Posted by Adam Quinan on February 04, 2002 at -1:57:21 from 66.185.85.76:
In Reply to: Re: Drinking Beer / Blacketts / temperance not Water Quality: Water quality posted by D.Stevens on February 03, 2002 at 22:39:31:
Water purification tablets are usually some sort of soluble chlorine or iodine compound which gives a sufficient concentration to kill most bacteria if the concentration is kept high enough for long enough. It depends on the sort of nasties you are trying to kill off. The tablets won't work for inorganic poisons such as lead or arsenic in the water.
As the process is chemically similar to city mains water treatment on a smaller scale, they work pretty well provided you follow the instructions and allow the concentration to stay high enough for long enough.