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#100595 - 07/30/08 07:51 PM stabilized oxygen water purification
athos Offline
newbie

Registered: 07/30/08
Posts: 1
One of my more experienced friends says that adding drops of stabilized oxygen to drinking water is really all the protection one needs from harmful bacteria. Is this true? And if true where do I buy it? Bottles seem to range from 5 to 40 dollars....
Thanks

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#100596 - 07/30/08 08:42 PM Re: stabilized oxygen water purification [Re: athos]
Ender Offline
member

Registered: 01/17/02
Posts: 779
Loc: ME
Seems to me that it's snake oil...

http://www.quackwatch.com/04ConsumerEducation/News/vitamino.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_O

If you want to treat water, there are much cheaper ways to do it, and most likely much more effective ways.

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#100597 - 07/30/08 11:53 PM Re: stabilized oxygen water purification [Re: athos]
OregonMouse Online   content
member

Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
And in many places in the US it isn't bacteria that are the problem, but giardia and similar parasites, which form cysts that are quite resistant to chemical treatment. I'd stick with the proven methods approved by the CDC and other agencies.
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

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#100598 - 07/31/08 02:14 PM Re: stabilized oxygen water purification [Re: athos]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Water treatment is probably one of the top 5 subjects discussed on backpacking websites.

There are several chemical treatments as well as mechanical means to treat water. There are dozens of threads and posts on this site alone related to water treatment and whether or not it is necessary. None of the mainstream treatments involve so-called "stabilized oxygen."

However, there are plenty of websites selling this stuff and claiming all kinds of medical benefits. Most of which appear to be totally bogus. One site I saw referred to "stabilized oxygen" as a more effective form of Chlorine Dioxide, which is used for water treatment. Whether this stuff is actually just chlorine dioxide is a mystery. None of the sites I saw say what it really is.

BUT, one site also claims stablized oxygen will kill bateria, viruses, cure cancer and is as effective as antibiotics. This is nonsense and was the subject of the FTC action linked above. The FTC said one product was nothing but salt water. All of the claims that the atmosphere is losing oxygen and that you can absorb oxygen from this stuff appear to be nonsense.

If you want to use an approved chlorine dioxide product, here is one-
Aqua Mira

BackpackingLight.com and some other sites sell KlearWater, a ready mix Chlorine Dioxide product that costs more than Aqua Mira, but doesn't require mixing two parts together. Klearwater has a fairly short shelf life and the bottle is glass. A small bottle purifies about 30 liters of water-probably enough for about a week or ten days depending on how much water you use.

Klearwater has a list of vendors on their site.
Klearwater


Edited by TomD (07/31/08 02:44 PM)

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