No more dirty water, on the cheap

Explanation

Perhaps the ultimate fear or close to it is not having safe drinking water for yourself or your family. Let’s figure out ways for most people to triumph over that fear. One of the things that living, or traveling to a remote village or island requires is safe drinking water, whatever that reason may be. Perhaps you live in a developing country, or perhaps you want to go hiking in the middle of nowhere, or you work on a farm, live on dry parched land, and have access to seawater and not fresh water. Making water accessible to any individual or family means six things in this article:

Inexpensive upfront costs
Inexpensive maintenance.
Self-reliance with minimal government reliance.
Effectiveness on water contaminated from known natural or biological waste.
Effectiveness on water contaminated by industrial waste.
Effectiveness on sea or salinized/salt water.

In this article we try to find solutions that make more sense for those citizens not living or traveling to a country that is not in the 10% of the world’s wealthiest, thereby lacking government reach everywhere. No one needs a study to understand that different countries have different needs, small towns have different needs than big towns so centralized, generic, one size fits all solutions will work as well as a one-size fits all pair of dress shoes. Self-reliance is needed when the world thinks generically, and not on an individual basis. We veered away from existing solar solutions primarily due to the steep costs which, sadly, pose a barrier for an overwhelming majority of families globally. There are also many potentially great air-to-water manufacturers but researching several scientific sources and practical reviews show that these solutions aren’t here yet. Additionally, we remained conscious of not causing substantial damage to our environment.

LifeStraw - Portable water filter for biologically contaminated water

Vestergaard Frandsen, LifeStraw

Manufacturer: Vestergaard Frandsen, a global health company in Lausanne, Switzerland

Product Introduction: 2005

Cost: 30 USD to 80 USD up front for the 1L bottle with filter and 20 USD every 3rd year in maintenance costs for the long-lasting filter replacements

Summary: A portable water filter, akin to a thermos that includes a filter or small bottle of spring water that has a built-in filter

Pros:

Designed for immediate drinking as water is cleaned as it passes through its filters.
Only used for portable drinking as an alternative to bottled spring water, when spring water is expensive or unavailable.
Can filter any water compromised by naturally occurring or biological bacteria/parasites, to a near 100% rate.
A single filter can filter up to 1000 litres, which in essence is a litre a day for 3 years.
The biggest pro to competitive solutions from Brita and Pur is the maintenance of their filter requires replacement after only a few months.
Up-front costs are similar to Brita and Pur. Filters cost the same as their competitors but can last 5-7 times longer.
Since that amount exceeds the disposable income of most parents with children in most developing countries, Lifestraw will subsidize the cost for schools in these countries so they can provide safe drinking water for free to its students. No one else will do that. In essence, one purchase of any LifeStraw product provides a year of safe water to a child in need.

Cons:

It won’t clean water stored for the long term. Since the water can become re-contaminated over time after it passes through its filter, its cleaning agents won’t work after it’s been filtered.
It is not meant as a fixed solution for water coming from a tap.
LifeStraw does not remove processed chemical compounds not occurring in nature, heavy metals, or viruses from water, so it won’t work on water contaminated via industrial wastewater or heavy agricultural runoff.
Not as easy to use as one might like, but one can get used to it.
Will not convert salt water to fresh water.

Best alternative:

Bottled Spring Water, whih uses non-biodegradeable plastics.

Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier (Portable) - For industrially contaminated water

GrayL, GrayL Ultralight Water Purifier

Manufacturer: GrayL, an outdoor adventure company in Seattle, USA

Product Introduction: 2016

Cost: 80 USD to 200 USD upfront for a 450mL or 650 mL bottle with filter and 30 USD every 6 months in maintenance costs for the long-lasting filter replacements.

Summary: A portable water filter, akin to a thermos includes a filter or small bottle of spring water that has a built-in filter that has the advantage of filtering water contaminated from industrial waste.

Pros:

Designed for immediate drinking as water is cleaned as it passes through its filters.
Only used for portable drinking as an alternative to bottled spring water, when spring water is expensive or unavailable. Keep in mind the negative environmental impact of GrayL is far lower than spring water from bottles that can’t be disposed of easily.
Can filter any water compromised by naturally occurring or biological bacteria/parasites and industrially contaminated water to a near 100% rate.
A single filter can filter up to 150 liters, which in essence is a liter a day for 6 months under very ideal conditions.
Up-front costs and maintenance costs are significantly higher than LifeStraw, however, for that cost, it filters industrially polluted water, including from agricultural runoff as well.
It takes just 15 seconds for the purification process to complete.

Cons:

It won’t clean water stored for the long term. Since the water can become re-contaminated over time after it passes through its filter, its cleaning agents won’t work after it’s been filtered.
It is not meant as a fixed solution for water coming from a tap.
The costs far exceed the disposable income of most parents with children in most developing countries, and GrayL does not help these people gain access to their product. Hence it’s only meant for outdoor adventurers, travelers, and vacationers. However, GrayL does decontaminate industrial contaminants, whereas LifeStraw doesn’t hence justifying the additional cost.
GrayL does support environmental causes, but unlike LifeStraw, not the individuals most affected by them who may need their product, depending on where they live. Instead, GrayL provides to charities that promote the environment. To this author both LifeStraw and GrayL excel at promoting the cleaning of our environment, however, helping an individual directly is usually a better route. That’s where resellers and distributors come into the picture.
Will not convert salt water to fresh water.

Best alternative:

Bottled Spring Water, which uses non-biodegradable plastics.

The LifeSaver Jerrycan

Manufacturer: LifeSaver Jerrycan

Product Introduction: 2013

Cost: 300 USD upfront and 120 USD for replacement cartridges that last for 20000L.

Summary: When first introduced in 2013, LifeSaver claimed the world’s first and only portable technology to eradicate all waterborne bacteria and viruses such as cholera, polio, and Hepatitis A without the use of chemicals, UV light, or the need for power. As such it was developed, by medical professionals to solve the world’s water issues when it comes to improved health, with one big improvement; at 18.5 liters it can provide clean water and fast to a larger group of people.

Pros:

Designed for immediate drinking as water is cleaned as it passes through its filters.
Adds virus protection, as such it kills or deactivates all types of microorganisms.
Adds FAILSAFE technology as the filter cartridge never lets unsafe water pass through.
Only used for portable drinking as an alternative to bottled spring water, when spring water is expensive or unavailable.
Has an 18.5L Capacity
Can filter any water compromised by naturally occurring or biological bacteria/parasites and industrially contaminated water to a near 100% rate.
A single replacement filter can filter up to 20000 liters, which is 18.5L a day for 3 years under ideal conditions. The original filter lasts for 10000 liters.
The biggest pro to competitive solutions is size and low cost of maintenance.
Can store un-contaminated water for up to 72 hours based on environmental conditions.
Up-front costs and maintenance costs are significantly higher than LifeStraw, hence it’s designed for large groups or emergencies.
Useful when contaminated water sources are closer than non-contaminated water sources.
Perfect for long expeditions.
Has tons of additional paid accessories like shower heads, making it versatile for any occasion.

Cons:

It won’t clean water stored for the long term. Since the water can become re-contaminated over time after it passes through its filter, its cleaning agents won’t work after it’s been filtered.
It is not meant as a fixed solution for water coming from a tap.
Not as easy to use as one might like, but one can get used to it.
The costs far exceed the disposable income of most parents with children in most developing countries, hence requiring government assistance, charitable assistance, or group purchase, as the manufacturer doesn’t provide additional assistance. It has been used extensively to alleviate water issues in developing countries though.
Will not convert salt water to fresh water.

Best alternative:

Bottled Spring Water, which uses non-biodegradable plastics.

LifeSaver Jerrycan

Quench Sea World Desalinization

Is a handheld seawater desalination device that converts seawater into fresh drinking water. It’s inexpensive, portable, and ideal for those living in coastal areas or traveling by sea.

Manufacturer: Quench Sea World

Product Introduction: 2020

Cost: 150 USD upfront 60 USD for two replacement RO membranes (Desalinization) and 40 USD for two replacement filters (Purification)

Summary: Its purpose is to turn salt water into freshwater. Yes, it’s ideal for camping, and sea travel but the world is filled with sandy beaches many of which are on dry arid lands with little fresh water, so it’s also useful when living on a desert island, hence it’s multi-purpose. It works manually and can produce up to 4L of fresh water per hour, depending on how well your hand cranks it.

Pros:

Portable
In theory can produce a day’s worth of drinking water in an hour.
Can filter any water compromised by naturally occurring or biological bacteria/parasites and industrially contaminated water to a near 100% rate.
Requires no power.
Perfect for sea travel.

Cons:

Each pre-filter and membrane is good for 100 liters a day, however, you will be manually cranking it continuously for 24 hours to achieve that hence it’s an unrealistic number.
There is no data concerning the shelf life of the membranes and filters
Quite costly if you live on a dry island, in a country with a small amount of disposable income, however much cheaper than other desalinization solutions.

Best alternative: