Anyone have any experience with this 3.5 ounce water purifier that runs on batteries and uses salt? its cost is $130 but takes 15minutes to 4 hours to purify depending on level of purification you want. I like my sweetwater; but 3.5 ounces is light.
Big Boy
That’s a new one. My guess is that it breaks the cell walls and/or scrambles the cell function. Huh…what’ll they think of next.
Buswhack
Basically, it uses a little bit of pure water, salt, and electrical current to make you up a mixture that acts pretty much like Aqua-Mira. Not sure what the advantage wouuld be over Aqua-Mira, as it just produces another oxidative chlorine compound. Aqua-Mira weighs around 2.5 ounces, versus this thing weighs 3.5 and you also have to carry salt. It won’t work if the water you use to make the purifying solution contains organic swamp bits.
Here’s the info I found on a commercial site for anyone who’s never heard of this gizmo (no endorsement implied):
“It’s a super lightweight purifier (3.5 ounces), no bigger than a small flashlight (7”x1”), that purifies large volumes of water at one time, eliminating the need for tons of pumping. Its requirements? A thimble of water, a capful of table salt, and a couple of batteries. Voila, you have 4 liters of great tasting, PURIFIED water. Nearly effortless to operate, the MIOX is excellent for group excursions, travel abroad, or any situation that calls for large amounts of drinking water (think humanitarian work). HOW IT WORKS: Fill the main chamber with untreated or treated water, add salt in the top cap, and shake about 10 times to create a brine solution. Next, press the activation button 1-4 times depending on the volume of water you’re treating (up to 4 liters per treatment). This action sends an electric charge through the saltwater, causing a chemical reaction that produces a small and powerful dose of mixed oxidants (hence MIOX). Pour this “cocktail” into untreated water to eliminate chemicals, protozoa, amoeba, bacteria, and viruses. Let sit 15 minutes to remove viruses and bacteria, 30 minutes for giardia, and 4 hours for cryptosporidia.”
I think calling this a purifier might be a bit of an overstatement. It sounds interesting, but I think I’ll stick to a chemical treatment method that doesn’t require batteries and can’t break if I drop it.
Cheers!
Chipper
Has anyone tried the Ultra Violet “Pen”? It’s supposed to kill all bacteria with UV rays.
Rick The Lone Wolf
That gadget sounds way to complicated for me! Stick to Aqua Mira, wont break … and after 15-20 mins you have perfectly safe and tasty water!!!
Waldo
In read in the December issue of Backpacker Magazine that the pen was very inovative but not very reliable during field testing. It worked half the time.
bigfoot
Thanks for the info on the UV pen. I will check out the article in December Backpacker. I guess it needs a few more years to iron out the bugs. I can think of a lot of uses for it on the trail. You could use it as a hand sanitizer or after washing your pots out you could sterilize them. You could zap foods, like cheese, to prevent it from going bad and even zap the mildew off your equipment. I wouldn’t recommend it for the fungus on your toes, however, unless you don’t mind a sunburn (It is UV radiation, I think UVA or short wave UV). I will just have to wait a few more years.
Rick The Lone Wolf
Saw a couple of people usion the ultra violet pen, if nothing else it was a great conversation starter! I’ll stick with Aqua-Mira for now. Sure I was thirsty a few times while waiting the 15 minutes but I sure like the light weight and dont miss the filter hassles!
Yo-YO