Anyone here usiing 12 volt UV Water filter

Bobbo so correct many people freak when they find out and I should have certainly noted that as you did in my post.

Traveler7 I think you are on the right track perhaps a three stage process something coarse to catch the chunks and sediment type stuff essentially a prefilter (which would very much help the life of the next filter) perhaps even some type of washable media so you could just rinse it/backflush it out good and put it back in, a finer one/ more typical type filter to cut that down even more and then finish it off with UV to kill whatever may be left alive. Tap water is one thing, river water is another as far as particulates and can clog a filter quickly. Based on our backpacking experience you dont always get the crystal clear river water you see in commercials. I have had filters clog after just a few uses (say a few gallons) due to sediment or particulate load

Alas.

Compared to Ozone treatment, UV is a weak sister. Ozonation kills 100% of bacteria, virus, and plants and animal one-cells. Giardia and dysentery pathogens are subjected to 100x overkill conditions. Note the x (times) versus a % (percent). Mold, algae and other living stuff gets dead dead dead.

Bottled water down here is GUARANTEED to remain sterile for 12 months if ozonated. UV water carries no guarantee at all.

Several decades ago I cut my foot in Cabo San Lucas. Despite triple action antibiotic after proper first aid, it became infected. The Canadian owners of the most popular water bottling plant invited me to dribble freshly ozonated water over the cut. The results were dramatic.

But the ozone process demands extremely high voltage. And that makes the system vulnerable.

Down here contamination with heavy metals (mining) makes thorough reverse osmosis mandatory. And if you think home grade reverse osmosis systems filter as good as say a salt water R/O system you have another think coming.

How many Playtoy R/O filter manufacturers brag about exact performance in numbers about heavy metals reduction? Before and after? It takes PRESSURE and lots of it to force water through a decent R/O membrane. Playtoy systems pretend they filter water when in fact they only SCREEN it.

OP here, thanks for some of the comments!

I have used a backpacking UV filter and it worked really well AFAIK....my plan with this is to go through a 5 micron filter with charcoal first and then a pass through the UV filter.

The comment about 'Heat' is interesting and I did not find that with my handheld unit, and the short life span comments are interesting as well.

I 'need' it because I would like to avoid buying bottled water and use a variety of sources from garden tap to river water on a long trip into South America and to just be able to fill my tank which I will also treat with bleach from time to time.

Thank you!

I've worked on large offshore oil installations for years. Some we made our own Pot water from sea water and some we had Pot water delivered. In either case, the final stage of clean up before human consumption was UV radiation. The science works and is not a gimmick. The device you are considering may be a gimmick. I'd buy from a reputable water filter company.

Irradiating food is not harmful to humans. It does not make the food radioactive.

Just a little side info on irradiation, a chunk of the food you/we eat has been irradiated. Though it isnt UV providing the irradiation it is gamma rays, xrays or electron beams that provide the radiation.

It started in the 60's with flour to control mold, then potatoes to help prevent early sprouting
then in the mid 80's they added pork to the approved list to kill trichinosis as well as fruits and vegetables for bugs and shelf life
and again the early 90's first chicken and then a few years later beef was added to the list.
Also somewhere in there seafood or at least some of it was added to the approved list
Doesn't mean it all is, the radura symbol (which looks like a plant inside a circle) is required if it has been unless it is just some of the ingredients in a multi-ingredient product.

Regarding the Berkey filters mentioned, I ass-umed it was the Berkey ceramic being talked about, but yes, Berkey makes a black charcoal-based filter that I too would view as "suspect".

The problem with ANY charcoal filtration for water safetyis that the water can form little pathways through the charcoal that avoid filtration.

UVc is certainly NOT a scam, but I don't trust it by itself, and the cost of the bulb is the same as adding another Doulton filter, which I did.

FWIW: I stopped using the pleated paper pre-filters because they're so effing expensive and they don't last long. Instead, I let my first Doulton filter block the "gunk" from public water systems, and periodically I remove the filter and scour it lightly with a scour pad. Good as new, and going on ten years!

2oldman wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
If the water needs to be irradiated, I will camp somewhere else.

I don't think UV light is radiation.

Light is a form of radiation. Not all radiation is harmful, but UV radiation is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_germicidal_irradiation

greenrvgreen wrote:



Working my way back to the issue of UVc, I personally would not rely on it as an independent method of purification, and as part of a chain of processes it's both irrelevant and expensive, as others have said.

I have been working in the Texas oilfields for 7 years and drink the water delivered to me every two weeks. It starts out as potable but handling between that point and delivery to me is suspect. I use a series of filters (inc. Doulton ceramic) and the last one is a UV filter. I change the bulb every year or so and it has been a solid performer.

UV sterilization has been an accepted practice for decades and earlier posters saying it is some sort of "scam" are just woefully uninformed.

There are enough conflicting studies on the Berkeys that I would not rely on them personally speaking.

YMMV

The uv filters are also used in the backpacking world as they are smaller and lighter than a traditional pump type filter. However as a previous poster stated it may kill the stuff in the water that is alive but doesn't filter out anything.