[at-l] Water Purification Science

[jbkramer@afn.org (Bryan Kramer)]

Sounds to me that this is a device meant for zapping a glass of water
not a water bottle or pot full. UV sterilization is limited by the
thickness of the container of water. That is the uv only penetrates a
thin layer of water. If I recall right, uv sterilization in water plants
is done with the water flowing in shallow trays and the uv lights right
above the trays. This doohickey has a small uv lamp and looks as if it
was designed to be immersed no more than an inch or two in a container.
I would suspect that the bottom of the container wouldn't get a good
dose of uv if it was deep.

Also it is good for 15 or 20 glasses of water, if it works, per set of
batteries. That sounds like a ton of batteries to be carrying. 

All in all this sounds like a device for someone like one of my
Environmental Engineering profs. He was a world traveler and was
convinced that the waiters pi**ed in every American's water glass in the
kitchen before bringing it to the table. He carried a bottle of bleach
with him and added a couple drops and waited for 20 minutes before
drinking.

Bryan
> -----Original Message-----
 
> http://www.hydro-photon.com/
> 
> Has anyone tried the Steri-Pen...purifies water with 
> ultraviolet UV-C rays, 16 oz water in less than 60 seconds, 
> weight 8 oz? The New York Times makes it sound pretty good 
> for backpacking. (Pretty pricey...but it's only money.)