Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Cool new technology!

Technology keeps marching on. I just bought this new gadget (used and cheap, of course, instead of new and expensive) for my trip to India. I was worried about what to do about clean drinking water. Even bottled water is suspect in India, not to mention that buying bottled water all the time is inconvenient and expensive. Some guidebooks suggest only drinking beverages that fizz, since if the beverage is still carbonated, you know it hasn’t been previously opened and “recycled.” But I don’t like that fizzy mineral water, and soda has so much sodium that it’s not exactly thirst-quenching.


I was researching chemical water purifiers (iodine and chlorine—yum!) and saw that this SteriPEN portable water purifier kept popping up on discussion boards. The idea is that you stick this thing into a bottle or glass of water, and then it zaps all the amoebas, viruses, and bacteria with ultraviolet rays for about 90 seconds, rendering their DNA useless so they’re unable to replicate. And if they can’t replicate, they can’t make you sick! Cool!

5 comments:

Wendy said...

It is really cool, and I'm sure it will be a huge help on your trip - but I keep thinking that drinking dead amoebas and viruses and bacterias doesn't sound all that appealing! ;)

There's a reason you're the world traverer and I'm the stay-at-home stick-in-the-mud.

Sharla said...

I hope it works well. Have a wonderful trip. I look forward to hearing about it.

Dez said...

that's awesome Heidi! i wouldn't mind using that on our nasty tap water here!

Megann said...

That'll be a perfect fit in your backpack!

Shine said...

You're going to India?! How fun! The water purifier looks awesome... just remember: if the water is still brown, probably isn't the best :) Love you!