Its long been known that Iodine is a poison but in small doses presents an acceptable risk versus the risk of water bourne diseases and parasites. It was inevitable that Iodine would eventually come under scrutinty from our ever more safety concious governments but what is remarkable though is that it has gone all but unreported in the outdoor press when we are the very people most likely to be using iodine for personal drinking water treatment.

We have seen written evidence that the large outdoor retail chains ( you can probably guess who they are) have been contacted by the manufacturers of the largest brands ( you can guess who they are too ) to explain that they will be replacing Iodine with a Chlorine based disinfectant although this is known to be much less effective against water bourne nasties. To the best of our knowledge they have not bothered to contact the vast array of smaller retailers who seem to be being left to their own devices to find this out the hard way, so in many cases will almost certainly be giving out advice to consumers that is not current. At least one major manufacturer will not accept returns of Iodine based filtration systems after August 1st meaning there is likely to be a number of clearance offers of these while store try to clear the shelves before the new legislation comes into force even though this is not in th ebest interests of consumers.

Basically, if you are in the market for a water treatment system DO NOT invest in anything which uses Iodine and part of its treatment regieme; you will be left with no way of getting refills without accepting a poorer performance Chlorine based substitute and therefore at much greater risk of drinking water which is not safe when you have least choice about it.

If you already have a filter then parts are likely to remain available but bear in mind that NO stockist can legally sell you an Iodine based refill or system after 25th October 2009.... so guess what you should put on your Christmas list this year ...