Imagine a water filter as simple as a drinking straw. Just put it in dirty water, pull through the straw and drink all the clean, safe water you can. That’s LifeStraw.
By sucking the water through a hollowed membrane fiber which physically strains out bacteria and protozoa, LifeStraws are easy to use, high flow volume and easy to clean. They’re surprisingly inexpensive ($24.95 as shown) and the filters are replaceable.
Developed by Switzerland-based global health company Vestergaard and distributed by Eartheasy in the U.S., there are no moving parts and no batteries or chemicals. One 2-ounce LifeStraw, about 9 inches long and one inch in diameter, will deliver 1,000 liters or 264 gallons, the equivalent of one year of safe drinking water, to its user.
“The EPA standard for removing the usual suspects, Giardia, E. Coli and Cryptosporidium, is 1.0 microns,” says Ben Seaman of Eartheasy, who first tested LifeStraw on a three-day backpacking trip in the mountains of western Canada. “At 0.2 microns, the LifeStraw provides five times more filtration.”
And with their Follow the Liters program, for every straw they sell, they’ll donate one to a developing country. You’re not only helping you, you’re helping someone else.
