Water Purification Treatments Method
Recommendation
What it does
(1 Litre of water)
Boiling The only completely reliable way to treat water.
Bring water to a rolling boil and allow to cool. Increase boiling time by 1 minute for every 300m above sea level.
Kills all pathogens.
What it does NOT do
Does not remove turbidity/cloudiness.
Bacteria; Boiling any length of time kills all bacteria. Spores (e.g. Clostridium); Need 100 degree Celsius to kill. Giardia/Amoeba/Cryptosporidium (protozoal cysts);All die at 55-60c. Helminth (worms); Eggs and larvae die at same temperature.
Iodine Not recommended for; pregnant women, people with thyroid problems or for more than 3-6 months continuous use. Wait for cloudy water to settle.
25°C (77°F) Minimum contact for 30 minutes; increase contact time for colder water.
Effective against bacteria, viruses, protozoal cysts, bacterial spores, parasitic larvae/ova.
Dosage: • Tincture of iodine 2% solution use 5 drops (twice the concentration of betadine). •Betadine, (Povidine/Iodine 10% Solution equivalent to 1% iodine) use 8 drops.
Contamination/cleanliness plus temperature of water affects reliability of treatment.
Not effective against Cryptosporidium and cyclospora.
Adding Vitamin C AFTER iodine treatment helps improve taste and colour of water. A carbon filter can be used to remove excess iodine after treatment.
Steri Pen SteriPEN products use ultraviolet (UV) light technology to purify water.
Steri Pen purifies 1 litre in 90 seconds.
Not a lot of research available on actual effectiveness. New technology.
Use the treated water within 24 hours and do not store in any way. Effectiveness of UV falls dramatically if water is dirty or coloured.
Miropur (Katadyn) Active Sodium silver chloride complex.
LifeStraw Water Purifier and water bottle. The pipe is composed of two textile filters, followed by a chamber with beads impregnated with iodine”
Filters
Dosage; 1 tablet treats 1 litre of clear water. Storage; Store in dry place under 25 dgree celcius. Shelf life; 5 years in original packaging.
Effect; Eliminates bacteria & viruses in 30 minutes and Giardia in 120 minutes. Strong oxidizing power of chlorine eliminates bacteria, viruses and most protozoa and funghi. Conserves drinking water for up to 6 months.
Micropur Forte is for use in clear water. Suspended matter in cloudy water can weaken the effect of chlorine and silver ions.
A personal lifestraw can provide about 1000 litres (1.5 years for an adult).
Filters Viruses, Bacteria and dirt from fresh water.
Trace amounts of iodine may pass through the filter system into the drinking water’ ‘At this stage it is uncertain whether this poses any significant risk to pregnant women or those with thyroid problems for long term daily use.
Simply suck through the straw. It then needs to be disposed of.
Recommend; Iodine resin cartridge unit with a ceramic prefilter and carbon post.
For maintenance, simply blow back through the lifestraw to wash out.
Ceramic - an effective, high-quality earthen medium capable of repeated cleanings before requiring replacement. Ceramic lasts a long time but can be fragile.
Or; Pre-treat with an iodine or chlorine product to kill everything and then filter to remove debris and the chemical taste.
Ceramic with carbon core - just like ceramic but the water passes over carbon after being filtered. This removes taste and odor from chlorine and iodine and some organic herbicides, pesticides and chemicals. Glass fiber - very effective, less expensive than ceramic, but with a much shorter lifespan. These cartridges are usually pleated to increase surface area. Once they are clogged, they are replaced. Structured matrix - a dense, porous block of material that captures crud as the water is forced through the matrix and out the other side. Iodine resin - a layer of chemical integrated into the filtering medium to destroy viruses. It does not actually remove them, but kills them.
Not effective against Cryptosporidium and cyclospora.
The difference between a water purifier and a water filter is that a purifier removes viruses as well as the bacteria and protozoa that filters can’t remove. Viruses are just too tiny to be removed with a filter so purifiers use either chemicals like iodine to kill viruses or an electro-static charge to capture them.