I'm gonna get me one of these for the holiday backpack.
meanwhile I hope the boys at DSO can make these for our own
equipping
Approximately 8,000 MSR MIOX Purifiers have been shipped to the US
Department of Defense for delivery to various branches of the armed
forces. In addition, the purifiers are available at sporting goods
outlets such as REI and Campmor. The MIOX Purifier is a
miniaturization of the MIOX capital equipment used for treatment of
municipal water. Over 1,000 MIOX capital equipment units have been
sold to date, with a combined treatment capacity of over 1 billion
gallons of water per day. MIOX Corporation and Cascade Designs Inc.
(CDI) signed a license agreement in 2003 to manufacture and
distribute the miniaturized MSR MIOX Purifier to the military and
consumer markets. Prototypes of the MSR MIOX Purifier were field
tested in 2002 by the U.S. military forces in Afghanistan and other
locations.
The MSR MIOX Purifier occupies only 14% of the space required by a
typical portable water treatment filter and is ΒΌ the weight. The
sleek and compact design is an attractive feature for backpackers
or travelers trying to minimize packing volume and weight. The
disinfectant solution does not leave an aftertaste at standard
doses, unlike chlorine or iodine tablets. Each dose will treat
anywhere from 1/2 liter up to a gallon of water.
The device operates by converting a brine solution to a
mixed-oxidant solution via electrolysis. Each purifier utilizes two
3V lithium camera batteries, common salt and a tiny electrolytic
cell. The purifier will treat approximately 200 liters of water on
one set of batteries. The purifier can be used over and over,
making water treatment an inexpensive procedure after the initial
purchase. An important feature of using simple salt as the
disinfectant source is that salt has an infinite shelf life, so the
purifier will still function even if stored without use for a long
period of time. (The batteries have a 7-10 year shelf life.) The
disinfectant will inactivate a number of common pathogens,
including E. coli, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium, as well as
chemical and biological warfare agents. The purifier has passed the
EPA Guide Standard and Protocol for microbiological purifiers,
achieving more than 10 times the level of inactivation required,
even in the EPA's "worst-case" water.
