How doees this thing work??? I have the Seetwater System by MSR, but I always lug extra filters and such. This says it has a 4.0L capacity, what does that mean, it is too small to hold that much, I am new to these types of devices as is painfully clear !! Please Help!!!

Tried both the MIOX and Steri-pen systems. I prefer the Steri-pen from the "time" standpoint. It can do in 2 minutes what the MIOX takes 4 hours to do, chryptosporidium and all.

Hopefully this will help. The MIOX stands for Mixed Oxidants and is essentially a very small chemical factory you hold in your hand. The chemical it produces (using salt, water, and electricity) is incredibly effective in killing, rendering ineffective, and disabling protozoa, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and even bad tastes in the water. It is safe to make, treats the container the chemical is put in, and can even be used as a topical agent for irrigating wounds! The process is done by, first, unscrewing the cap, filling up the tiny chamber on the unit (not the lid) with water (making sure there is enough salt, any kind of salt, in the lid), screwing the cap back on, shaking the unit thus mixing the salt and water, removing the cap again, pushing the button on the side which is determined by the amount of water needing to be treated, waiting until the water stops fizzing, and, once it's stopped, dumping the contents into the water container. Next you let it sit for about 20 minutes (for everything except chryptospiridium) or 4 hours for chrypto. It is really one of the easiest, safest ways of treating water in the backcountry.

It basically uses chemical reaction between salt and electricity to kill bad stuff... Take a look at MSR FAQ's about MIOX to see all the details about treating more that 4L of water at a time etc. http://www.cascadedesigns.com/MSR/FAQ/Water-Treatment-and-Hydration