Water Purification
 

Question for any of our 18Ds or 18D Stuents who've rec'd the training...

When using bleach to purify drinking water, what is the ratio of bleach to water? (drops per quart?)

Aside from avoiding scented bleaches, is there a specific brand or type recommended?

Sir,

Clorox is fine...

-2 drops per quart of water
-8 drops per gallon of water
-1/2 teaspoon per five gallons of water
-If water is cloudy, double it

Eagle

For hiking or for small quantities, the MSR MIOX can make chlorine out of salt. This is a very good set-up if you need a very small, compact set-up.

TR

Thanks Eagle.

TR,

Is this the right one?

http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/miox.asp

Warrior-Mentor
That's the right one. If you read the data sheet it's not really chlorine "bleach" that the MIOX makes. It's better. Have used it all over and it has replaced my katadyne. Just gotta take an extra battery just in case. Very simple, small easy to use. www.botac.com had them for $100 recently, not sure if they still do but that was the cheapest I've seen.

Yep.

Uses nothing but a few drops of water, CR 123 batteries (like the high speed flashlights), and salt. Rock salt is included in the kit, but really any type will work including the MRE packets. I believe that the Miox has an NSN for unit purchases.

Just add a few drops of water, shake, and press a button.

IIRC, it makes some sort of elemental Chlorine from the NaCl.

Inactivates all viruses, bacteria, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium.

Test strips are included so that you know how much to add and how long to wait. Inactivation takes 15 minutes for viruses and bacteria, Giardia 30 minutes, and the bad mammajamma, Cryptosporidium: 4 hours.

Weight of the pen itself (the operational part) is 3.5 oz.

Someone on another board used the chlorine output to clean a wound, and it seemed to work well, but I would be worried about the effects of a highly concentrated Chlorine solution on open tissue.

HTH.

TR

Thanks. Is the wait time the same with bleach?

I always had my guys use the same contact wait time as with iodine tabs.

5 min loosen threads and then additional 20-30 min.

No real flavor with the Miox either. Read some comments that people can taste it but I never could. (Maybe all that Thai food stripped my tongue.)

Have you tried iodine in river/stream water out in asia? Just curious if the wait time of 30 minutes applies out here?

or is 4-5 hours a safer bet?

Yep,
Lots of time in asia with just iodine. 30 mins is good. If the water isn't clear or you're just not sure you add another tab and little time. But a couple hours is little much.
With the MIOX it makes a difference, you're killing Cryptosporidium so you need the extra time. (4HRS)
There are some good sites online (see above) to get the MIOX or at their website.
Good luck. When you get a moment PM me. I have a questions about adventure races.
adal