What is the best Water Purification Pills for hiking?

I will be hiking and camping in Yosemite National Park come July 4th. I do not have, nor am I going to buy an expensive filter to clean the river water there.

My question is: I have read up on Potable Aqua and Katadyn Micropur pills/tablets and want to know which pills are best for us? I know Potable Aqua leaves a weird taste behind, but that can be cured with crystal light or gatorade. I am skeptical of Potable Aqua because it doesn’t treat protozoa cryptosporidia, nor are they intended for use against viruses!!
This scares me, but are protozoa crysptosporidia and viruses in the rivers water in Yosemite? Perhaps they don’t apply there?

For the Katadyn Micropur, it Destroys viruses and bacteria in 15 minutes, Giardia in 30 minutes and Cryptosporidia in four hours. So basically, my wife and I would have to wait 4 HOURS to drink the water to make sure that the Cryptosporidia is killed? To me, this sounds like an awefully long time to wait to drink water?

Please help us out.


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2 Responses to “What is the best Water Purification Pills for hiking?”

  • Xombi:

    For the protozoa…Katadyn is probably your best bet. Protozoa are resistant to iodine and chlorine (which do a fairly good job of killing bacteria and viruses). Boiling the water is the best way to care of Protozoa, followed by filtration. But if all you have is tablets then Katadyn it is. And I think the 4 hr wait time is for cold, dirty water. While warm, clear water is 30 minutes.

  • Summer hiker:

    I have to be honest. I wouldn’t use pills or tablets if I was dehydrated in the desert. OK, so maybe that’s pushing it, but I don’t like them.
    I know you don’t want a filter, but there are a number of excellent hiking filters, including one made by Katadyn, for under $60. Make the investment, you’ll have it for the future.

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