I was just reading about crypto, and one site said:

"The sporocysts are resistant to most chemical disinfectants [including chlorine & iodine], but are susceptible to drying and the ultraviolet portion of sunlight."

Does anyone know if the UV in the winter would be enough to kill the ococysts if water was put in a clear container and exposed to sunlight for several hours?

Elsewhere in this site, there had been descriptions of disinfecting bacterially-contaminated water by use of sunlight (at least in the equatorial regions). Apparently, this method would also kill crypto, which is news to me.

Does anyone have any info on this?

Sue

Susan,
The use of natural UV rays from the sun works best in the middle latitudes and yes it will kill crypto. Depending upon where you are in terms of latitude, I would think it unlikely the UV rays coming from the winter sun in the upper latitudes would be strong enough to be effective. You can check this web site for additional information. Pete

http://www.sodis.ch/