Outdoors

Camelbak All Clear Bottle zaps bacteria with UV rays

Camelbak All Clear Bottle zaps bacteria with UV rays
The LCD screen lets you know when purification is done
The LCD screen lets you know when purification is done
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The Camelbak All Clear is an easy to use purification system
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The Camelbak All Clear is an easy to use purification system
The LCD screen lets you know when purification is done
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The LCD screen lets you know when purification is done

When you're dealing with the impurities of your local city water supply, a Brita filter should be enough to give you clean-tasting water. But when you're dealing with the impurities lingering in a raw, untreated stream in the woods, you'll need something stronger. This solution from Camelbak - the All Clear bottle - gives you an integrated UV purifier designed to kill all those nasty microorganisms that just live to wring your intestines out.

The All Clear bottle - or CamelBak All Clear Microbiological UV Water Purifier if you really want to get into it - is an all-in-one purification and drinking system. The bottle includes a high-power UV light similar to what's used in standalone purifiers like the Steripen Freedom, only the All Clear integrates the light into the bottle's cap.

Cleaning your water is quite simple: screw the cap in; hold the power button down for two seconds; and rotate the bottle while the UV rays do their work. The LCD screen counts down and lets you know when the process is complete and the water safe to drink. The UV system is claimed to zap 99.9999 percent of bacteria, 99.99 percent of viruses and 99.9 percent of protozoa in 25 ounces (0.75 liter) of water in 60 seconds time.

The Camelbak All Clear is an easy to use purification system
The Camelbak All Clear is an easy to use purification system

The bottle includes a rechargeable battery that delivers about 80 purification cycles per charge. The LCD screen displays information about battery life and charging status. The bulb itself is designed to last for 10,000 cycles, which Camelbak says gives the bottle enough juice to clean 3 liters (101 ounces) of water a day for close to seven years.

Camelbak originally introduced the All Clear bottle in the summer of 2009 and planned to release it the following year. However, the company wasn't quite happy with the product and sent it back to the lab for tweaking. The newest version offers a faster purification time, a longer lasting UV bulb and better-integrated rechargeable battery system. The price has also come down.

Camelbak will start selling the All Clear system next month. It will retail for US$99 and include the 25-ounce Tritan Better Bottle, a classic cap for drinking, the All Clear purification cap, a protective case for storing the All Clear cap, and the mini-USB cable for recharging.

If you tend to have large sediment in your water - dirt, leaves, rocks, etc. - Camelbak also offers a $15 Pre-Filter with 100 micron screen. That will take care of the stuff you can see, and the UV system will finish the job on what you can't.

Source: Camelbak

3 comments
3 comments
Slowburn
I would prefer a stainless steel bottle.
Martin Yale
Commercially I always reccommend a 5 micron filter before a UV to avoid shadow effects from particles. We always also recomend a change out of bulb every year to avoid loss of power due to bulb deterioation. Now whilst you have some more contact time in this unit, not sure I would be confident with it. Also curious to see its performance versus cysts including crypto There is also no mention about you cannot see that is dissolved in the water such as arsenic etc, but then I guess you would only be drinking those pure mountin streams lol.
Ulrich Duenzl
It has to be considered that these artificial UV-frequences are not natural solar frequences as is pretended frequently. In case of an UV-reactor the UV-c-frequences are caused by - in argon gas contained - mercury-atoms, that are ionized by accelerated electrons coming from heated bariumoxid. The UV-reactors are titanium plated to prevent formation of photochemic products by short-wave range radiation and the formation of - (for human beings very harmful) - ozone. More info please