In the past year, I've accidentally left liquids in my bag multiple times, and every single time the scanner has spotted them. Perhaps I'm just unlucky, but the technology seems to have gotten pretty good.
I've taken more than 3 ounces of contact lens solution through a dozen airports in the last few years and never had a problem. I think there's an unofficial policy to let them through unless there's some other reason to be suspicious.
Ah, thanks for the info. That's just further proof that it's security theater: if they can't tell the difference between water and liquid explosives, how do they know that what's in the bottle is actually contact solution?
