Community Blog

The SteriPEN exceeded all my expectations on my recent climbing expedition to Mt Barunste in Nepal (23,500 ft). I was a little concerned about the claims of it killing 99.99% of all bacteria and viruses so I planned to back up my water purification with iodine in case I got sick using the SteriPEN. In the hectic days prior to leaving I forgot to buy the iodine. It was while I was in the Delhi Airport in India that I realized I didn’t have the iodine. I was stuck in the dreaded Transit Lounge for 22hrs while waiting for out Royal Nepal flight to Katmandu. The only source of water was a tap on the side of the wall. Staring at the tap watching others use water from it made me a little worried to say the least about its purity. After a short read over the instructions supplied with the SteriPEN I decided that this was a perfect way to see if the robust claims by Hydro-Photon were accurate. I ended up treating my water using only the SteriPEN for my entire six weeks in Nepal. The real test came at the Base camp for our climb. There were eight expeditions camped on the shores of a lake at the base of the mountain. The latrines were located only 100 feet or so from the shoreline and the runoff was into the lake, which doubled as our cloudy, polluted drinking water. The recommended dose for 1 liter of water was two pen treatments. I found the water so cloudy with pollutants that I treated a liter three times because all the suspended sediment was blocking much of light from the pen.* The leader, who is a nine-time Himalayan veteran, and myself, a Himalayan rookie, were the only ones on our team not to get sick. The SteriPEN purified all the cloudy and obviously polluted water while six others using water filters got sick. The SteriPEN is fast too, purifying a liter of water in 20% of the time it takes a filter. I completely believe the SteriPEN kept me healthy. After our expedition we went on a Jungle safari in southern Nepal where the elevation is about 3000 feet. Out of necessity we were purifying water from rivers where water buffalo and elephants used the washroom. The Pen kept me healthy again while four members of our team got sick. This Pen works!”