Potable Aqua Purification Iodine Tablets Review

The 5 most common ways backpackers/campers purify water are
1. Boil it.Obviously slow and cumbersome.If doing strenuous backpacking/canoeing each person will need to boil a big pot of water every night.
2. Natural sunlight - letting water sit in the sun for 6 hours works (need cloudless day, correct kind of clear plastic container). The World Health Organization published a study on this, but Amazon won't let me link to it.
3. Water pump - I have used MSR HyperFlow Microfilter, though there are cheaper options if you can accept it being slightly larger.In my opinion this is the best method.
4. Household chlorine bleach - the EPA and WHO give instructions on doing this. The EPA says this may not kill Cryptosporidium. I've never tried.
5. Iodine tablets -

Positives:
-Tablets are small/light for backpackers
-Only takes 30 minutes to have water ready
-No work required

Negatives:
-EPA says it is not 100% affective against Giardia and Cryptosporidium, especially if the water is cold while being treated.
-The taste is slightly bad ('metallic' is my best description).

I think a good attitude towards these tablets is "emergency use" (which is labeled on the side of the bottle, not visible in the Amazon image). No good backpacker doesn't have these, but I suggest a water pump as the planned primary method. Note: there are also iodine "neutralizer" tablets that are supposed to remove the bad taste (you drop them in after the 30 minutes is up and wait another 30 minutes).In my opinion they barely change the taste and are not worth it.

I'm only giving 4 stars since the EPA says it is not 100% effective against Giardia and Cryptosporidium.I'd give 5 stars if the product was named something such as "EMERGENCY AQUA" vs. "POTABLE AQUA".

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Product Description:
Used worldwide by campers, hikers, militaries, emergency organizations, and anyone else who needs to drink water of questionable quality, these Portable Aqua iodine tablets will disinfect contaminated drinking water in a pinch. The tablets--which are intended for short-term or limited emergency use only--make most water bacteriologically suitable for drinking, proving effective against Giardia lamblia when used as directed. Each Potable Aqua tablet contains 20 mg of Tetraglycine Hydroperiodide (TGHP), which liberates 8 mg of titratable iodine when released into water. Within 30 minutes, the iodine will have penetrated the cell walls of the microorganisms, rendering them inactive and making the water safe to drink. Potable Aqua tablets also neutralize the iodine aftertaste and color, helping your drinking water taste better.
About Potable Aqua
Potable Aqua iodine water disinfection tablets were developed by Harvard University in conjunction with the U.S. Army in the 1940s, and have been used by the military for emergency drinking water disinfection for more than 50 years. Pharmacal currently supplies the U.S. Military with Potable Aqua for its emergency drinking water needs. Potable Aqua is also widely used by campers, backpackers, and various other militaries around the world. With the addition of the Potable Aqua Traveler and Chlorine Dioxide Water Purification Tablets, Potable Aqua continues to meet the ever-changing needs of today's outdoor enthusiast.


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