SteriPEN Opti Review

[Stephen Barber]

"The other hiker scooped up a Sierra cup of it, and then stared down into it. There were three little wigglers, each about a tenth of an inch long. We decided to treat all of the water with iodine crystals."

Those little wrigglers were probably insect larvae (mosquitoes?) and would have done you no harm whatsoever. In fact, you would have gotten a bit of extra protein for free!

The things that make you sick are invisible to the naked eye.

[Roger Caffin]

> It's probably a good idea to consider boiling or purifying water in alpine areas with
> mines. Some of the high elevation old silver mine locations in Colorado come to mind.

This could be very dangerous advice in itself!
Old silver mines often leach Arsenic, which can be a cumulative carcinogen. You can NOT remove it by boiling, and 'purifying' is so vague a term it is probably false as well. For instance, neither chemicals nor filtration will work on dissolved Arsenic.

Cheers

[Roger Caffin]

> There were three little wigglers, each about a tenth of an inch long. We decided
> to treat all of the water with iodine crystals.
First of all, wigglers are 100% harmless. They are probably mosquito larvae, as note.
Second, their presence could mean the water is safe enough for them to survive in …
No way is the presence of wigglers any indication of a hazard at all.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

"For instance, neither chemicals nor filtration will work on dissolved Arsenic."

Does this include filters with an activated carbon core?

The profanity police descended upon me for using the name of the element AS. It's nice to know that the public morals
are in good hands.

[Thomas Kaltenbach]

Roger, very nice article. The LED immersion sensor should be a big improvement. As you said,

"The older Adventurer uses a conductivity sensor with little metal plates on either side of the housing near the lamp. There have been reports of people having problems with the sensor, although I have never experienced any myself."

We have found that the water in the Adirondack Mountains of New York is too soft (too few dissolved minerals) for the conductivity sensor to detect that the Steripen has been immersed. Our solution to the problem is to add just the tiniest pinch of a electrolyte-containing beverage (like Gatorade or another instant sports drink), and then the Steripen works fine. It's an amount that's way below a person's taste or odor threshold, so it is essentially still plain water. Adding a few grains of salt would do the same thing, of course, but we already have the Gatorade.

I wonder how many other user complaints of failure stem from this problem? I suppose it's possible that the conductivity sensor is just not sensitive enough, but I don't think that's it. We always try it on plain water first, curious whether this particular stream might have enough electrolytes, but it never works. And then adding just a few grains of Gatorade (or even instant iced tea), and the Steripen works like a charm. That suggests the Steripen is sensitive enough to detect the change in conductivity from a tiny addition of electrolyte, so I think the sensor is actually pretty good, just not quite good enough in our case.

Although it is an easy problem to work around, it's nice to know that they have improved the immersion sensor in the Opti by doing it optically rather than using conductivity. It's definitely on the upgrade list.

By the way, that soft mountain water is delicious! I always want to take some home…

Tom

[Roger Caffin]

> Does this include filters with an activated carbon core?
Tricky, very tricky.
How do you know what % of the Arsenic will be removed? How do you know when the activated carbon is saturated?
Very tricky.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

"Very tricky."

Hmmm. Very good questions, impossible to know in a practical sense, I'd guess. Bottom line, it seems you'd be risking your health by depending on a filter with an activated carbon core. It was basically an academic question for me, because I never come anywhere near that kind of environment where I do my backpacking. Nonetheless it's an interesting question. Thanks, Roger. You've given me one more reason to avoid areas where mining was/is done, not that I need one.

[Rick Dreher]

FWIW the UV Aquastar has no immersion interlock switch, conductive or optical, so will fire up whether it's in water or not.

Sometimes, simpler is it's own end.

As to whether one could/would fry their eyes with one operating out of the water, I'd venture to guess the very low lamp output coupled with the inverse square law would make this highly unlikely.*

Cheers,

Rick

*Note: That last statement was strictly the opinion of the author and in no way represents the views of the staff or management of Backpackinglight.com nor any of its affiliates. Use ultraviolet technology wisely. Wear clean underwear. Get off my lawn.

[Nick Lagos]

a friend who is a biologist recently made an passing comment while he watched me try and filter water with my adventurer as it failed (it later totaly failed and i resorted to tablets)

he told me that if you treat the viruses with too much UV the damaged DNA can rejoin and become dangerous again

he said it in passing and for some reason we didnt converse any further about it

any comment from anyone here?

[Roger Caffin]

> treat the viruses with too much UV the damaged DNA can rejoin and become dangerous again

I have EXTREME doubts about this statement. Damage is cumulative, not self-repairing. The statement is a bit like saying that taking twice a fatal dose of poison will cure you. A misunderstanding perhaps?

Cheers

[Chris Benson]

"This could be very dangerous advice in itself!
Old silver mines often leach Arsenic, which can be a cumulative carcinogen. You can NOT remove it by boiling, and 'purifying' is so vague a term it is probably false as well. For instance, neither chemicals nor filtration will work on dissolved Arsenic."

Thank you for the correction Roger. There is no doubt when in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness I have had water from Pine Creek while still downstream of the Magdaline mine. Plenty of hikers do the same, not to mention eat trout from there.

Avoiding water from sources with upstream silver mines would definitely add some extra planning for many of my Colorado hikes.

[Dean F.]

@Bob- "Dean, if the Sawyer filters are so good, then tell us what the Army uses."

On maneuvers? Gigantic diesel-powered reverse-osmosis water purifiers. Didn't you see that Pauly Shore movie?

I don't see THAT fitting into your pack any time soon, Bob. :o)

But for practical reasons in CONUS usually we just bring along tanks of potable water from the local water main.

But in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Believe it or not, often it's bottled water.

The deployed military consumes it in vast quantities because it is safe and easy. You can leave skids of it laying around anyplace convenient, where soldiers can grab a bottle, without having to worry about recovering a tank or blivet. It is also easily transportable to remote locations by loading skids of it into Chinooks, etc., without having to bring a tank or blivet back to refill. I shudder to think what future archaeologists are going to think about the PET stratum in the Middle East and Central Asia in a few million years.

If you're asking for instance what the "special people" use in the back country, I honestly don't know. I do know that the Army still stocks vast amounts of chemical water purifiers and that they still figure prominently in the manuals. Several manufacturers list the US military, among others, as a customer on their websites. Chlor-floc, is pretty standard, IIRC.

But, remember, one of the primary characteristics that the military looks for in any technology is that it is "soldier-proof." Chemicals can be issued as expendables- no device to account for or maintain. And the issue of freezing filters would be a significant one for the military. (And there is also a great deal of institutional inertia.)

I also know that MSR is making or has recently introduced a military version of the MIOX. Despite my belief that it is an AWFUL ultralight water purification option, it is probably a rather handy device for the military. I don't know if anyone has adopted it, but the special people can pretty much buy anything they like.

And I know that Katadyn makes the desalinators used on life rafts and aircraft ejection seats. I'm not sure if they make any other units used by the military but I wouldn't be surprised.

[Bob Gross]

All I remember is a big lister bag hanging from poles, and I think maybe somebody dumped in a dose of chlorine bleach.

Specifically, that is where I got a dose of contamination.

But, that was during a different era and different war.

–B.G.–

[Keith Selbo]

"How do you know when the activated carbon is saturated?"

If you've added the CDC recommended amount of bleach to kill viruses, you'll taste it if the charcoal is saturated.

That said, I don't think charcoal is effective at removing heavy metals. If they're a problem, you'll need distillation, or reverse osmosis or possibly chemical treatment although I don't personally know of a chemical treatment that's effective.

[john hansford]

I used the Opti for my 13 day end to end of the John Muir Trail last summer. I treated ALL my water, since I don't boil water for tea or rehydrating, ie 3-4 ltrs per day. The Opti worked faultlessly, and I only had to change the batteries for the last few days. I carried ClO2 as back-up, but didn't use any. No "upsets" either.

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