LifeStraw: Pure Water For The Neediest

Posted on July 10, 2008 by Doug Gunzelmann in Gear+Gadgets

This portable water filter provides clean and safe drinking water. The product is targeted at developing nations, specifically in the tropics, where lack of clean drinking water claims countless lives. In a world where climate change is effecting weather patterns, temperatures, and hence the ability for people to survive in certain parts of the world, LifeStraw is a critical tool. The key elements in the LifeStraw’s simple design are its size, its point of use methodology, and the ability to distribute it to large numbers of people for immediate use.

Capable of purifying water through chromatographic techniques as well as common filter methods, the LifeStraw can process 700 liters with a 1 year expiration and 3 year shelf life. That’s roughly 2 liters a day for the Personal model. Bacteria and viruses that cause diarrhea and other digestive sickness are safely removed from non-saline water sources.

Unfortunately the current Personal model does not filter heavy metals like mercury or parasites such as Giardia. LifeStraw, however, has a Family model that is capable of removing, for all intents and purposes, all viruses, parasites, and bacteria even in turbid water. With a capacity of 17,000 liters the Family model uses a fixed reservoir and tubing to supply the filter unit with an on-off valve. Intended for in home use the Family edition is less portable and requires more frequent and thorough cleaning. The LifeStraw was studied and tested by the University of North Carolina and developed by Vestergaard Frandsen of Switzerland and the USA with a mission of addressing disease control issues. Access to clean drinking water is an extremely important issue that will grow in magnitude and this small product has the potential to help a lot of people gain access that lack the infrastructure to do it on the community level.

filter, Lifestraw, water purifier