An iodine tablet or two will help to keep your drinking water safe...

The use of an iodine tablet is a good and easy way to ensure your drinking water is safe for you to consume. You can buy these tablets at any outfitter and although they are not my preferred method of treating water, they do have their advantages.

The fact that they’re cheap and easy to carry are the two most appealing aspects of using them. They’re going to come in a bottle or box that is likely small enough to fit in your front pocket. You can’t say that about too many pump type filters. They’re simple to use as well. You need to have some type of vessel to put your water in, fill it up, depending on how much water you’re trying to treat, drop in an iodine tablet or two, wait for fifteen or so minutes and presto, you have water that is fit to drink.

I’ve used this method of treating water and it is a very simple way of obtaining drinking water where using a pump usually takes a few minutes to fill a Nalgene bottle. Besides that, for the occasional camper it is far less expensive to buy a the tablets than it is to buy a water filter system.

The downside to this method of treating water is that it will not remove the color from the water like a proper water filter will. Like I said above, I have used this method and have some experience with it. Water filters will remove color and odor from the water you are treating but the iodine tablet will not. But bear in mind, if the camping trip you’re planning demands that you have an alternative to carrying water, then the odds are that you are camping in a more remote area. As such it will not be as “polluted” as an area where there tons of people around. Hence if you choose to use the tablet method you will not really find that the odor of the water you’re treating will ever be a concern. You will however notice its’ yellowish tinge as it will continue to look like lake water.

As is true with using a water pump, it’s easier to treat water that is cleaner so make an effort to use water that is from a moving river or stream or even a lake. Avoid using water that is mirky and has visible suspended solids in it. Also, and this is important, never use water that is in the vicinity of a beaver dam. Their feces are known to carry a parasite that can cause giardia, also known as “Beaver Fever”. It’s not easily treatable and can take months to get over so use your head, treat the cleanest water you can find, and you should have no problems.

As is true with using a water pump, it’s easier to treat water that is cleaner so make an effort to use water that is from a moving river or stream or even a lake. Avoid using water that is mirky and has visible suspended solids in it. Also, and this is important, never use water that is in the vicinity of a beaver dam. Their feces are known to carry a parasite that can cause giardia, also known as “Beaver Fever”. It’s not easily treatable and can take months to get over so use your head, treat the cleanest water you can find, and you should have no problems.

Click on the link to go the top of the iodine tablet page or go back to the previous page to learn about other methods of getting drinking water. Go back to the homepage for more information on camping. Thanks for your visit and come again.