Aquatabs vs P&G Purifier of Water: Which to Use for Clear and Turbid Water

The choice comes down to one variable: how dirty is the source water. Use Aquatabs for clear water, where chlorine disinfection alone is enough, and use P&G Purifier of Water for turbid, high-particulate water, where you need to remove the suspended solids and the chlorine-resistant parasites that disinfection alone cannot touch. Each treats roughly 10 litres per unit; the difference is what they do to the water before and beyond chlorination.

What is the core difference between Aquatabs and P&G Purifier of Water?

Aquatabs disinfect; P&G Purifier of Water clarifies and disinfects. An Aquatabs 67mg tablet treats 8 to 10 litres of clear water with a 30-minute contact time, releasing free chlorine to inactivate bacteria and viruses, per the CDC and Medentech instruction sheet. A P&G sachet, developed with the CDC, treats 10 litres through coagulation, flocculation, and disinfection in about 30 minutes, removing suspended solids along with Giardia and Cryptosporidium that resist chlorine alone, per the CDC-affiliated Center for Safe Drinking Water. That last point is the whole argument: chlorine is excellent against bacteria and viruses but weak against certain protozoan cysts, and turbid water hides both behind particles. SLS supplies both the Aquatabs 67mg tablets and the P&G Purifier of Water sachets, so the choice is driven by the water, not by what happens to be in stock.

When should you use Aquatabs?

Use Aquatabs when the source water is already clear, such as a protected borehole, a chlorinated tapstand, or rainwater collected cleanly. In those conditions, a single tablet per 8-10 litres with a 30-minute wait meets the disinfection need without the added cost and steps of a flocculant, per the CDC and Medentech instruction sheet. Aquatabs win on logistics: the tablets are light, stable in heat, precise to count, and simple to brief at a tapstand, which is why they move at outbreak scale. The honest limit is turbidity. If the water is cloudy, the instruction is to filter it through a clean cloth first, and if it stays visibly dirty after that, a tablet alone is the wrong tool. Clear-water disinfection is exactly where Aquatabs belong, and pushing them onto turbid water is the most common selection error.

When should you use P&G Purifier of Water?

Use P&G Purifier of Water when the source is turbid, muddy, or heavily contaminated, the typical picture in flood water or a surface pond during the rainy season. The sachet coagulates and settles out the suspended particles, then disinfects, producing visibly clear water from a starting point a chlorine tablet cannot handle, per the Center for Safe Drinking Water. Crucially, it removes Giardia and Cryptosporidium, protozoan parasites that survive ordinary chlorination, which makes it the safer choice wherever those organisms are a realistic risk. The trade-off is that P&G requires more steps, a stirring and settling stage, a cloth to filter the floc, and more user training, so it is not the tool for routine clear-water treatment where Aquatabs would do the job faster. SLS delivered P&G sachets at scale into Juba and Renk during the cholera response, so this is a field-proven option for UN agencies and NGOs, not a catalogue line.

What about turbidity: where exactly is the line?

The practical dividing line is whether the water looks clear after a simple cloth filter. Chlorine demand rises sharply with suspended solids and organic load, and particles physically shield pathogens from the disinfectant, which is why high-turbidity water needs more chlorine or a different approach. The CDC's own dosing reflects this: roughly 2 mg/L of chlorine for water below 10 NTU and around 4 mg/L for water above 10 NTU, per the CDC Safe Water System. When the water sits well above that threshold, raising the chlorine dose fights symptoms while leaving the particles and the chlorine-resistant cysts in place; removing the solids with a flocculant-disinfectant addresses the cause. So the rule is not a single NTU number on a form; it is a field judgement, and when in doubt with visibly dirty water, choose P&G.

Can you use both together in one response?

Yes, and a well-stocked response usually carries both, matched to the water sources in the area rather than to a single product preference. A camp drawing from a protected borehole and a nearby silty river needs Aquatabs for the first and P&G for the second, in the same distribution. This is the supply-chain argument for sourcing both from one authorised distributor: you can shift the mix as the rains change the water without re-tendering, and you avoid the trap of treating turbid water with the clear-water product because that is all that arrived. The full SLS WASH product range covers both treatment routes alongside the storage and testing supplies that complete the chain.

How do you verify either product worked?

For Aquatabs, test the free residual chlorine; for P&G, judge both clarity and residual. After Aquatabs, the water should hold at least 0.2 mg/L of free chlorine in stored water 24 hours after treatment, the household benchmark from the CDC Safe Water System. After P&G, the water should be visibly clear and also carry a residual, since the sachet disinfects as well as clarifies. The verification step matters because the two products fail in different ways: Aquatabs fail quietly when turbidity or storage strips the residual, while a P&G batch fails visibly if it is under-stirred or the floc is not filtered out. Test for the failure mode that matches the product you used.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Aquatabs or P&G Purifier of Water?

Neither is universally better; Aquatabs suit clear water and P&G suits turbid water, because P&G removes the suspended solids and the Giardia and Cryptosporidium that resist chlorine alone, per the Center for Safe Drinking Water.

Does Aquatabs remove Cryptosporidium?

Chlorine disinfection, including NaDCC tablets, is weak against Cryptosporidium and Giardia; P&G Purifier of Water removes these parasites, per the Center for Safe Drinking Water.

How much water does each unit treat?

An Aquatabs 67mg tablet treats 8-10 litres of clear water, per the CDC and Medentech instruction sheet; a P&G sachet treats 10 litres, per the Center for Safe Drinking Water.

Can I use Aquatabs on muddy or flood water?

Only after filtering it clear; if the water stays turbid, use P&G Purifier of Water instead, because chlorine demand and shielded pathogens defeat a tablet alone, consistent with the CDC Safe Water System dosing for high-turbidity water.

Should a cholera response stock both products?

Yes; match the product to each water source in the area, using Aquatabs for clear sources and P&G for turbid ones, since both treat about 10 litres per unit but do different jobs, per the CDC and Medentech instruction sheet and the Center for Safe Drinking Water.

Specialized Logistics Solutions is an in-country distributor based in Juba, an authorised distributor for Aquatabs (Medentech/Kersia), P&G Purifier of Water, and Oxfam tanks (Butyl Products), and a UNGM-registered vendor (No. 380716). SLS has deployed both products at outbreak scale, more than 52 million Aquatabs tablets and 3.28 million P&G sachets to 27,344 households across South Sudan in the 2024-2025 cholera response, so we can match the right product to your water and keep it in stock. Request a quotation from SLS to source both treatment routes from one authorised supplier.