Is That A Municipal Water Purifier In Your Pocket

Still rounding up a few stragglers from the recent Go Outdoors trade show and we thought you might be interested in a new approach to water purification from MSR.

This thing is called the MIOX Purifier, it looks like some sort of hand torch, but is apparently actually a miniaturised version of a municipal water-purification system.

You simply pour a little untreated water into it where it mixes with salt to create brine solution, then an electric current is passed through the brine to create a dose of mixed oxidant (MIOX) which you pour into untreated water to wipe out any organic nasties. Depending on the quantity of water, you then leave it for between 15 minutes and 4 hours while the chlorine-smelling solution - sodium hypochloride apparently - does its work.

The MIOX obviously doesn't filter the water or remove physical impurities, so you might want to use a filter as well, but it's apparently more powerful than iodine and avoids the problems associated with longterm use of iodine.

It's a specialist bit of kit, first developed for the military and the price, around £120 when it appears next year will reflect that, but looks like an interesting alternative to iodine for heavy water users.

More MSR information on their web site.