The Steripen JourneyLCD and other Steripen products seem like just the idea for people who travel in countries which are a threat to your bowels.

TRAVELERS who don’t trust the water from a mountain stream or a hotel-room faucet have often used chemicals or filters to purify it. Now they have a high-tech option as well: swirl the water with a portable, lightweight wand that beams rays of ultraviolet light.

The wand can clean up a quart of water that is clear — but could harbor stomach-wrecking microorganisms — in 90 seconds. The high-frequency light damages the DNA of bacteria, viruses and protozoa in the water like giardia and cryptosporidium so they can’t reproduce and create havoc.

To make the disinfection process easier for users to monitor, one new device on the market, the Steripen JourneyLCD($129.95) has a liquid-crystal display that shows a countdown during purification (48 seconds for 16 ounces, 90 seconds for 32 ounces) and a smiley face at the end to signal that the job is done.

Steripen also has the Adventurer Handheld Water Purifier which appears to be an earlier model without the LCD display. It is about $30 cheaper. If you can trust yourself to wait a full minute to do the sterilization it could do the job for you. They've even got a solar recharger. So take it into the wilderness and purify water from mountain streams.

Note that floating pieces of leaves and other matter will prevent the UV light from penetrating and killing all the bacteria. You still have to filter the water. Also, the water can't be colored as the material that gives it color will also absorb the UV. You need clear water to use this device.