[philmont] Micro Pur Contact Time

Back to the original question:
 
I am looking at the flyer that comes with the tablets and the 4 hours is
for dirty, cold (40°) water to eliminate cysts (read Giardia and
Crypto). Everything else is 15 minutes. For clear, warmer (68°) water,
the contact time is still 15 minutes for viruses and bacteria and 30
minutes for cysts. This past summer we used Micro-Pur on numerous
occasions and rarely if ever waited more than 30 minutes before drinking
the water. And we had no problems with gastro-intestinal disorders at
Philmont or when we got home. I did poll the crews and checked two
weeks after we got home BTW. The 4 hour contact time is basically a
worst case scenario, and in some respects is there "just to satisfy
their legal staff" - EPA requires it.
 
We did have filters - Katadyn Hiker - and used them a few times; mostly
after our daily rains when the streams were roiled. A filter is nice if
you have a water emergency and need water NOW! not 15 minutes from now.
Sure, you could boil the water, but that takes several minutes and the
water is scalding hot. I'm not sure if we will carry the filters again
on our next trek though.
 
Happy Trails,
 
Roy Fisher
 
Okay, everyone. What’s the real deal about contact time for the Micro
Pur water purification tablets after they’ve done their Alka Seltzer
imitation and dissolved? The flyer in the package says 4 hours; and I
know they didn’t write that to satisfy their legal staff (at least, I
hope not). However, that really seems to be way too long and totally
impractical in the wilderness.
 

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Received on Tue Jan 30 22:49:51 2007