[pct-l] Aquamira

[Jim Eagleton]

1)  Good Question.

2)  You are not smart enough for good questions.  For a safety question, you should be attempting to follow the instructions as closely as possible, not rellying on advice from whackos on the internet, many who don't think you need chemicals at all :0

3)  You touched on a problem I have had.  What do you do if you want to treat multiple bottles, but are not ready for a long break (or are just lazy).  I have made up a double batch with about 20% extra solution.  Then I just eye-ball the pouring of the solution into both bottles.   I'm not very comfortable with this and have only done it a couple of times.  Are you planning on taking a third dropper bottle?  This sounds like a good idea.  If you have an empty third bottle you can use this for mixing the other two.  

4)  There are many "oxidizers" other than oxygen, chlorine dioxide is the strongest (compared to bleach, MSR Miox, and iodine).  Note, the concentration in the mixing cap is much different than the conditions in the water bottle.  A rule of thumb is that 20 drops in the cap are 1000 times more concentrated than the chlorine dioxide in the water bottle.  If the shelf life in the bottle is 4 days and the shelf life is linear with concentration, the shelf life in the cap is 6 minutes=0.1hr.  I'm sure the shelf life in the cap is much longer than this.  I would hope that if the life in the cap is less than one hour, there would be a warning in the directions.  

 

Rambler,

Whacko Chemical Engineer
 
> From: jmmoores at hotmail.com
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 03:15:52 -0700
> Subject: [pct-l] Aquamira
> 
> 
> My understanding of how Aquamira(chlorine dioxide) works is basic and based on only a small amount of research, but here I go...I combine appropriate amounts of bottle A. Stabilized Chlorine Dioxide with bottle B. Phosphoric Acid. Let sit for 5 min. to allow for the chemical reaction, which releases oxygen molecules. It's these molecules that "oxidize" (read: kill) the pathogens in the water. 
> 
> How long do I have before this chemical reaction reaches an end, or becomes inert? If I can mix up some solution prior to reaching my next water source it will shorten the time until we'll be able to drink our treated water. 
> 
> I normally carry my drops in my hip belt pocket. On longer water stretches I utilize a second mixing cap kept from a previous set. This is enough mixing space for a couple of gallons of treated water. I'll be treating water for two people so I'm adding a tiny 1oz squeeze bottle to my pouch for the additional mixing space I'll need for water in the desert. (maybe as much as 16 liters at some stops) I figure I'll mix my solution as I skip down the path and be ready to go when I get to the next source. 
> 
> Does anyone know how long this reaction lasts? Is there some flexibility here or do I need to add this mixture soon after the 5 min. mark? 5 min. is a small amount of time to wait (plus the 15 min. wait after adding Aquamira) and I'm really not sweating that. The more I thought about it the more curious I became. I checked a few sites but found nothing about shelf life after mixing. Any chemists out there?
> 
> jason
> 
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