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)