A Scout’s Campfire

Water Treatment Options - Part 4

November 28th, 2006 spryken

Disclaimer…. I have never used either type of water treatment covered in this article. All my information I have gathered from the Internet and Retail Stores.

There are 2 fairly new methods of treating water. MiOX and UV-C treatment.

MiOX is Mixed Oxidants. MSR has a MiOX Purifier. It uses salt and electricity to form a mixed oxidant solution that will inactivate viruses, bacteria, Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium. You have to carry salt and batteries (2 CR-123 - Lithium Camera Batteries). The purifier uses a brine solution and ionizes it with an electrical charge. This is similar to the treatment some municipal water treatment centers use. You pour the ionized brine solution into the water to be treated and wait: 15 minutes for viruses and bacteria, 30 minutes for Giardia, and 4 hours for Cryptosporidium.

Forum entries have expressed some trouble in getting the brine solution to the correct concentration. Cold water and dirty water require additional treatment - extra brine solution.

Cost: $100-130

UV-C treatment uses UltraViolet C radiation to treat the water. There are several products available: AquaStar, and SteriPen. According to the AquaStar site:

Ultra-violet C-band (UV-C) purifiers work differently from filtration
systems by generating ionizing radiation at 254nm that quickly and
effectively disrupts the cellular chemistry of all known pathogens,
halting DNA replication, and breaking down organic components of alien
living organisms into harmless material.

Both the AquaStar and the SteriPen use batteries. AquaStar uses 2 CR-123 Lithium Camera batteries, while the SteriPen uses 4 AA batteries. The AquaStar is contained in a Nalgene type bottle while the SteriPen is open and inserted into you water container. Both using a UV light can treat a liter of water in about 90 seconds. Dirty water should be prefiltered as dirty water will require additional time/treatment. This is definitely the quickest water treatment available.

Cost: $100-130

These last 4 articles have covered what I consider to be the facts involved in water treatment methods. In Part 5, I will make some conclusions and offer my opinions.

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