Potable Aqua — does it have an expiration date?

I bought two bottles, one of the treatment and one of the taste-improver, 14 years ago. They’ve never been opened, but as far as I know, they’re still in my pack.

Are they still any good? Can I trust them? I haven’t looked at them to see what they look like (or even to confirm that they’re there, but in case they are ...).

And while I’m thinking of it, what was that trick for ensuring that the rim of the bottle gets treated, too? Was it as simple as dropping in the pills, screwing on the cap, then turning the bottle upside-down? Or was it more complicated than that?

Thanks.

4 years is the shelf life for both the iodine tablets and chlorine dioxide tablets. Much shorter if they've been in contact with air (specifically, ambient oxygen and humidity). It's cheap, get some new potable aqua. The one person I know who has had giardiasis says it's an illness you get once. ONCE.

To disinfect Nalgene threads, leave the cap loosely fastened and, after the tablet has dissolved, turn the bottle upside down so that a little bit of treated water leaks out through the threads. Return to right side up, screw tightly and wait 30 min for iodine, 4 hr for chloride dioxide.

Thanks. I’ll toss them.

And thanks for the explanation about disinfecting the threads, too. Much appreciated.

Yeah, I never thought of that! Guess we've been lucky!

If Giardiasis is such a concern these days, are more people getting it by just swimming? I never seem to hear anyone getting ill by swimming.

Apparently, the risk of actually contracting Giardisis is affected by the number of Giardia protozoans that are ingested. (Being in the medical industry, and accustomed to a black and white perspective of "aseptic technique" vs. "contaminated," this was a bit surprising to me to read.) I think I read that you need to have swallowed a decent number of the little bastards to get sick; if it's only one or two, chances are they will get killed off in your digestion.

TCD said:

Apparently, the risk of actually contracting Giardisis is affected by the number of Giardia protozoans that are ingested. (Being in the medical industry, and accustomed to a black and white perspective of "aseptic technique" vs. "contaminated," this was a bit surprising to me to read.) I think I read that you need to have swallowed a decent number of the little bastards to get sick; if it's only one or two, chances are they will get killed off in your digestion.

Click to expand...

Yes, even with parasites the dose makes the poison; your stomach acids and innate immune system can take care of a "small dose." I don't have data to back it up, but my impression is you'd have to be taking water directly downstream from a sewerage bin for the few drops of water in the screw threads to matter. But I still do as written above (takes almost no additional time/work).

Mike Z said:

If Giardiasis is such a concern these days, are more people getting it by just swimming? I never seem to hear anyone getting ill by swimming.

Click to expand...

Most people get it from other people either by direct or indirect contact or by careless food handling. (The fecal-hand-mouth route.)

There have been cases where people have gotten it from swimming in contaminated swimming pools. Most backcountry water is probably safe.

Doug

I have for many years used Polarpure. It has an indefinite shelf life, as long as the pure iodine crystals are present in the bottle. Treating many hundreds of liters of water (one at a time), one bottle of Polarpure could essentially last a lifetime. For a time it was taken off the market by DEA government order as a hazardous material (it is pure iodine crystals, which could, some say, be used in illegal drug manufacture). But I see it is now once again available. Before then I bought a couple of extra bottles, and certainly do have enough for many years to come.

For folks who use Polar Pure I saw a post by the owner on how he got around the DEA issues that forced him to stop selling it.

I personally stopped using it long ago and switched to Aquamira as I dislike the aftertaste and I and others have some issues that crop up after using it a few days

It is cheap and probably a good for a preppers shelf.

I started using Polarpure exactly 24 years ago. Still have the original bottle, along with several others I picked up since then. Never had a problem with it, never been sick either from water critters or from the Polarpure itself, even after several days of intermittent use (not needed when boiling water anyway for meals). Yeah, it does not taste great, but it works for me and I get over the taste. If you really think you must, you can add a flavor neutralizer/enhancer after it has a chance to do its work in your water bottle.

Mike Z said:

If Giardiasis is such a concern these days, are more people getting it by just swimming?

Click to expand...

Never heard of it as an issue. There are other (nastier) parasites that can get up your nose and eat your brain (please provide the appropriate cheesy music), which I understand are a bigger issue with warmer water (roughly, if it's cold enough to want a wetsuit you're okay), and of course there's cyanobacteria blooms...those are the main OWS risks. if you're taking in enough water for giardiasis to be an issue there are of course other concerns.

Nessmuk said:

I have for many years used Polarpure.

Click to expand...

I use tincture of iodine. It has the disadvantage that it also includes some sodium iodide (not useful), but is readily available, easy to carry, and easy to use.

I have also used the saturated iodine solution approach (same as Polarpure) in the past.

"Medicine for Mountaineering" by Wilkerson, Moore, and Zafren covers the use both methods.

Note: the active ingredient is diatomic iodine in both approaches.

Doug