Micropur Facts!

By riverridge2198344 Ranked #23 - Trail Running Hydration May 2, 2008

The EPA (Enviromental Protective Agency) required Katadyn to submit to some very tough tests at University of Arizona Dept. of Microbiology before they would issue a registration number for Micropur in 2002.

Every word on the package was negotiated with and eventually approved by the EPA.

The news for those that don't like to wait 4 hours is: Micropur uses the most effective chemical registered by the EPA---Chlorine Dioxide at 4 PPM(parts per million) for killing all disease causing micro-organisms in water. In the EPA's cold dirty water test it took Micropur 4 hours to kill Cryptosporium Protozoa Cysts (eggs).

Cryptosporidium causes a two week bout of diarhea and other ugly symptoms, and is just as common as Giardia in water worldwide. A 1992 CDC (Center for Disease Control) study found Cryptosporidium, or Giardia, or both, in 97% of the streams sampled in the U.S.

If you are just worried about Protozoa and bacteria in your backcountry water: use any of the fine micro-filters from Katadyn or MSR to filter those out-----and have cold fresh, non-chemical water immediately.

I use Micropur as a back-up in case I lose,break or clog my microfilter. However, in trips to Nepal & S. America my group first pumped the water through a Katadyn Microfilter to remove the hard to kill with chemicals Protozoa (and bacteria as well): then added a single tablet of Micropur to each Liter of Water.

Virus that may cause incurable and deadly types of hepatitis are common in polluted water in those continents. Virus are much more susceptible to chemicals, and the EPA testing shows that even in cold dirty water all the virus are killed within 15 minutes: 1 tablet of Micropur per 1 Liter of water.

If in doubt: microfilter first, then add Micropur: wait 15 minutes and drink clear, safe, good-tasting water.

View Details: Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets - 30 pack

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