Customer Reviews

Water Purification Tablets

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

 

 

Product summary is kinda light on details, and it takes some effort to find them all over the Net, so I figured I'd share my findings for your convenience.


You can find the product page if you Google for "ER water purification tablets" (without the quotes) - it's the first hit. The website is "[...]l" (Amazon wouldn't let me post a direct link, unfortunately). You can verify that this is indeed the same thing by comparing the photos.

That product page has some more details; most importantly, the active ingredient and shelf life. I'll just copy them for convenience.

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Weight: .1 lbs.
Dimensions:
box of 50 (50 tablets/box): 0.5" x 1.875" x 5"
case (500 per case): 18" x 14" x 12"
pallet (25,000 per pallet): 48" x 40" x 48"

Total Items:
50 tablets per box

Shelf-life 5 years
Needs Supplied:
emergency water

Disaster Usage: flooding (from tsunamis, overflowing rivers, heavy rains, etc.), earthquake damage to water pipes, fires, and anytime you are stranded
Supply Duration:
Each tablet purifies 1 liter (1 ¾ pints) of water

Instructions: If there is any sediment in the untreated water, allow the water to settle or filter the water through a fine cloth. Then, treat the filtered water by adding a tablet and ensuring that the tablet is dispersed. Wait 30 minutes for the disinfection to work and then the water is safe to drink.
Material: Each tablet contains 8.5 mg Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate (Troclosene Sodium), equivalent to 5 mg free available chlorine
Features & Functions:
ER(tm) Water purification tablets are safe for continuous use in households that do not have access to safe drinking water

The active ingredient in ER(tm) Water Purification Tablets, Troclosene Sodium, is approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for routine treatment of drinking water; meets European Standards for drinking water (EN12931:2000) and World Health Organization (WHO)/The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) specifications for drinking water.

ER(tm) Water Purification Tablets meet the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard 60 as certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF)."
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If you look up "Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate" on Wikipedia, this seems legit:

"Sodium dichloroisocyanurate (INN: sodium troclosene, troclosenum natricum or NaDCC) is a chemical compound used as a disinfectant, biocide, industrial deodorant and detergent. It is found in some newer water purification tablets/filters. It is more efficient than formerly used halazone water disinfectant. Mechanism of action is the release of chlorine in low concentrations by constant rate."

More googling around shows that this is indeed a common base for more recent chlorine based purifiers. Shelf life is quoted as anywhere from 2 years to 5 years, depending on the source, so I'd take 5 years listed on product page with a grain of salt.

Also, the sole mention of this chemical on survivalistboards.com has this info (unreferenced, so don't take it as gospel!):

"Sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) - Is an organic chlorine donor with a superior disinfector capacity to sodium hypochlorite and a near neutral pH. Kills bacteria, bacterial spores, cysts, algae, fungi, protozoa and virus. It is especially lethal to Entamoeba histolytica. In addition it kills: Salmonella typhi, Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli, Vibro Cholerae, Streptococcus Faecalis."

Hope this helps. I'm giving this 5 stars insofar as it seems to be in order, and to compensate for the other reviews which are skeptical mostly due to the lack of information. But I haven't actually tried this for real (and hope I'll never have to!), so think for yourself, and YMMV.

No idea if this works, but I was traveling to India recently and in 2 liter bottles I'd drop 2 of these tablets in, watch them fizz for a min, and wait 30 min to drink it. I didn't get sick so perhaps these work!
[...]

Advertized as good for 5 years. Yes good for 5 years FROM MANUFACTURE DATE not purchase date. I found same item at several different WEB sites and two brick n mortar. All of them listed manufacture date about 6 months ago. There was not any manufacture date listed on this site. I just assumed (shame on me) these would be about the same. I figured I would get over 4 maybe as high as 4 1/2 years out of them. Surprise...Surprise... Manufacture date was MAY of 2010. These are only good for 3 years 5 months. Not the 5 years as advertized. Depending on their inventory, a year from now they might still be selling the MAY 2010 stock!! I blame both Amazon as well as the advertizer on this one. AMAZON ATTENTION:!!!!! IF SOMEONE IS ADVERTIZING AN ITEM WITH AN EXPIRATION DATE THEN THEY SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO POST THAT DATE IN THEIR DESCRIPTION. AMAZON SHAME.....ON.....YOU...... Next time I will buy it at the brick n mortar so I can see the expiration date. Spending the extra money would be worth it. However, I do like the fact that these are blisterpacked instead of loose in a bottle. This way they can be split up into a few kits. If you open the ones in a bottle you are down to just 6 months of protection MAX.

Handy to have; along with your other emergency gear, the ability to quickly purify drinking water is important. These tablets are small and sealed; easy to have several around "just in case".

Did you analyze the water or just making generalizations ("it certainly removes harmful bacterial, cysts, and protozoa.")

Yeah, thought so.