Unboxing: Life Saver Water Purifier Review

Readers from way-back-when may remember I was rather taken with the idea of these water purifiers. Finally I've taken delivery of one, so an Unboxing is due. 

When inventor Michael Pritchard saw the asian tsunami on TV he wanted to do something to help people in the third world rebuild their lives, when he saw hurricane Katrina devastate a first world country he re-evaluated the scale of the problem, and developed Lifesaver as a solution. This truly is game changing technology, by carrying one instead of carrying water you save a massive amount of pack weight AND get far cleaner water than any other available system.

Up until now even the best filter has only removed bacteria 200 nanometers long from water. Viruses are typically only 25 nanometers long and would pass through the filter. Lifesaver filters right down to 15 nanometers means instant access to safe water whatever the circumstances.

The instructions said you have fill it with clean water and let it stand for 10 minutes

 Once you've got the lid off!

 Mockery: Andy says it's better to give than receive

Pump it up to prime the charcoal filtre

 Fill with water of questionable quality

You can also use the pre filter as a scavenging sponge

Make sure you've closed the waterproof cap to keep the drinking and filling ends separate

 OK perhaps the lid is a bit stiff

Pump it up to make the water flow,

if the water only trickles out give it a few more pumps.

“The ‘Lifesaver bottles’ were tested using micro organisms in far greater numbers than could ever be found in natural water sources. This is the worse-case scenario approach recommended by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and their guidelines have been used to draw up our own protocols for testing of all Microbiological Water Purifiers. As well as using modified tap water for our tests we use samples taken from a pond or stream as our challenge test water to simulate ‘real-life’ situations as per EPA guidelines.”

Under the conditions of testing in our laboratory as shown in this report, our results show that the ‘Lifesaver Bottle’ removed all bacteria and viruses from a contaminated water source in excess of legal requirements and as such, complies with all British, US and European Drinking Water Regulations for Microbiological Reduction.
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

For a full explanation here's the inventor Michael Pritchard giving a demonstration for TED Talks


I'm not as smart as Michael Pritchard but as ever, my blog my rules, so here's what I'd do differently:

In this size it takes up a bit of pack space, I'd like one half the size, half the weight wouldn't be a bad thing either even if, as it's for recreational use, it only had half the service life.

The strap is add-on design - by the time you've filled the thing with 'orrid water the strap has soaked some up and the risk of cross contamination is doubled. I'm going to make a replacement out of something non-absorbant.

In summation: wether you're hiking, camping, traveling in the third world, or preparing [see the Jerry Can size here] this is an excellent bit of kit.

Lifesaver also do a really cool purchase option, where you pay a little more for your bottle and another bottle goes to someone in a disaster zone. The link is HERE the USA site is HERE

A very cool product from a very cool company

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SBW

Water Purifiers: Pre-Mac Trekker Review

This afternoon while tool shopping in 'crack converters' ( a chain of pawn shops) I found an unused Pre-Mac Trekker, complete with vintage picture of Ray Mears on the Package

Ray Mears had a period where he looked a lot like BoB

There are lots of rubbish water purifier systems availible, quite a few so-so ones and a couple of really good ones, each with thier own advantages. Here are some thoughts on the best options I've used.

The MSR miniworks is highly regarded, although perhaps a little bulky, and has an amazing flow rate of 1 litre per minute. The miniwoks uses a filtration system down to 0.3 microns which is enough to remove all bacteria, protozoa, etc. Of course, the ceramic filter can do nothing about viruses. They must be killed pre or post use, by either high temperatures, ultraviolet light, or chemicals like iodine and chlorine. Where you believe the water to be virus free [and you're right] the filtration-only design comes into it's own avoiding the taste of iodine or chlorine.

The british army and some NATO forces use the Pre-Mac Trekker which, while is has an annoying flow rate of only 0.4 litres per minute, does have other things going for it. Designed 'to produce safe drinking water from contaminated sources by elimination of pathogenic organisms - bacteria, viruses and cysts' in tests by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine the Trekker achived total elimination of the bacteria Eschedria coli and a reduction of Poliovirus in excess of 99.9%. One clever feature is the use of a resin that has iodine in it, so very small amounts of Iodine are present in the filtered water - leave the water to stand for three minutes and everything's zapped. I like the Trekker a lot, while it pumps slower and has a slight taste of iodine, it packs smaller, and is the best choice for when you absolutely, positively, have to kill every virus in the cup.

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SBW