REVIEW: MSR Miox Waterpurifier Military Version

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In 2003, the US military placed an order for approximately 8000 MSR Miox water purification devices. They were looking for a way to purify water without much effort and sustainably remove bacteria, viruses, and similar contaminants. Martin has taken a look at the device.

MSR has been offering water filters for a long time. The classic (also available from other manufacturers) filters with a combination of ceramic and activated charcoal. There are filters where you pump water through the filter, or gravity filters that allow water to flow from top to bottom through the filter (takes time). Water purifiers with UV light are also becoming popular.

And then there are, of course, the chemical solutions. Micropur from Katadyn is probably the most well-known. You just add a tablet or tincture to the water, wait, and it's ready. Silver ions do the job of disinfecting the water and keeping it germ-free for a long time.

Both variations have their justification and applications, the disinfection tablets, of course, do not help with heavily polluted (suspended particles) water, here you need to pre-filter first, as the disinfection tablets are only usable for clear water.

Microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses are supposed to be removed by 99.9% with both Micropur and carbon filters.

The MSR Miox is essentially a small chlorine plant and works similarly to Micropur with silver ions, but here the concentration is self-made.

What is needed for this? Power - supplied by two CR123 batteries, salt (included, supposed to be enough for 200 liters), the MSR Miox itself, and of course a container in which the water to be disinfected is stored. MSR has also included a set of test strips in the purifier package, with which you can check after the prescribed waiting time whether the water is really germ-free.

The military version of the MIOX comes in TAN with a Coyote Cordura bag.

The disinfection process works as follows.

1. Fill in salt
2. Fill water up to the edge
3. Screw on and shake
4. Remove lid
5. Press the button on the front as many times as you want to purify water (0.5L, 1L, 2L, or 5L possible
6. Pay attention to the lights

Salt lights up = Salt solution is too weak

Salt blinks = Salt solution is too strong

Battery lights up = Replace battery

Battery blinks = Battery is weak

Run = Everything is fine

7. Wait until solution is finished (Fizzing first, then „RUN“ light goes out.
8. Add the finished solution to the container with the water to be disinfected
9. Shake vigorously
10. Wait
11. Use test strips

All of this is detailed in the user manual and if you want to see it in action, you can watch this video:

Clear disadvantages are, of course, the dependence on batteries and the inevitably resulting taste of chlorine. However, you don't have to exert any effort to filter, it all happens automatically, and you can focus on other things during the treatment time. Since you should always have multiple water disinfection options available, you can also keep an MSR MIOX in stock.

CONCLUSION: The MIOX is a compact and lightweight filter that allows long-lasting disinfection of water. As long as you have salt and batteries, you can purify an unlimited amount of water. It is always recommended to have multiple filter options available.

If you want to read more about its military use, visit this page HERE.

The manufacturer has discontinued the MIOX, so you can get it at a quite affordable price. The current list price for the civilian version (red) is around 150 euros (it used to be twice as expensive), the military version can be found much cheaper on Ebay (DE/COM): here the units sell between 15 and 75 euros - even for brand-new still sealed devices. These were decommissioned because the test strips had expired ...