SteriPEN Emergency Handheld UV Water Purifier
- Compact handheld UV water purifier designed specifically for emergencies
- Destroys more than 99.9 percent of harmful microorganisms, including Giardia
- Safe and effective without altering taste, pH, or other properties of water
- Purifies 200 half-liter servings of water per 4 AA lithium batteries (not included)
- Measures 1.5 x 7.6 x 1.5 inches (W x H x D); weighs 5.7 ounces
Product Description
If you live in an area prone to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, tornados, or earthquakes, a water purifier is an essential accessory. These events can disrupt safe water supplies in a number of ways, including electrical shutdowns, water-pipe damage, or bacterial contamination of water lines, all of which have the potential to create ideal environments for microbial growth. Enter the SteriPen Emergency handheld UV water purifier, which utilizes proven... More >>
SteriPEN Emergency Handheld UV Water Purifier
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Short review:
No method of water treatment is perfect for every situation but for people who will be drinking relatively clean and colorless municipal, well, spring, or bottled water that merely requires disinfection to render microorganisms harmless, the SteriPEN is ideal.
Long Review:
The Emergency is the basic SteriPEN model with a red color scheme. All of the SteriPENs have the same basic mechanism with differences being in form, weight, type of battery, and expected battery life. Some of the models also have LCD readouts. They are sold in different colors and with or without batteries, a storage pouch, filters, etc. The primary difference is between the heavier ones that use four AA batteries and the ones that use two CR123 batteries. The Emergency uses AA batteries and fits tightly into water bottles for inversion and agitation.
The SteriPEN website provides charts that compare some of the models to each other, a very extensive FAQ, and user manuals. It is well worth spending some time there before choosing a particular model.
Ultraviolet or UV radiation is invisible but the lamp on the SteriPEN also emits energy in the visible spectrum which appears as bluish light. UV must penetrate the water and reach the microorganism and then go through the cell membrane and body to disrupt the DNA molecules and prevent reproduction. UV does not remove the microorganisms or any particulate matter in the water and it does not affect the way water tastes or smells. UV radiation has only been used in the U.S. to disinfect water since 1916 but sunlight was known to disinfect water in ancient Greece and India and UV is now commonly used in municipal water purification plants.
There are four basic methods of portable water treatment: chemicals, filtration, heat, and ultraviolet radiation. A full comparison is beyond the scope of this review but some of the advantages of the SteriPEN are ease of use, moderate weight, and ability to disable viruses that cause hepatitis, gastroenteritis, polio, SARS, etc. in addition to bacteria and protozoa. It is also easy to use and fast at ninety seconds for a liter and under a minute for a half liter. Ingesting added chemicals is avoided.
Some of the disadvantages with a SteriPEN are that the water needs to be clear and colorless because UV cannot penetrate particles and so it may be necessary to pre-filter. Some water, such as that with heavy coloring of tannic acid from leaves, is unsuitable for this method of treatment. The water must be agitated or stirred while the UV is working. It can only effectively treat up to one liter at a time. The battery cap must be aligned properly for the device to work but it will seal in other positions to prevent accidental activation. The batteries may not work very well at low temperatures or may be depleted and the particular batteries (lithium or NiMH, not alkaline) may be hard to find locally or expensive. The unit may be damaged if dropped. UV may not be effective against parasites. There is no residual effect from the treatment as there is with chemicals.
No method of water treatment is perfect for every situation but for people who will be drinking relatively clean and colorless municipal, well, spring, or bottled water that merely requires disinfection to render microorganisms harmless, the SteriPEN is ideal.
Rating: 4 / 5
The SteriPEN Emergency Handheld UV water purifier is nearly identical to all other offerings in the model line. It gets good marks for compact design and the use of easily replaceable AA Lithium batteries – according to the manufacturer, alkaline AAs aren’t powerful enough. But be warned: this device offers only half the solution to safe drinking water – and you wouldn’t know that by reading the tiny, sparse information sheet included with the unit’s small box.
So, three stars because the device worked, compact design and use of AA batteries.
However, minus one star because of the lack of good technical info included with the unit. And minus another star because no option or device is included to provide filtering for Giardia, immune to UV treatment.
In other words, this device provides INCOMPLETE protection. You should also note (and this is not detailed in any of the information included with this device), that the neutered microbes, even following treatment, can again become active if the SteriPEN-treated water is subject to visible light for a period of time!
Rating: 3 / 5
Living in Hurricane Central (for the US, that is), I’m no stranger to boil-water orders and power outages, nor to vast, barren shelves at the supermarket that formerly held bottles of water. The SteriPEN is a nice alternative to having to stock up on perishable water or keep less handy purification systems in the house. It takes up almost no space, it has no expiration date, and it can handle as much water as one’s stock of regular AA batteries will allow. The requirement for lithium or rechargeable batteries is annoying, but the included instructions make that very clear (and even include coupons for them). Of course, rechargeable batteries aren’t much of an option when hiking or when the power is out after a storm.
The unit itself feels quite sturdy, although with batteries loaded it might be annoyingly heavy for hiking. (I’m not a hiker, so I can’t say for sure. It weighs about one pound without batteries.) The one other attribute that’s less than ideal is the 2-LED feedback system. The instructions include a chart with no less than 13 different combinations of steady, blinking, and flashing signals to identify the status of the unit. As with the weight, this is less of an issue for home use than it is for hikers who will have one more small thing to keep track of (unless one memorizes all the codes).
It’s probably more expensive than a stock of bottled water, but it’s a whole lot more convenient.
Rating: 4 / 5
Reviewer Note: Below I am providing my review of the SteriPEN Traveler Handheld UV Water Purifier because, after using both of these products for several weeks, I have come to the conclusion that they are the EXACT same except for different coloring. SteriPEN’s marketing department seems to be trying to brand their pens differently to attract more customers. I don’t necessarily fault them for that, but it is confusing.
Original review for the SteriPEN Traveler, same as the SteriPEN Emergency:
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.
Rating: 4 / 5
When the SteriPEN arrived, it was bigger than I expected. However, it will still fit into most bags/purses.
The instructions were easy to follow. The SteriPEN can be used in up to one liter containers made from a variety of materials. I used it in my one liter metal water canister. All you do is push the button either once or twice (depending on container size) and then stick the SteriPEN in the container as the indicator light is flashing. If you’re using a clear container, you’ll be able to see the UV light. In my case, because my container was metal, I had to periodically check if the sterilization was finished. The UV light will automatically turn off and the indicator light flashes when it is finished. If possible, and I imagine it may not be in an emergency situation, it’s probably a good idea to run the water through a filter as well.
Overall, I thought this was a really great product. I will definitely take it with me hiking, on trips, etc.
Rating: 5 / 5