Hand Sanitizers & Parasites: Are we living in a fool's paradise?

[ben .]

yeah… i imagine we’d all love to know more about this qore stuff.

there is shockingly little information out there.

the website doesn’t inspire much confidence that it’s not a sham wow, infomercial-style product, no?

[John S.]

Agree with Roger on Qore systems. And I also doubt getting travelers diarrhea from sealed bottled water. There are so many variables in contamination that even a top outdoor medicine specialist in the country got sick in Nepal.

[Ken Thompson]

Re: Sawyer. Both the Squeeze and Mini have the Sawyer 0.10 Absolute Micron Hollow Fiber Membrane according to the mfg. website.

[Roger Caffin]

I like their picture of how it works: reminds me of little fish swimming around a sea anenome. I am not sure they realise the difference in sizes between a protozoa (10 um), a bacterium (1 um) and a virus (0.04 um) – or maybe they are hoping we don’t.

IF a thing like this worked, it would be all through the top science journals, not to mention things like New Scientist. Not a trace to be seen.

Scam?
(I know one filter vendor tried to run a good scam many years ago, and ended up inside, courtesy the EPA.)

Now, other matters:
Bottled water: can be filled from the tap and a new cap with ring fitted. Looks ‘sealed’ to the customer. Lots of protein.
Sawyer 0.1 um filter size: pity many viruses are much smaller than that. Would stop bacteria, but NOT viruses.

Cheers

[Larry De La Briandais]

As far as I know UV light is effective against most pathogens.  The issue is insuring that there is an adequate amount of exposure.  The water MUST be clear of anything big enough to see prior to treatment.  Then there is the issue of treating the outside of the bottle that has untreated water on it.  That seems to be an area that many overlook.  If you fill up a water bottle an then treat the water IN that bottle, you still have potential pathogens in the water in the threads that you ingest when you take that first drink.

If I had the issues you have had I would be a little gun shy myself.  ;^)  Good luck with your treatment.

 

[Roger Caffin]

UV is effective and is used by Councils, Water Boards and the Military.
I would not bother with the outside of the bottle. I am not drinking that. Just wipe it ‘dry’ beforehand and you are good.

Cheers

[Larry De La Briandais]

Yes, UV is certainly an effective water treatment for clear water.  Is wiping off the treads good enough?  Maybe.  When dealing with water in underdeveloped countries I would be more concerned.  After having 5 years of parasite trouble I’d be concerned.

[Author]

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