Here is the current update on the MSR MIOX testing:

The first round of testing was to determine the effectives against a highly concentrated bacterial slurry. The concentration of bacteria would far exceed anything one might normally encounter, with the exception of water directly from a sewer. The organisms included a Proteus species, E. coli, Bacillus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Most of these organisms are routinely recovered from fecal matter and/or environmental specimens. As I previously indicated, I made no attempt to quantify the organisms, but based upon my experience, the bacterial counts would be in the billions per ml of water. The bacterial slurry was significantly turbid to the naked eye. Three of the organisms used, had significant amounts of pigment on the plates. The Proteus species had a dark pigment resulting from hydrogen-sulfide production, the E. coli had a yellow pigmentation from lactose fermentation and the Pseudomonas aeruginosa had a greenish tint. When mixed into the water, there was a definite dark tint to the water.
From each of the following, I collected 0.2 ml of water and plated this onto Blood Agar Plates (BAP) and will incubate these overnight at 37 degrees C. I will give you the results tomorrow.

I made up a .5 L (500 ml) bottle of regular tap water: Negative Control Sample (should not have much, if any bacteria)

The following times are not accurate from the addition of the first dose of the MIOX solution, due to the need to make up additional doses until the test strip indicated there was sufficient MIOX solution to accomplish the task.

Water with Bacterial Slurry at:
0 min. Positive Control (should be loaded with bacteria)
1 min.
5 min.
10 min.
15 min.
20 min.
25 min.

I made the MIOX solution as directed for .5 L of water, added it to the water w/ bacterial slurry and checked the water at approximately 10 seconds with one of the test strips, it indicated that not enough of the MIOX solution was present.

Made up and added another .5 L dose added to water- checked with strip – still not enough
Made up and added another .5L dose added to water – checked with strip – tested okay

Collected 1 min., 5 min. samples

Just prior to 10 min. collected retested with strip – indicated not enough.

Made up a double dose (enough for 1.0 L) and added to the water, checked with strip – indicated okay.

Proceeded (now a 5X MIOX concentrated solution) with 10 min. collection (now more like 13 min.), 20 min. and 25 min. samples

Of note was that with each addition of the MIOX solution the tint of the water with bacterial slurry became lighter and lighter, until it was clear to the naked eye. This would indicate to me some type of bleaching or oxidation effect. Since this was done in the lab, I would not under any circumstances drink the water. If the testing goes well, in the real world I would drink water treated with the MIOX solution and generally consider it safe. My only hesitation would be that while the MIOX solution might in fact kill all the organisms, a number of bacteria even when dead have endotoxins, which in sufficient quantities could still make you sick. It is possible that the oxidation properties of the MIOX solution could inactivate the endotoxins, but I would have no way of knowing that aspect of the chemical interactions. Pete

Outstanding testing pete!! Keep us posted. I've been quite curious about the miox device for soome time..

Okay here are the results of the MSR MIOX water purifier:

Hopefully those of you who are interested this product and are following this mini-experiment will be able to follow my ramblings, if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I want to apologize for the lengthy post, I know from my own experience I prefer short posts, but in this case I felt the need to elaborate and set the parameters of the mini-experiment in detail.

First of all let me say in general I am very impressed with the results. Having been in the microbiology field for close to 30 years, I have had the chance to test many products with microbial-cidal/static properties, most of the products are not intended for human consumption and are quite toxic if ingested. While this is not an endorsement of the product per say, I will say, I do intend to use the product to produce microbial clean water.

There are several potential negatives of this product to keep in mind. One, this product does not treat the water for chemical contaminates. Although (maybe one of our members with a chemistry background could comment on this issue) there may be some chelating properties of the MIOX solution, which is a chlorine acid, based solution. The other concern would be for long term use (years at a time), since there have been studies that have shown long term health risks associated with chlorinated hydrocarbons, which I suspect could occur if the water had significant amounts of organic matter.

On the positive side, the unit does what it is advertised as doing, producing microbial safe water, although I did not and will not be able to test the claims of the cidal effect against cyptospordium. Although, I did not test it against any viruses, the bacteria used as indicator organisms in this mini-experiment are significantly more resistant than most viruses. Where I think this product has real potential use, (although they make no claims for this use and this is strictly my opinion) is as surface disinfectant that can be made fresh out in the field. This has major implications in maintaining a sanitary kitchen, “bathroom” and personal hygiene items and possibly even wound care management or first aid needs.

If and when time permits, I plan on two more mini-experiments. The first will be to add mouse feces to the water, to determine if the MIOX solution is effective in the presence of organic material. The second test will be to determine if the MIOX solution is effective as a disinfectant on the surface of a solid item (eating plate) that has been coated with a bacterial slurry.

RESULTS: Plated 0.2 ml per plate – The results shown, are compensated to reflect the number of organisms per ml.

Tap Water: 15/ml

ADDITION OF BACTERAIL SLURRY:
0 min. (untreated water): TNTC (To Numerous To Count) represents millions of bacteria/ml
Addition of 3X MIOX solution
1 min.: 0/ml
5 min.: 65/ml
Addition of 2X MIOX solution
10 min.: 10/ml
15 min.: 5/ml
20 min.: 0/ml
25 min.: 0/ml

INTERPERTATION:

There is one significant thing that I did not take into account and that is the residual killing effect of the MIOX solution. In a perfect experiment, I would need to collected a sample and add a neutralizing agent at each time point to prevent the further cidal properties of the MIOX solution. However, I think that this is good thing having residual cidal effect and again it offers the potential of the product to be used beyond water treatment applications. The need to add additional doses of the MIOX solution until the test strip indicated enough was present, is most likely due to the bio-load/organic material present in the slurry. Pete

pete, what do you thing is a beter option, a pump purifier ( first need ) or the msr miox, If you throw in all the pro's and cons in to the caculation for emergency use and for normal outdoor activity ?

My primary filtration device during my trips to Ecuador has been the Katadyn Orinoco Water Purifier, it is easy to carry (but heavy) and fill. It provides 90% of my water needs. I have also used an MSR pump filter when I need larger quantities of water and the STERI-PEN for a quick glass of water and to provide sterile irrigation water for wound care. I was quite comfortable that all three have provided me with biologically clean water.

Since I have not had the chance to use the MSR MIOX in the field I am hesitant to make a recommendation. However, I will give you some idea of where I am headed. I will definitely take my MSR MIOX on my next trip to Ecuador at the end of July and let you know how it worked. It has several advantages over pump filtration systems in that you can treat up to 4L of water at a time. If you have multiple containers you can treat a very large quantity of water in a relatively short time. The down side is that the water must be relativity free of chemical contaminates. Also the question of battery life and availability maybe an issue to some, as it uses 2 X CR123 batteries. One advantage over my pump, it is much lighter. Finally, as I have pointed out, I really think that this device has greater potential then just treating drinking water.

I did not answer your question outright, but feel the right answer may depend upon where you will be acquiring water and the relative risk from chemical contaminates. Pete