Anyone using a Steripen to drink clean water?

Hi,

I%26#39;ve read a lot lately about the adventurer %26#39;Steripen%26#39;. It is a device that uses ultraviolet light to kill all bugs in your drinking water and can be used for up to 8000 litres of water before you need to change the %26#39;thing%26#39; in it (sorry, not up with the techno things about it). I%26#39;m interested in buying one as this will save us using hundreds of plastic bottles and polluting the planet.

Has anyone been using one already? I know this question may sound odd...but has anyone used one to kill the bugs in bathwater? I would love to let the kids have a bath in Laos but have been warned not to because of potential bugs in the water.

Anyway, I%26#39;d be interested in hearing from anyone who is using one. I%26#39;ve only heard great things about them so far - it would be good to have these views reinforced.

Thank you!

Anyone using a Steripen to drink clean water?

The comment about not letting the kids have a bath - I don%26#39;t know who told you that, but that is nonsense. A lot of people make comments and don%26#39;t really know what they are talking about.

Can%26#39;t comment on your other question though.

Anyone using a Steripen to drink clean water?

I am extremely conservative with resources at home, but I drink from bottles when I travel. No need to carry all those gadgets with you. I am going to be very critical by saying if you are so worried about something like bathwater than it may be good advice to stay at home.

Thanks for your advice. Some guidebooks tell you not to let the kids have a shower or bath due to the water. I%26#39;m glad to hear that these suggestions are over the top.

Also, I%26#39;m thinking we can pay our hotels (or do they give it free?) for boiled drinking water so we don%26#39;t have to use so many bottles.

Thanks again!

Sterilized water is available and provided everywhere. Just as a matter of interest, how were you going to keep the kids clean without showers?

Greenjoy-

Dispose of those guidebooks immediately! You should be more concerned if you let the kids swim in the river, with liver flukes and things like that...As above stated, bottled water is available. Everywhere!

I was intending to keep them clean by wiping them down - pretty yukko really!

On the river fluke things - this doesn%26#39;t apply to waterfalls does it? We were looking forward to swimming in the waterfalls...which we hope will be there in July!

Thanks again!

Joy, as Maneki says, chuck your guide books in the garbage. I have at least 2 showers, sometimes 3 a day and I am still here.

Hi, I don%26#39;t know anything about %26#39;steripen%26#39;; I think you can also use tablets to sterilize the water but I have to confess we usually contribute to green house gasses/pollution and buy bottled water. I wouldn%26#39;t be too worried about showers/baths, we have taken our kids many times to SE Asia, with no problems (bar a dengue fever scare). We tell them not to drink the bath/shower water, used purified water to clean teeth etc. Hopefully they will be fine.

Lynne

It is very admirable that you don%26#39;t want to pollute the world with plastic. Water IS available in some places in glass bottles, recyclable, or you can carry plastic drinking containers and ask to have them filled in restaurants or guest houses from the large bottles supplied to these places.

Please don%26#39;t worry about bathing your children or having showers. The water in Luang Prabang is treated, not good for drinking but fine for anything else.

Thank you for your advice and messages! Conclusion: The kids will love their %26#39;tubby time%26#39; and we will ask at the guesthouses where we stay if we can pay for boiled water to fill our bottles!

Thanks again!