Re: [Philmont]: Water purifiers

Some clarifications:

1) Regardless of what you add to "kill" the iodine, whether Vitamin C or
a drink mix, you have to fully purify the water first (that is, wait the
full hour (or whatever) that Philmont is recommending, then add the
Vitamin C or drink mix). The reason why is that iodine will react with
the Vitamin C or select ingredients in the drink mix MUCH faster than it
will kill off the more stubborn critters - so if you add them nearly
simultaneously, you've effectively done nothing to purify the water.
And in the case of drink mix, you've now got a canteen with critters
included that are now residing in nutrient broth (sugar water) - so
you'll soon have a zillion more critters. This is why you have to be
very careful to rinse residual drink mix out of a canteen before Polar
Pure-ing it again - even a little drink mix can kill off your iodine.
And this is why one of the salient reasons why my Crews NEVER have drink
mix in any of their canteens.

2) It is not actually the drink mix sugar that reacts with iodine, but
rather all the other ingredients in the drink mix - flavoring
ingredients, preservatives, and excipients (so "diet" drink mixes are
just as bad as sugared drink mixes; don't be deceived just because your
drink mix is "sugarless"). And if your drink mix is NEW! IMPROVED!
VITAMIN C ADDED!, it will almost instantly destroy Polar Pure.

3) If anyone in your Crew has a thyroid condition (something you should
specifically ask during an "all-hands" meeting where parents are
present), then they cannot use Polar Pure. I am not an MD, but it is my
understanding that even iodide ions ("dead" iodine remaining after
treatment with Vitamin C or some other similar agent) will still cause a
thyroid to go haywire, same as iodine. In such cases, that person will
need to use a chlorine based purification method, or go with a good
filter THAT DOESN'T ALSO HAVE A PURIFIER IN IT (since those purifiers
are - you guessed it - iodine based). On chlorine, you can use standard
Chlorox Bleach (1 drop per liter, wait 10 minutes (2 drops, wait 20, if
cloudy or very cold)), or go with a chlorine based water purification
tablet (there are still some out there, though the brand-names escape me
right now). On Chlorox, make sure you get plain Chlorox, not one with
any extra ingredients in it. In addition, you need a small, leak-proof
squeeze bottle, and whoever is using it needs to be very mindful that
chlorox is a very powerful oxidizing agent, and undiluted will eat
clothing and cause chemical burns on the skin. And don't hold it next
to your face (eyes) when adding - a single drop in an eye is an
immediate medical emergency. For Scouts, careful training obviously
required. On the squeeze bottle, about a 10 mL bottle is 2-3 as much as
you'd ever need for one person on a Philmont trek.

If you have a Crew member with a thyroid condition, you need to be
equally mindful of what water is used to prepare your meals. Meals
requiring boiling water don't need purified water, but cold water
desserts that do, also represent a danger.

If you have no-one on your trek with a thyroid condition, but by about
Day III you have a Scout or Advisor claiming that they are absolutely
exhausted but still can't sleep at night, and they're drinking
Polar-Pure'd water, you should suspect an undiagnosed thyroid condition,
and contact Base Camp for advice.

Finally, I will restate a comment I have made many times before -
there's nothing wrong with Polar Pure, and it's fine for 499 out of
every 500 trekkers - so don't get too hung up on the above treatise, and
start devising all sorts of anti-Polar Pure defenses. "Background
Information Only" unless you know you have an issue.

- Dr. Bob

Feurtado, Walter (Contractor) wrote:
> I was doing training with Dr. Bob, who is a chemist and he said that
> sugar and iodine will react with each other and will leave the
> contaminate alone. Perhaps Dr. Bob could elaborate.
>
> When we have scouts who must put drink mix to flavor the water, it is OK
> if it is done AFTER the water has been purified. The problem is that if
> there is any residue, it might affect the purification process.
>
> Just a thought,
>
> Wally Feurtado
> 2004 Philmont Trip Coordinator
> National Capital Area Council
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gbeaglegolf@aol.com [mailto:Gbeaglegolf@aol.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 11:04 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
> Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Water purifiers
>
> We used the polar pure and have on other adventures such as the
> Buffalo River. You can add vitamin c tablets to eliminate the iodine
> flavor. The experience with pumps and filters has been good but they
> take a lot of time to pump the amount of water you will need for
> crew of 12.
>
> Garry Black
>

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Received on Tue Nov 18 17:20:15 2003