How do water purification tablets work?
In: 8
The tablets contain oxidizers like chlorine that destroy microorganisms. They don’t necessarily remove toxins from the water, though.
I’ve only used iodine tablets while backpacking, and as long as you wait long enough (an hour or so) you should be able to drink the water. I understand that the iodine kills the bacteria and cryptosporidiosis cysts. Just make sure to get the threads and cap wet with the iodized solution to prevent cross contamination.
There are two basic approaches and sometimes they are combined into a single “tablet” or product.
1. The first works though something called “Flocculation”, a fancy word for when things “settle out” of a liquid. Put a flocculation chemical in water and it will cause all the dirt, mud, leaves and debris etc, to settle down and clear the water. It usually works by having particles with an electric charge that “Grab” the debris, make big clumps, and weight them down so they fall down to the bottom of the container. You then either drink the top or empty the bottom and poof, clean water.
2. You use really nasty elements like chlorine, fluorine, or iodine which like to rip electrons off molecules. This process can kill bacteria and ‘break’ viruses making the water safe to drink from a microbial standpoint.
The first chemical doesn’t kill microbes so the clear water can still make you, and the second process doesn’t remove mud or gross stuff in water so the two are often combined to make clean, safe to drink water.
Latest Answers