pocket UV water steriliser

[shocker]

Looking at a link on this forum for canned butter I came across this :

https://shop.conserva.de/en/steripen-uv ... 00901.html

...its a pocket sized, battery powered UV water steriliser that can be used after filtering. It claims to have a 90 seconds a liter capacity and 50 plus treatments on a rechargeable battery.

I have no personal experience of the company or the product but it may be of interest for someone. Oh, and the device can be used as a torch/flashlight too.

[jaffab]

I would also be interested in the thoughts of others as well - but the 99.99% and other stats they have listed does not seem to make it any better (or worse) than the water filters with 0.02 micron filters in place.

[Jamesey1981]

I have used a uv water steriliser in the past, they do the job, but there is a couple of things to be aware of, firstly, (and this may be obvious) they don't work anywhere near as well if there's any turbidity to the water you're treating, it needs a longer time to work and you can't really be sure that it's done the job, you're estimating how much time to add which makes me nervous, (same goes for chemicals) so really the water needs pre filtering to get it as clear as possible.
Second, they usually don't actually kill the pathogens in the water except with repeated exposure, water authorities do use UV sterilisation but that's in a controlled environment with some seriously powerful hardware, the portable ones mostly just inactivate the pathogens, making them unable to reproduce, which in effect is the same thing, BUT, some of the nasties can actually recover and heal the damage they have received from the UV light, which can make the water unsafe again over time.

They can be handy, especially to take travelling and sterilise tap water that you're not too sure of, but I personally don't think they're that great as being electronic they can let you down or your batteries can run out, and if you're going to use them with river water for example you'd want to carry a filter as well, and in that case I personally just use purifying tablets as my belt and braces method to make sure my filtered water is all good.

I'm sure a lot of people use them with good results, I'm maybe just a little paranoid about water, I don't like drinking water even straight out of a sawyer without a puritab.

[sethorly]

Here's one scientific test of a similar system:

http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/does-t ... eally-work

[sniper 55]

Here's one scientific test of a similar system:

http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/does-t ... eally-work

To be honest I'm supprised how well that seems to work. Didn't expect that result.

[jaffab]

The test results do look good - my worry would be that I had 'zapped' it enough - I would feel that I would need to zap it 3 or 4 times. That, and the cost - pretty expensive.

I still like the fact that water passes through filters. I have already have filters, but this one looks nice and cheap for a backup... and down to 0.01 microns

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Camping-Hiki ... turer+Opti

[whenfires]

I bought one of these when I first started prepping and was putting together by BOB. The reports on it were very good and I teamed it up with a Lifestraw filter so I had two options for potable water. However, it was before I discovered the Sawyer Mini which is now my go-to choice for water filtration/purification.

[Jamesey1981]

The test results do look good - my worry would be that I had 'zapped' it enough - I would feel that I would need to zap it 3 or 4 times. That, and the cost - pretty expensive.

I still like the fact that water passes through filters. I have already have filters, but this one looks nice and cheap for a backup... and down to 0.01 microns

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Camping-Hiki ... turer+Opti

I'd be a little careful of that, it looks a little dubious to me, every other filter that I've seen that filters down to that level has cost a lot more than that, even from very reasonably priced manufacturers like Sawyer, and the name is a bit of a worry, Acquapura, it's a little too close to Aquapure which are made by 3M, and to me makes it look like a a fake Chinese product that may or may not do what it says it will.

That coupled with the fact that it's a marketplace item rather than officially sold by Amazon is enough to put me off, for all I know it could work, and if it does go down to 0.01 micron then it would also filter out viruses, something which the standard Sawyer mini can't do, but in the description it doesn't mention viruses at all, and by the time you find out that it doesn't work then it's too late, says it has a lifetime money back guarantee, but I'm not sure getting my seventeen quid back will be much comfort if I contract hepatitis A!

[Jamesey1981]

Here's one scientific test of a similar system:

http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/does-t ... eally-work

Good find, nice test that one, certainly seems to work, I'm still not sure I'd trust it though, I'll carry on being a Luddite.

[shocker]

A little of course maybe, but when living on a farm on Bodmin Moor we had only a well (with storage tank) for water. A new neighbour uphill from the wellspring catchment buried a large stallion, hopefully dead, and not knowing this, we all got very ill. I began treating the water in various ways, the long and short of it is I ended up with a screwfix filter of a low micron size (I forget the detail) and a metre long UV unit designed for commercial fisheries. The filtered water would spiral around the UV tube hopefully gaining maximum exposure and dwell time then pass into a storage tank where a small pump lifted water from the bottom to splash into the top again in an attempt to oxygenate it a little.

This system did enable us to use the water again though the filter needed changing frequently and the UV device needed cleaning. So, I have some faith in the concept of UV treatment after filtering though I am not sure how the small battery device would fare in real world use.

Interesting debate though.