Question:
What are the current government thoughts and practices on waterpurification?

Answer: where you are and what you're doing all depend on what you use. Reg armyinfantry uses the iodine tabs, if they can't get fresh source water. CalciumChloride is used to treat large batches 5 gal and up, but some have used itfor 2qts. depends on how easy you can separate what you have. Other units goand buy civilian systems. The systems in the army supply system arerelatively old, bulky and damn if I will trust them.

They also have mobile purification plants that can process fresh water fromjust about any mud puddle you come by. There is considerable waterpurification capacity in the National Guard and Reserves because it isbelieved that NBC "events" will require huge quantitied of clean water forwash-down, hospitals, etc.

Back about a year or so, i bought an MSR miniworks. It had a label on itindicating that it was used by either maries or one of the special forces(can't remember) as the personal filter (not purifier). That's not why Ibought it, but it did reassure me about the design's durability.