SteriPEN Traveler Handheld UV Water Purifier

Well The item operates as it states but you still have to trust the science of the product.And I am okay with that. The green light tells you it is ready and you swirl the pen in the water until the light turns off automatically and then it is safe to drink. The green light will flash again when you stop if the red light flashes then it was done completely.

You should know you cannot use Alkaline batteries with the item. You do get 2two dollar off coupons that expire in July 2010 for Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. I was lucky to already have some rechargable ones here from my old camera.(I did have to charge them) They recommend the rechargeable ones if using in cold climates.

Also the water has to be clear before you use the product. They say even a shirt can be used or a coffee filter. They go to great lengths to say the container must be clean and it will not sterilize droplets on the side of a glass to wipe those away.

Then they say that expensive research has been done to prove it does kill 99.9% of bacteria, viruses, protoza. The statement that gave me a bit of concern is "While carefully controlled microboiological testing of SteriPen has been conducted, use of SteriPen in the field may produce results that vary from our laboratory test data." (ie...you may get sick)

I have a bunch of bottled water that is expired and decided to use it on them and go ahead and drink them. It takes only about 30 second and there is absolutely no leakage when you turn the bottle upside down and swirl it. I am impressed.

All that taken into consideration I would use it to drink clear stream water on a hike if I run out of my bottled water as to drinking it straight. I was a microbiologist for 29yrs so I know the science. We Used UV lights in the TB work room. Our biohazard hoods had UV lights turned on when not in use.

Just keep in mind it is not 100% that you will not get sick. If traveling to a high risk area I''d also take the tablets for the water just to be double sure. Oh you get 200 uses with the lithium batteries.

SteriPEN is a portable water purification device that uses UV light to purify water found in untreated sources (mainly rivers and lakes) into a drinkable state, killing over 99.9 percent of harmful microorganisms that can lead to illness. This is mainly a concern for people in developing countries and campers/backpackers. As a longtime backpacker, I''ve dealt with water purification for many years. The most realistic options currently available to me are:

1. Potable water For the longest time, I just brought in all the drinkable water I would need for a trip and carried it with me. Once I realized how foolish it was to carry the weight of 2-3 gallons worth of water with me in my pack as opposed to 2 liters, I quickly stopped this practice.

2. Boiling Without a doubt, the best way to purify water is to boil it for three minutes. Of course the problem you run into is that you need a source of heat for this. I don''t like wasting my fuel on boiling water when I need it for cooking. And if you are a minimalist backpacker, you don''t want to have to lug a cooking system with you just to purify water.

3. Water purification tablets these mainly use iodine to chemically treat water into a drinkable state. These are great in an emergency because the tablets are so small and filter a large amount of water. I always take these with me just in case. The problem is they take about 4 hours to work and they make your water taste like it came from a swimming pool.

4. Filtration I have never used a pump filter before, but they have always seemed big and clumsy to me.

The SteriPEN seems like it resolves all these issues because it is small, it is easy to use, and it works very quickly. I recently took out the SteriPEN Traveler Handheld UV Water Purifier with me on two recent trips to the woods and gave it a try. The Traveler is obviously designed for people to take when traveling to developing countries where drinkable water may not be available. I understand SteriPEN''s reasoning for it, but it just doesn''t seem like there is any necessity for this model. The UV lamp that is used for purification will last 3,000 treatments, which seems like more than enough for the life of the product. Unfortunately, due to the amount of power the UV light uses, the SteriPEN requires lithium batteries which can be very expensive, You''ll get 200 16oz treatments off of a set of 4 AA lithium batteries. You can use regular batteries in a pinch but I assume they''ll be drained pretty quickly. With the cost of lithium batteries, you are going to pay around 25 cents to treat each gallon of water. The actual SteriPEN is bigger than I thought it would be from the picture. At 7.5" long, it''s going to take up some room in your pack or luggage, and it would have been nice if it was about 2-3" shorter. You can buy the SteriPEN Traveler mini Handheld UV Water Purifier or the SteriPEN Adventurer Handheld Water Purifier (the Adventurer and Traveler Mini are the exact same product except for the color scheme!) which is slightly smaller, but I don''t understand why they didn''t just make the original Traveler that small to begin with.

As to actual use, the SteriPEN traveler works amazingly well. Just hold the UV light in a bottle of water, press the button, and 45 seconds later your water is purified. Now obviously I don''t have the ability to actually test the purified water to verify their claims, but the SteriPEN doesn''t affect the taste of the water at all, and it appears to work. You also can''t use it with really dirty water, as it will not "clean" the water, only purify it. So you''re going to want to make sure the water that you use is fairly clean to begin with. But if it is, you can safely drink from it knowing that their are no microorganisms swimming around ready to make you sick.

Overall, even though I was turned off by its size (although it''s still smaller than any other purification method other than tablets), the SteriPEN is a very efficient product. My reasoning for only giving it four stars is that I can''t see any improvement of the Traveler over the original SteriPEN Classic Handheld Water Purifier. The Classic even has more than twice the lamp life (although it''s not like you''d ever need more than 3,000 uses anyway). Why anyone would purchase the Traveler over the Classic is beyond me.

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As soon as the SteriPEN Traveler Handheld UV Water Purifier arrived I unwrapped it, installed the batteries and ran to the alley behind my house to scoop some feted, brackish water from a pothole.......Just Kidding, but it does beg the question; how do I test this device without spending a week in the bathroom? I often take day-trips to the Fort Collins, Colorado area and go hiking along the Poudre River Trail. Many are the times I have wanted to stop along one of the crystal clear, ice cold, streams and take a huge drink rather than pull on my lukewarm plastic tasting canteen. Last time I did. I read the SteriPEN''s instructions carefully before leaving the camping area. I also loaded the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries the company suggests (a couple of coupons in the box). I scooped up a bottle of the water, let the pen do its thing, then drank it down. I felt no ill effects afterward and used it on the same trip several more times (three sessions and the batteries did not die).

Now of course there is no way (short of laboratory tests) for me to be sure the water was contaminated in the first place, but there are warnings there about drinking it. As far as I can tell the SteriPEN does what it says it will.

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Before heading to South America I researched different alternatives for water filters to use while I was away (6 months 1 year). In the end, the Steripen seemed the best for size & price.

I used it for literally 1 month and now the thing just won''t work. One day the red light flashed when I went to use it... thought the batteries were dead so put in brand new of the exact same batteries (Energizer Lithium, which I spent a good amount of $ stocking up on specifically for this device!) --nope, no luck. Have tried everything, the thing is just straight dead.

It''s been more then 30 days so I can''t return it, and now am in South America with no filtration system, which means not only did I lose the $60ish I spent on the thing, but now I also have to buy bottled water all the time! Not happy!

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The SteriPen is about the easiest water purification system I have tried and the fastest. It looks like it will work quite well for my traveling.

I travel in my work to all of South America and the Caribbean and also to Africa. The water is treated, but not to the same standards as in the USA. Also, there are microbes in the water supply lines that we are not used to. Every person that I have taken with me to Mexico, for example, has immediately had problems from the water. usually within 24 hours. This device looks like it will solve that problem.

What I generally use for water purification is either an iodine or chlorine based treatment. Clear iodine from the drug store (5 drops per liter) works well, followed by adding a vitamin C tablet to remove the iodine taste, after letting the iodine work for several hours. There are many products in the camping stores that are effective. The problem with these systems is that they are relatively slow and leave an unpleasant chemical taste. I usually treat my water in the evening and let the chemical work overnight, although about 30 minutes of treatment is supposed to be sufficient. The taste is never as good as I would like, though. Filtering first with a 0.2 micron water filter followed by a chemical treatment is considered a more complete solution. A LOT of trouble for drinking water!

UV treatment, on the other hand, is easy and fast. The only drawback that I can see is that the water to be treated has to be very clear and it is necessary to stir or agitate the water to make sure that the UV light is able to get to all parts of the water. This is easy to do, however, and not a significant drawback. If the water is not clear, then prefiltering would be required.

UV treatment will NOT eliminate chemical contamination (eg lake water). This would require a different type of treatment.

In preparation for this review, I talked with a friend who works as an engineer with a local water department and who is very familiar with water treatment methods. I had not realized it before, but UV treatment has actually replaced chlorination for elimination of pathogens, so it is a very effective technique! He reiterated that the water being treated MUST be clear and that all the water must pass close to the UV bulb. He also said that the UV light does not actually kill the pathogens, but rather damages their DNA so that they cannot reproduce, which is as effective as killing them. He also said that it is possible to only injure the pathogens, so adequate stirring and agitation is important as is letting the system work for the full dosage time.

I noticed that one reviewer said that with the batteries, the SteriPen is rather heavy. I didn''t weight it, but I did compare the "Feel" of its weight to a 500 ml bottle of water, the standard size that you get from a drink machine. I had to drink 2/3 of the bottle before the weights felt similar, so I don;t see the weight as a problem at all, even when hiking. If it reduces the amount of water I have to carry, it is a net savings in weight!

The SteriPen requires lithium batteries which cost about twice as much as alkaline, but they give about 10 times the life. They also are lighter weight than alkalines. The cost will be MUCH less than buying bottled water!

So, to summarize, I am very confident that the SteriPen will handle my water purification needs, especially when traveling to South America and the Caribbean. UV treatment is very effective and fast and doesn''t leave the chemical taste that other portable systems do. I''ll be taking it with me on all my travels with confidence!