The LifeStraw® Water Filtration System

The LifeStraw® Water Filtration System

Over 70% of Earth’s surface is covered in water, and although this seems like a lot, only 2.5% is considered freshwater. That means that <1% of the world's freshwater (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses. Earth’s freshwater supply is decreasing rapidly due to climate change. Many aquifers have been over-pumped and are not recharging as rapidly as in the past. Although the total fresh water supply has not been depleted, much has become polluted, salted, unsuitable or otherwise unavailable for drinking, and/or use in industry and agriculture. Low income nations are especially vulnerable to water scarcity; an estimated 884 million people in the world, 37% of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa, still use unimproved sources of drinking water.

Percentage of the population without reasonable access to safe drinking water

Where is the Earth's Water?

LifeStraw® is a portable personal water filter system that was invented by a Swiss public health company called Vestergaard-Frandsen in 2005. The filter was originally developed for natural disasters and has since been deployed to almost every major natural disaster. LifeStraw® has been a life-saving innovation for the millions of people in the developing world who lack access to clean and safe drinking water. LifeStraw® has won a number of prestigious awards (including Best Invention of 2005 by Time Magazine) for its unique design and functionality. 

Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen is the CEO and owner of Vestergaard Frandsen. The company is focused on achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals; specifically the prevention of infectious diseases, and has made significant contributions in the fields of global water and food security, as well as climate change mitigation. The LifeStraw® is a result of Vestergaard Frandsen’s more than 10-year long association with The Carter Center, an aid organization set up by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, which runs a program called Global 2000 aimed at eradicating the Guinea worm disease.

Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen

LifeStraw® is a very simple and easy-to-use mechanism. Made from durable plastic, it contains no chemicals or iodinated resin, has no batteries and no moving parts that can break or wear out.  LifeStraw® is tube shaped and approximately 9” long and 1” around with a string attached so that users can wear it around their neck. To use, the LifeStraw® is inserted directly into the water source and then the user takes a sip just as they would from a straw. Water is forced through a series of hollow fibers that contain pores that are less than 0.2 microns across.

LifeStraw®

The LifeStraw® microfiltration system is capable of keeping out dirt, parasites and bacteria to allow clean water into the user’s mouth. Independent testing at theUniversity of Arizona showed that LifeStraw® exceeds the EPA requirements of reduction for bacteria and protozoan parasites. Bacteria removed include: Escherichia coli (“E. Coli”), Campylobacter, Vibrio cholerae (“Cholera”) . While LifeStraw® effectively filters out 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.9% of parasites, it is only effective in filtering out particles that are .2 microns or bigger. At this time, LifeStraw® cannot filter out heavy chemicals or salt. 

LifeStraw® Family 

In addition to LifeStraw®, Vestergaard Frandsen now offers LifeStraw® Family. This product is made to filter, on average 10 liters of water in an hour, and 18,000 liter of water within its life cycle. Water is poured into the pre-filter bucket, where the water will be first filtered through the pre-filter textile in order to remove any thick and course gunk. Then the water will eventually reach the capillary membrane, where bacteria, viruses, parasites, and dirt will be filtered out, and then out comes the clean water. The main driver for filtration is gravity. It was also stated that a small amount of chlorine is used to keep the membranes from fouling. Just as with LifeStraw®, this filtration system, also filters out 99.99% of bacteria out with its densely packed capillary membranes. The downside to both products is that it doesn't filter out chemical wastes. Therefore, in industrializing countries this may not be a solution, but for developing countries it is one way of insuring clean water.

LifeStraw® Family demonstration 

LifeStraw® is available for retail sale all over the world; in middle and high income countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and some countries in Europe the LifeStraw® is used by people that like to travel, go hiking and camping.

However, the majorities of purchases of LifeStraw® are made by ministries of health, NGO’s and non-profit organizations such as the Red Cross, WorldServe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International and IMA World Health and are distributed as part of public health campaigns or in response to complex emergencies.

   

While LifeStraw® has significantly reduced the amount of water-borne diseases for many developing nations, Vestergaard Frandsen has received some criticism for its LifeStraw® products, claiming that LifeStraw® is merely a short term solution to a much larger issue, and that attention needs to be focused on providing developing nations with better water infrastructure and governmental policy. Other complaints surround the cost of the product, saying that the cost is too high for the targeted market. 

Examples of LifeStraw® in use: 

 

             Bringing clean water to Kenya 

How LifeStraw® works, and how to donate

This Post has been provided by the group, Insomniacs:

Chris Baker, Kimberly Dixon, Takumi Suzuki, Hung Tram, and George Win

for Global Health 444U Summer 2013 Dr. Richardson