Aqua Star water Purification

[MedicineMan]

Pics posted in Gear Forum

Notice I didnt say filter! Using batteries and a EV emitting probe the Aqua Star will purify 'clear' water for drinking purposes.
The unit arrived appropriately packed, fully assembled, and ready for operation. Inside the box were also instructions,warrantees, and warnings warnings warnings....warnings that match those found on the removable lid and bottle.
The warnings are concise and to the point. Do not operate the UV probe unless it is in the bottle and the bottle full of water.

Initial impression: if you are carrying a Nalgene bottle (the supplied water bottle is essentially a Nalgene just plastered (in a good way i might add because the Aqua Star logo is nicely done) with warnings and directions (nice to not have to worry about loosing them)....then why not let it do double duty?

Weight: entire unit 0.55 pounds
Weight filter cap and EV probe (eternally connected together): 0.22 pounds
Size: 1/2 inch taller than a typical Nalgene gained in the battery compartment that houses the batteries (2)

UV probe: nicely protected when out of the bottle, obviously protected when in the bottle.

Treatmen: 1 cycle for warmish water that is clear=60 seconds, so a gallon in 4 minutes-not bad. For colder water use 2 cycles. For cloudly/chunky/turbid/debris ladden water pre-filter first, you are carrying a bandana aren't you?

Cost: too much at almost $100 but as mentioned above, if you are already carrying a Nalgene then why not consider this. The 2 batteries should last almost a thru-hike, it might be close depending on how much water you drink, but worst comes to worse have an extra set of batteris in Harpers Ferry.

Obvious application: paddle campers who with sea kayaks are immune to packed weight, but for hikers this unit has several major advantages:
no chemical taste
batteries are cheap (relatively)
unit upon first inspection seems very very robust
duplicity (water bottle and purificatiion system)
speed (compared to iodine,aqua-mira, others)
industry accepted method: UV is used world over in water treatment
bacteria and viruses

I will post an intermediate report as the unit is taken through the steps.
MedicineMan

[neo]

does it kill parasites or just virus and bacteria:cool: neo

[MedicineMan]

and a question for Meridian but ask yourself what is a parasite?
some might consider protozoa parasitical compared to a bacterium or virus and protozoa include: giardia,moebic dysentery, and cryptosporidium.
i think the answer i would like answered is whether is gets cysts and i believe that that is under investigation.

[kristina]

and a question for Meridian but ask yourself what is a parasite?
some might consider protozoa parasitical compared to a bacterium or virus and protozoa include: giardia,moebic dysentery, and cryptosporidium.
i think the answer i would like answered is whether is gets cysts and i believe that that is under investigation. Greetings, and thanks for the chance to share :) I work for Meridian Design, the makers of AquaStar, and I'd love to answer any questions you folks have.

Regarding cysts, here's how AquaStar works --

The EPA has some good test data about this. Low-levels of UV-C do a good job of inactivating cysts. Here's a link to more info about this:

EPA Study (http://www.epa.gov/nerl/news/forum2003/water/ware_poster.pdf)

The UV-C works by damaging the G-T-C-A pairs (with Thymine being the most susceptible) so replication is no longer possible. Because of this, it's the viruses that are tougher to kill -- they have less DNA or RNA (depends on the virus) to damage, they tend to have little or no Thymine (where the UV-C really is efficient at damaging -- though Uracil, a Thymine substitute in retroviruses, is also susceptible to UV-C), and they can adapt better to genetic mutation and still reproduce in a host cell. The EPA testing found that UV-C levels above 8 mJ/cm^2 were very effective against cysts. To get the viruses, too, we engineered AquaStar to put out 5 times more UV-C, about 40 mJ, giving us a log4 reduction of bacteria and protozoa, and log3 reduction of viruses.

Here are our full specs (http://uvaquastar.com/info_pages.php/pages_id/31).

Some other news -- we're switching to higher output batteries. We've found that the really cheap CR123 are only giving us about 50 doses in near-freezing temperatures. The new brand we'll start bundling costs a bit more ($5/pair), but is capable of about 70 doses in low-temperatures.

And to help with keeping the water from freezing, we'll soon start selling insulated water bottle carriers as an accessory. I like this one, and the team seems to like it too: Bota 1L (http://www.outdoorproducts.com/proddetail.aspx?sku=1150OP&view=F)

As for operating the probe outside of the bottle, MedicineMan has it right -- the probe should be immersed in water. This means if you want to zap a tall glass of water, or lay the probe in a dish of water, that's fine, as long as the entire quartz glass element is immersed. (Cover the dish, though -- the UV-C *can* penetrate water, of course.) It *is* safe to run the AquaStar dry, though, when the probe is in a bottle. The UV-C can't penetrate any materials except quartz and certain types of clear teflon tubing. This means you can use it in LDPE or HDPE water bottles, your favorite Nalgene, juice bottles, etc. Just remember, 1 dose / liter. If the container holds more than 1 liter, round up and dose accordingly. (So a 3.5 L bottle would need 4 doses.) Also, the effective range of the UV-C drops off substantially after a distance of 2" or more. So sticking the probe in a 5 gallon water bottle won't work well unless the water is in constant motion and each drop has a chance to come within 2" of the probe.

And that brings me to the turbid water issue. We've found it's a good rule of thumb to slosh the water in the bottle half a dozen times when starting a cleaning cycle. Even if the water looks reasonably clear, particulates can still shield critters from the UV-C if the water isn't moving very much. So give the bottle 6 - 10 sloshes and zap ALL the bugs on that first pass :)

Since I'm rambling, a question we get asked a lot is, "What about water droplets on the threads?" The answer -- wipe them off. But even a dozen drops of untreated water will be so dilute that your drinking water will still have a net log3 - log4 reduction in pathogens. The same problems exist in *any* water treatment system -- pumps, dosing bottles, canteens, etc. -- and the solution is to minimize the amount of untreated water you actually drink.

Thanks for reading my ramble!

-- Kristina

[MedicineMan]

not every day a manufacturer responds directly....mabye Meridian can influence other companies/designers with direct responses like that.

[kristina]

not every day a manufacturer responds directly....mabye Meridian can influence other companies/designers with direct responses like that.Here's a little more direct response. :) We're trying to build up more grass roots support among enthusiasts, so we're offering the AquaStar for $75 (plus shipping) for one month, ending July 4, 2005. These are new units, with high-output Lithium batteries (we're trying a new company's batteries). Just thought I'd share with you all. Here's the link (http://uvaquastar.com/product_info.php/cPath/23/products_id/38). Last I checked, we had about 162 in stock at this price. Thanks for the interest!

-- Kristina

[bombayblue]

How well does it work with platypus or camel bak hydration systems? I use one 3-liter platypus for long distance hiking.

[kristina]

How well does it work with platypus or camel bak hydration systems? I use one 3-liter platypus for long distance hiking.AquaStar isn't designed to work inside a bladder water system. At least, not yet. For more details, read on!

The current generation of AquaStar is designed to fit Nalgene 1L (or larger) drink bottles. That said, the engineers are looking at ways to adapt the AquaStar technology for drinking water bladders. When we did the Outdoor Retailer show in January, several people asked if they could just attach the UVC tube and cap to a thread adapter gizmo and put it on their Platy. The problems, as we quickly discovered, were:

The quartz glass tube of AquaStar is a bit long to safely fit in the platy.
The soft bladders offered no protection against bending the tube too far.
It was unclear if the UVC was reaching all parts of the water carrier -- at least, enough to actually zap everything effectively.
But Kurt, Dan and John (http://uvaquastar.com/info_pages.php/pages_id/12) are all engineers, and they are putting some thought into how this might work. Some of the ideas that came out of a recent competition (http://bases.stanford.edu/site/socialechall/spotlight/05winners.jsp) we participated in might be adaptable to bladders. Having a UVC treatment system for a bladder water carrier is a great idea, very much under discussion with the team, and it would have to be tested and work well enough to pass EPA certification, like the current model does, before we could offer it.

We'd love to hear ideas on how it might work from folks who use the bladder water systems on a regular basis!

[MedicineMan]

no need to recap a lot on this device but I've finally exhausted the first set of batteries after 69 cycles. That's 69 quarts of water since I followed the directions and used water as clear as possible (mapdanna as pre-filter once).
So far the unit has performed as specified, no sickness of course and after the first use I was intrigued if only by the cool looking blue light that eminates from the tube. Speaking of the tube, its rate at 2000 hours lifespan so at 60 second applications it would be a lifetime of hiking/paddling.
My first impressions have not changed. If you already carry a Nalgene bottle then why not add only 3.7oz (unit and batteries) and have a first rate water treatment facility in your pack. If you want to use UV light as your treatment method then currently this is the only way...considering the negatives of other treatments UV looks like an excellent alternative. Personally I've never hiked with a Nalgene bottle, preferring bladders like the Camelbak.
I mentioned I cycled the unit until the batteries were exhausted but I dont want to give the impression that this was always hiking or paddling, half of the cycles were used just trying to see if the advertisements were on target.
For paddlers this unit rules in the fresh water environment. Last month on a 3 day trip on Fontana (each time cross the Fontana Dam I was curious about seeing GSMNP from another angle) it was ever so sweet to scoop up a quart of water and push the button. Of course in salt water this unit offers no advantages.
I plan on going through one more cycle before crash testing the bottle and cap together.

[Skeemer]

Mediceman for starting this thread and Kristina (change your name yet?) for her responses and for the discount.

I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail this summer. It was a great hike but the water sources were very questionable. Almost every source, except for some high mountain springs, were contaminated by livestock and horse waste (I complained about it in my journal.) I used my AquaStar the whole trip, and I have to tell you, I was nervous, wondering if it would do the job. It did. Although I did have one battery change during the hike (I didn't count the number of uses) I couldn't be more pleased with this product.