When you're in the wilderness, you need clean water to drink -- but water sources in the wilderness can carry bacteria such as giardia. You don't want giardia, trust me, and trying to carry a few jugs of Poland Spring would be extremely heavy and inefficient. Luckily, there are a number of ways to purify water, and one of the simplest, cheapest, and most effective ways is to use iodine tincture.
Step 1: Supplies
To complete this task, you'll need the following:
--Water bottle: A Nalgene (what I use here) or a metal water bottle will work best, but all you really need is any container that will hold water.
--Iodine Tincture Solution: You want Iodine Tincture with 2% Iodine and about 47% alcohol. Bottles of this solution should be available at your local drugstore and a 2 oz. bottle is usually $3 or less.
--An eyedropper: Counting the number of drops is the easiest way to keep track of how much you're using.
--A good water source: This can be a lake, a river, a stream, etc. If you have a choice of water sources, consider these two tips:
Clear water is better than cloudy water.
Flowing water is better than still water.
Remember, though, that even if the water looks extremely pure and clean, it should still be purified before drinking. Looks can be deceiving!
--Water bottle: A Nalgene (what I use here) or a metal water bottle will work best, but all you really need is any container that will hold water.
--Iodine Tincture Solution: You want Iodine Tincture with 2% Iodine and about 47% alcohol. Bottles of this solution should be available at your local drugstore and a 2 oz. bottle is usually $3 or less.
--An eyedropper: Counting the number of drops is the easiest way to keep track of how much you're using.
--A good water source: This can be a lake, a river, a stream, etc. If you have a choice of water sources, consider these two tips:
Clear water is better than cloudy water.
Flowing water is better than still water.
Remember, though, that even if the water looks extremely pure and clean, it should still be purified before drinking. Looks can be deceiving!
Step 2: Fill Your Bottle
After finding a water source, you need to fill your bottle with water. To do this, position yourself close to the water source and tilt the bottle under the water. You want to collect water from near the surface, so don't just immerse the whole bottle in the water. Let the bottle fill up and remove it.
Examine your bottle of water to make sure there are not too many floating particles (called "floaties" in scientific terms). A couple of small floaties are fine, but too many large floaties can be dangerous. If this happens, you need to try filling up again. A way to solve this problem is to cover the mouth of the bottle with a bandanna or thin cloth that will allow water into the bottle but keep floaties out.
Examine your bottle of water to make sure there are not too many floating particles (called "floaties" in scientific terms). A couple of small floaties are fine, but too many large floaties can be dangerous. If this happens, you need to try filling up again. A way to solve this problem is to cover the mouth of the bottle with a bandanna or thin cloth that will allow water into the bottle but keep floaties out.
Step 3: Add the Iodine Tincture
Dip your eyedropper into the iodine tincture and squeeze up some of the liquid. Carefully position the eyedropper over the mouth of the bottle and add 5-10 drops per 32 fluid ounces (about 1 liter) of water. The exact number of drops is a personal choice (I can't make this decision for you) depending on the following factors:
The water source: if your source is a lake or some other still body of water, you want to add closer to 10 drops; if the source is flowing, you can add fewer.
The clarity of the water: you should add closer to 10 drops if the water is cloudy.
Your own aversion to the taste of iodine: some people hate the taste of iodine (it is a little bitter, and you will notice the taste in your purified water). If this is the case, you might want to add closer to 5 drops.
Personally, I'm a fan of 8 drops. If you are filling up a bottle or container that is not 32 fl. oz. or 1 liter, change your measurements accordingly. A 2 liter bottle will require twice the number of drops.
The water source: if your source is a lake or some other still body of water, you want to add closer to 10 drops; if the source is flowing, you can add fewer.
The clarity of the water: you should add closer to 10 drops if the water is cloudy.
Your own aversion to the taste of iodine: some people hate the taste of iodine (it is a little bitter, and you will notice the taste in your purified water). If this is the case, you might want to add closer to 5 drops.
Personally, I'm a fan of 8 drops. If you are filling up a bottle or container that is not 32 fl. oz. or 1 liter, change your measurements accordingly. A 2 liter bottle will require twice the number of drops.
Step 4: Wait 5 Minutes
After adding the iodine, you need to wait 5 minutes before you can continue. You can go for a quick hike, admire nature, play a game, or think up an idea for your next Instructable.
Step 5: Thread the Bottle
After five minutes, you need to purify the mouth and rim of the bottle (which touched the original water source and which will touch your mouth). To do this, you need to "thread" the bottle. Turn the bottle upside down and slowly unscrew the top until you can see a ring of water appear around the inner rim. Once you see that ring of water, you know that the water with the iodine has touched the mouth of the bottle and disinfected it. Screw the top back on and flip the bottle right-side up.
A little water will probably leak out while threading, and that's not bad--it just ensures that you've fully threaded.
A little water will probably leak out while threading, and that's not bad--it just ensures that you've fully threaded.
Step 6: Wait 30 Minutes, Then Enjoy!
The iodine needs time to completely purify the water. You need to wait 30 minutes before you can drink the water--plenty of time to finalize that idea for an Instructable.
After you have waited 30 minutes, your water is purified for drinking. Revel in the cool, clean taste of your iodine-infused water while you enjoy your wilderness adventure.
After you have waited 30 minutes, your water is purified for drinking. Revel in the cool, clean taste of your iodine-infused water while you enjoy your wilderness adventure.
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Time? 1 minute rolling boil under 2000m elevation and 3 minutes above that is the EPA recommendation to purify and be sure to filter the bigger stuff out before boiling.
And since the fuel is free, when you are in camp you can purify water to your heart's content, refill all the containers, and be cooking at the same time.
Of course, sunrays are necessary.
Its called SODIS.
Sarcasm aside: I've had dozens of skin cancers removed, and dozens to go as new ones are becoming evident all the time. Sunlight IS dangerous when young children (such as I was) are exposed for hours at a time. I was hospitalized as a child and again as a young teenager with 2nd degree sunburn - but there was no public education about it back then!
But sunlight (UV rays) have been used for a long time for sterilizing, and even for bleaching. I would have thought that it would take too long with water to be much use on camping - what are the figures on that?
Having an iodine deficiency is far worse.
This is a safe and practical way to ensure that the water you use is good.
Unless you have a very rare case of being allergic to Iodine, Lugol's is not only safe, but actually good for you when taken is reasonable amounts.
Using Lugol's is much healthier for you than chlorine is.
""For many years physicians used potassium iodide in doses starting at 1.5 to 3 gm and up to more than 10 GRAMS (not milligrams) a day, on and off, to treat bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with good results and surprisingly few side effects."" !!!
Please read the article yourself:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html
I sure am glad that the "deadly poisonous, and super duper highly toxic iodine" fear mongering is over now.
Now i AM a chemist and looking up the MSDS it states the ld50 of Lugol's iodine AND tincture of iodine is 30 mg/kg! Why?? Because both Lugol's and tincture are just different ways of solubilising elemental iodine, which is poisonous but your body can hack a bit of it, same as chlorine.
Elemental iodine is very insoluble in water so it needs something to help it dissolve. Lugol's solutions uses a salt "KBr", while tincture uses ethanol and a lot less KBr, or NaBr. Your body can hack alot more ethanol than it can iodine.
This method that has been shown is technically sound, Just don't use two much iodine so you don't kill your liver.
Lugols uses twice the amount of an inert salt KBr which is quite soluble in water. The iodine forms a triiodie bond around it, and hence makes it soluble in water and more usable.
Tincture uses half the weight of KBr or NaBr than iodine, but dissolves it up in ethanol (alcohol). This can than be added to water as per instructable above.
If you're replying to my post, maybe you should read it again. It's called irony.
I should have been more specific though because they're may be a few people around here who are actually dumb enough to put 10 GRAMS of Iodine in their bottle of water. You only need to use the recommended amount to purify water kids, no need to dump the entire bottle in there...
Potassium iodide isn't Lugol's though, just making a differentiation. Potassium iodide is used as a iodine supplement with an ld50 of 2g/kg. Not Lugols! Lugols is KBr + I2 dissolved in water and shouldn't be used as a supplement due to the free iodine, which is toxic
The history of Lugol's is that it was invented by a French physician, Dr Jean Lugol in the 1820's for a variety of uses, includin as a dietary iodine supplement. Potassium Iodide (KI) is now considered to be safer than Lugol's. Sure, elemental iodine is poisonous in large doses, for example 2 to 3g is considered dangerous to life.
Consider: in a 50ml bottle of Tincture of Iodine, with 2% elemental iodine, half of which is I2 and half of which is KI, then (ignoring the weight of the K for this exercise) we have around 1.3% K2, or about 15 mg - around 1/200 of the lower of the dangerous doses. The lowest lethal dose (LDL) is 28mg per kg of body weight. Not 28mg - 28mg PER KILO of body weight.
If you were to drink 200 x 50ml bottles of tincture of iodine, then yes, you would be poisoned. As this article is about using 5 to 10 drops of this solution, the only possible danger would be to somebody with an iodine allergy.
I take an 'over the counter' tablet from Wells Pharmaceuticals called Cydiodine Buccal tablets for sore throats. Each tablet contains 1.5mg of elemental iodine, with the advice that not more than 5 tablets to be taken in one day.
The lowest lethal dose (LDL) is 28mg per kg of body weight.
The sky may well be falling, but I'll take my chances with the iodine, and not with the microorganisms!
I stand corrected with KI, my bad for the slip up. Truth be told it will take a bit to kill yourself with iodine. The reason I try to get people to exercise caution with how much iodine they add is because that it takes a big tole on you kidneys. In the "Australian Air force Survival School" they only allow the use of iodine for purification for three days only. After that, it takes to much of a toll on your kidneys.
Excess iodine is not advisable.
The same goes for vitamins. You should take one a day. They're good for you. If you try to eat the whole bottle in one sitting though, then YES, vitamins are poisonous.
However they have done recent human studies and found as I mentioned before a LD50 of 30 mg/kg! Which is a heck of alot less than rats, and why they don't want people to use it, even though you are having a very diluted amount. Any lugol's MSDS within the last few years will state these values.
It is dangerous to say that something is not toxic just because you can buy it of the shelf. Warfarin (rat poison) can be bought as a blood thinner, even though it is extremely deadly. Likewise Lugols IS TOXIC, but can be used at low levels
And it STILL IS used as an oral supplement. If it were found to be "ToXiC" by any kind of REPUTABLE and CONCLUSIVE source then it would be ILLEGAL to SELL IT as an ORAL SUPPLEMENT.
"Lugols IS TOXIC, but can be used at low levels"
Everything IS TOXIC, but can be used at low levels.
And again (sighs) ANYTHING is TOXIC when used in large enough amounts.
I heard of this guy who went swimming IN PERFECTLY CLEAN WATER and he DIED of water poisoning! He drank SO MUCH of it (here it comes)... it KILLED HIM DEAD!
No more water for me! That stuff is ToXiC!
Here's some more links to different web sites ALL saying that it's perfectly FINE to use Lugol's solution to purify water.
http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com/water.html
http://zenbackpacking.net/WaterFilterPurifierTreatment.htm
http://quailwoodherbal.com/Lugol.html
So, what is the name of the guy who was "poisoned" by Lugol's solution? Exactly who is the "they" that you are referring to who conducted these tests? How many controlled tests did they conduct? WHO FUNDED THEIR RESEARCH? How much money is "the human" suing the company for, who tried to poison him with Lugol's solution?
And the best question of all... WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT DARNED RAT? Did he get a tummy ache? Maybe it made him turn into a pumpkin? Exactly what irreversible TOXIC reaction occurred which was so horrifying that it made "they" say:
"The reason why it should not be (used) anymore is because IT IS TOXIC."
Lugol's solution turned that poor rat into a ZOMBIE!!!
I've posted links to numerous places which ALL STATE that it is PERFECTLY SAFE TO USE LUGOL'S SOLUTION TO PURIFY WATER.
There is also a HUGE amount of HISTORY available... ALL OF WHICH INDICATES that IT IS PERFECTLY HEALTHY TO USE A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF LUGOL'S SOLUTION TO PURIFY WATER and that PEOPLE HAVE BEEN USING IT FOR YEARS WITH NO ILL HEALTH EFFECTS...
Except for the time some guy, in some lab (who probably worked for Pfizer or Bayer) PROVED that Lugol's solution is "toxic" by a test he preformed on ONE rat ...(who was also dying of terminal cancer and AIDS at the time of the test).
Using even 4% tincture of iodine or lugols iodine is perfectly safe for a reasonable period of time as long as the person taking it isn't a complete moron and if they are a complete moron that is a self solving situation.
Chill out everyone, tincture or lugols both work fine and are both safe so long as you don't get stupid or try to live on it extended periods of time.
Given a choice between the two I would use Lugols 1% solution. That being said chlorine is a better solution than either for killing of cryptosporidium or giardia consistently and rapidly.
You use what you can in a pinch and most first aid kits have tincture of iodine in them for wound treatment so it's important to understand how to use it, because you'll likely have access to it even if fairly unprepared.
Iodine does inactivate giardia. However it does not inactivate Cryptosporidium cysts, same with chlorine. As far as chlorine goes, it is less favorable to use mainly because of its usable lifespan, 3 days compared with 3 months for iodine, which is the main consideration out bush. But it is faster at killing certain organisms (E. coli). Boiling is more effective than both.
Below is a scientific article that you can look at.
"Efficacy of iodine water purification tablets against Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts"
Also for those who use Vitamin C to remove the taste of iodine. Your breakdown product is Hydrogen iodide which has a ld50 of 30 mg/kg, which is just as toxic as the iodine. So still be careful with how much iodine you add!
Doctor Chemist
Your asthma anecdote also seems to rely entirely on the fallacy of argument from authority. And you say it as somehow doctors, especially those in the past, are infallible people. Doctors also used to prescribe blood letting and leeches.
Please post some double-blind well-controlled studies from an academic institution or don't bother posting, because anything outside of that is pure conjecture.
It is for reasons such as this that Tincture of Iodine has been removed from sale in pharmacies in Australia - because there is no 'proof' that it kills anything. Unless there are millions of dollars in profits to be made by a pharmaceutical company, nobody will finance such tests. The same applies to calamine lotion, gentian violet and acriflavine - all of which are known by the millions of people who have used them to be effective, but because no 'scientist' has 'said so', they are deemed ineffective.
Absence of evidence is NOT evidence of absence. And abscence of evidence of efficacy is NOT evidence of inefficacy.
Some people are actually capable of making their own decisions, without needing the approval of some 'wizard' who is in fact, just another person.
Doctors are infallible people? Yes, you must be high.
You stated that:
My "asthma anecdote" (puttttth, sorry I'm trying to keep it together) "relies entirely on the fallacy of argument from authority"...
Then you COMPLETELY contradict what you just said by stating that:
"...Anything outside of that (an academic institution) is pure conjecture."
Now that's what I call hypocritical and DOUBLE-BLIND (in both eyes).
Please post some double-blind well-controlled studies from an academic institution that DISPROVES ANYTHING SAID IN THIS ARTICLE or don't bother posting, because anything outside of that is pure conjecture.
We already have a chemist and a bio-tech engine-ear on it, lemme guess, you're either a rockit scientist or a part-time community college professor, right? I can't wait to read your paper.
And one last thing; please don't post any "research" that comes from "The University of Phoenix", "DeVry Online Instute Kolage" or "Berkley". I know you hold those "academic institutions" in very high regard and consider them to be "official" sources of "double-blind well-controlled studies" but I DON'T. And no "cut n' paste" from WebMD either. They will virtually kick you out of your virtual classroom if they catch you doing that.
2- This is not the place for any political BS.
3- You did not adhere to the "Be Nice" comment policy.
It's up to the individual as to which side of the fence that they're on. I, for one, am on the "millions of people living due to the drugs that come out of double blind professional studies" side. A product for human consumption WILL kill someone some day given an infinite umber of observations. Doesn't matter what the product is.