Water is the most valuable resource we have in the backcountry. Sources can be spaced far apart, and may be contaminated by countless things. That's why we think it's important to carry two ways to purify, or at least filter, our water. We also think it's really best to have one of these ways be chemical--chemicals can't get broken or clogged. But we also realize that a back-up water treatment is worthless if it doesn't work in situations where the primary purifier doesn't.
While we would like AquaMira to be our back up, iodine is the old standard. Iodine will work in cloudy or cold water, but it doesn't kill cyrptospordia--things we'd prefer not to be exposed to. In the end, we decided it was best to see just how well Potable Aqua works on cloudy water to decide if it's drawbacks are insignificant enough to earn it a place in our first aid kit.
