You can buy all different kinds of water purification tablets on the market, and that is a good thing since it gives you a wide range of choices. On the other hand, it is difficult to choose the right purification tablet for your needs because each tablet has its own benefits and drawbacks. To help you sort out the differences between the purification tablets and to help you find the best tablets for your needs, we’ll describe the strengths and weaknesses of the different water purification tablets on the market. To start with, purification tablets can be divided into the following three variants: iodine based tablets, chlorine based tablets and chlorine dioxide based tablets.
The first thing you should do is to choose the best variant for your needs. After you have chosen the best variant, you have to decide which brand you want to buy. In short, you have to complete the following steps to get the best water purification tablet for your needs:
| Step 1: Choose a tablet variant | Step 2: Choose a tablet brand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Step 1: Choose a tablet variant
Water purification tablets come in the following variants:
- Iodine based tablets
- Chlorine based tablets
- Chlorine dioxide based tablets
In the following table you can find the differences between the purification tablets variants:
| Differences between the purification tablets variants | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variant | Viruses\ bacteria |
Giardia lamblia | Crypto | Giardia | Prolonged usage | Water taste | Usage | Avoid when | ||
| Iodine based | yes | yes | no | yes | no | Little or no taste | campers, hikers, militaries, emergency organizations | thyroid problems pregnancy iodine alergy |
||
| Chlorine based | yes | no | no | yes | – | – | campers, hikers, washing fresh fruit | – | ||
| Chlorine dioxide based | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | – | campers, hikers, militaries, emergency organizations | |||
Bacteria: cholera, salmonella, legionnaires and of course Escherichia coli
Protozoa: Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Giardia lambli
Step 2: Choose a tablet brand
After you have chosen your water purification tablet variant in step 1 you can choose a tablet brand in step 2 that is the most appropriate for you. Select your choice:
