14 DAY TRIAL // There are all sorts of devices for sale on this forsaken planet. I don't like saying this, but most of them are useless. But some can actually save your life. Here's an example.
At just 3 $, the LifeStraw is a water purifier designed by the Swiss-based company Vestergaard Frandse that can clean up to 700 L of water. To complete its task, the straw uses 7 types of filters including mesh, active carbon and iodine in order to make it safe to drink.
The pipe contains two textile filters and a chamber with beads impregnated with iodine. When water is sucked up, it is pre-filtered by a PE filter textile with a mesh opening of 100 micron and then it passes through the second textile filter that has (a) mesh opening of 15 micron.
Due to the filters, all the big particles are removed. Afterwards, the water is conducted into a chamber of iodine impregnated beads, where bacteria, viruses and parasites are slowly killed. The second chamber is a void space, where the iodine can maintain its purification effect. Finally, the last chamber contains granulated active carbon that takes the bad iodine taste away and also takes care of the remaining parasites that made it through the first filters.
The device can prevent illnesses like typhoid and diarrhea that kill at least 2 million people every year in poor countries. The LifeStraw can create safe drinking water for victims of natural disasters. And finally, it makes a handy accoutrement for the weekend hikers.
There are a few problems though. First, the iodine cannot kill all the bacteria that usually contaminate water supplies. Secondly, some people are allergic to iodine and cannot use this device.
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