AquaStar Plus

When everything runs smoothly and works the way it ought to work, people often forget how much they are relying on their equipment. It is when you're back home that you understand what a good product you've got in your hands.

The AquaStar Plus is definatly one of those products. Hassle free, this thing is about as user friendly as they come.

Fill it at a nearby spring, river, etc., press the button, see a yellow light, release....that's it. The blue light goes on and by the time you get back to camp, you've got yourself a disinfected liter of spring water (about a minute and a half to be exact).

Cleaned water for three people on a five day trip and still has plenty of juice.

Lid fits any standard-sized widemouth bottle.

Comes with an extremely lightweight 1 liter bottle with handy instructions printed on the side...BUT...either replace it with a Nalgene or make sure to purchase it at least 3-4 days prior to your trip so that you can wash out the almost unbarealbe stink that inhabits the thing when you pull it out of the box (it washes out, thankfully).

The bulb is non-replaceable (cannot be purchased and installed on your behalf with extensive surgical experience =))...HOWEVER...California based AquaStar offers a lifetime replacement warranty for a reasonable $30 repair fee (plus $10 for shipping)for bulb replacement, breakage due to accidental drop/fall, etc.

Makes a decent lantern...obviously better than one would expect from a WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM... =)

I first brought the AquaStar on a canoe trip in Ontario, Canada. It worked fine until my husband dropped the cap into the lake while he was filling up the bottle with water. The battery compartment in the cap for some reason does not have a water tight seal. Therefore water got in and the Aquastar no longer worked. We left the battery compartment open in the sun as the directions indicate to do in such a situation and after a day of drying it worked again.

I then brought the AquaStar on a trip to French Guiana. The AquaStar completely failed in this humid environment. Because the battery compartment is not sealed, the humidity got right in and prevented it from working at all. Thankfully we had brought water treatment drops just in case the AquaStar failed as it did. I would not recommend this product for travel to the tropics.