Iodine or bleach water treatment

“Customs is holding up my new filter since the First Need bit the dust.

I want to head out on a hike.

Have seen tabs here but they are very expensive. I think I can get my hands on tincture of iodine in the drug store and of course, bleach is readily available.

I was wondering if anyone had a "recipe" for how much iodine or bleach to add per liter of water?

Will iodine and bleach kill all the bad guys?

Much thanks!”

“unless youre going someplace that you gotta worry about tapeworms, like isle royale, iodine is just fine. but not for more than a few days (and of course it doesnt kill floaties). i use iodine tabs as backup, 2 tabs per 32 oz. i used bleach once when desperate, dont remember the ratios, maybe a half capful per nalgene? or maybe just a couple of drops. just use common sense itll be aight.”

“with bleach, a capful per gallon will sterilize the water and still be safe to drink”

“This from the BSP website:

"No running water is available, you must bring your own drinking water or purify water from the streams, ponds, etc. This can be done a number of ways, such as boiling for a minimum of five minutes or the application of seven drops of iodine (from your first aid kit) per gallon of water. Bleach (Clorox) may be substituted for iodine. If you use a filter be sure pore size is 3 microns or smaller.”

“To me, iodine tastes like panther piss, and chlorine tastes like a swimming pool. Not hard to choose, and the chlorine seems to dissipate after a day or so.

I use 8 drops per gallon, after filtering.”

“neutralize the iodine taste with ascorbic acid”

“Remember to wait at least 30 minutes for the chemicals to take effect.

Iodine wait time gets considerably longer as the water temp gets closer to freezing, do not know about chlorine.

If the water is very cold it may be worthwhile heating it, not to boiling but to allow the chemicals to take effect quickly. Too hot (~100F)of course and chlorine will evaporate.”

“"Remember to wait at least 30 minutes for the chemicals to take effect"

oh yea. good call. i forgot to mention that.”