Lifestraw Personal Water Filter

Tired of boiling water or hauling heavy canisters in the bush? A water filter might be your thing. Here’s a very compact and lightweight filter that doesn’t use any chemicals or require any pumping. Simply suck the water directly from a ditch, lake, or puddle.

Features

This is the original LifeStraw water filter, which is their simplest model. A very easy-to-carry straw-like water filter with 0.2-micron filtration. The measurements are c. 23 x 3.5 cm (9” x 1.4”) and the weight is a whopping 60 grams (less than 2 ounces). Doesn’t contain any BPA. A bottle is not included.

Use

LifeStraw doesn’t use any chemicals or require any pumping. Simply dip your thingy in water and suck. If you don’t feel like lying in the dirt next to a puddle, you can fill a water bottle with a big enough mouth (at least 40 mm (1.58") and dip the filter in the bottle. The manufacturer also carries versions that are equipped with a bottle.

The device features a hollow fiber 0.2 Micron filtration technology. It protects against 99.999999% of bacteria (including E.coli, Salmonella), 99.999% of parasites (including Giardia and Cryptosporidium), 99.999% of microplastics and reduces sand, dirt, and cloudiness. Viruses are very small bastards, so those this will not filter. Nor does it change salty water into freshwater. The microfilter will last up to 4,000 liters (1,000 gallons) of water.

Don’t let your LifeStraw freeze, because the ice will block the filtration and in the worst case break the filter.

For each water filter sold, LifeStraw promises to donate a sum of money to FollowtheLiters.com. They say that buying one filter is enough to give one child in Africa clean drinking water for one school year.