic container retained some iodine smell. What people do, I heard, was to tolerate and drink or add drink mix. What I did was to add Lipton English tea bag(that cheap one) right after iodine treatment. Then, whoa! Iodine smell and taste disappeared almost all the way. It's really hard to tell that I put iodine previously. The neutralizing treatment tablet contained ascorbic acid or Vitamin C, so perhaps the antioxidant in tea neutralized iodine. If you don't mind drinking tea, then, I recommend to buy just iodine tablet ($5) and tea bags. However, these two bottles take up less space, and I recommend them too since they are cheaper than other water treatments in the market. In addition, filter takes up more space and money. Boiling water for just drinking 1L of water means more fuel usage and waiting time for the water to cool. Boiling water is good for making more water than drinking water. However, filter seems to be better where water is more contaminated. It's probably better to buy a bottled water than filter in those places in my opinion.

These are great to have when camping and traveling, but it's important to have a basic plan for water beyond the iodine tablets. You're really only supposed to use them in emergencies. If you're backpacking and need to drink the local water, you should take a filtration system with you or boil the water. This is a good backup to boiling and filtration if you're short on time, or you have equipment problems. Drinking water purified with iodine also tastes foul which is a big issue in re-hydrating foods.

I recently went hiking in Wisconsin along the Ice Age Trail and brought along these tablets to treat the local water. I didn't get sick after drinking a liter of reddish brown water(tannin in the water) from a slow moving stream so the product works perfectly in that regard. My only complaint, and reason for only giving 4 stars, is the second step tablet meant to neutralize the taste of the primary tablets didn't exactly work. There was a noticeable and fairly unpleasant bitter taste to the water but it was not worse than dehydration or contracting a parasite. After using this product I have decided to purchase a mechanical filter for my next outing and I will keep these around in my B.O.B. or perhaps as a backup in case my filter fails.

I have read about people using single serving water flavoring mixes to mask the taste of the chemicals but I didn't try that. I did try using a tea bag but that didn't help at all. I would recommend you treat some water at home and try what you please so you can decide if you can bare it. In a desperate situation, these will save your life and are worth every gram and every penny.

I have tried this with and without the neutralizing tablets, and I can say that I don't mind the taste. Plus, if you're really thirsty, and have already been waiting 1/2 an hour to purify your water, chance are you won't want to wait another 3 or so minutes to make it taste a tiny bit better. Buy the one with just the purification tablets, you'll save your self a few bucks.