Aquastar Plus U.V. Water Purification System

I took mine on the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal this spring. I often carried it full of water; for me, if I can''t use it to carry water it wastes too much space. One could use another cap for the bottle and carry the Aquastar unit outside of the bottle, but it looks rather fragile, compared to a SteriPEN.

Anyway, it died after a few days on the trail, water got into the circuitry, more than just condensation, I poured about a teaspoon of water out of the battery compartment. When I got back I talked to customer service at Meridian, and was flatly told that it shouldn''t be left full of water consistently. That''s ok, but the owner''s manual doesn''t prohibit such use.

It was very convenient while it worked, but I can''t give it good marks for reliability.

It''s absolutely perfect. I bought it for a 6 month road trip in countries where the tap water was potentially buggy, and it''s been so good to have. I never need to buy bottle after bottle of water (bad for the environment, and expensive), and it''s light weight, works as a good night light, and of course it holds a liter of water as well. I''m looking forward to using it on a camping trip as well where I can just fill up from a stream, and have drinkable water in 80 seconds no funny taste, no problems.

If you''re going to use it a lot, I recommend getting rechargeable batteries. With almost daily use, they lasted about 2 months but there was no warning, so you should have a spare pair if you''re out in the wilderness.

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Pros: I have used the Aqua Star on many hiking/camping trips. I like the fact that it screws into any standard 32-34 oz water bottle. I use the supplied web/net pre-filter to get out any "bigger" objects like bugs/sticks ect... I recently purchased a steri-pen pre-filter and I haven''t used this item yet. It also screws into any 32-34 oz water bottle. It might be a better pre-filter. Aqua Star is light weight and the battery time is great.

Cons: It doesn''t purify water. It simply treats it to drink safely. So, if you have muddy water, take it slow to fill the bottle. If the water looks nasty, keep going. The pre-filter is good. I have only used clean water in it.

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I too had problems with this unit (albeit an early model of it) when I inadvertently submersed the electronics in the lid, which i find is not waterproof, and should not be immersed. I found the companys customer service to be very prompt, competent and reasonable. The whole idea is great; UV is widely used for sterilization in inductry and hospital applications. My favorite product from this company, is actually another unit, which is smaller, lighter and cheaper, though not currently carried by Amazonthe mÜV Micro-UV Water Treatment Device, which is a portable floating water treatment device that can be recharged by attaching its magnetic leads to almost any battery.

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I bought a UV Aquastar to use while Kayaking. I loved the concept and having the LED light is a nice extra. It seemed to work well for a couple months, although it is difficult to see if the unit is activated when sitting on the water in bright sunlight. It comes with a strainer but I learned to look for clear water because the strainer still lets visually unappealing floaties in which can also interfere with the sterilization effectiveness.

It never got immersed in water but the moist environment seems to have killed it. I took out the batteries and tried to dry it out per the manufactures instructions but no luck yet. I think moisture found its way into the factory sealed electronics. I emailed the manufacturer a couple days ago asking if I had any options available to repair it. I am hoping for a response because two months is not enough use for a unit in this price range!

EDIT: I have upgraded my rating based on customer service. It turns out their lack of response to my online complaint was due to technical email issues they never received it. The representative was very helpful and will send me a replacement unit. Her recommendation was to not leave the bottle full of water but to purify the water then pour it into a drinking container. Doing so reduces the appearl of this unit but the representative was so nice that it gets an extra star.