LifeStraw® - Complementary to LifeStraw® Family

LifeStraw^®, a portable water filter, is a complementary tool to LifeStraw^® Family. It provides access to safe and clean drinking water away from home.

Read LifeStraw and Efficacy Functioning Report [pdf].

The following study indicates the need and frequency of water consumption away from home:

Onyango-Ouma, W. and Gerba, C.P. 2010. Away-from-home drinking water consumption practices and the microbiological quality of water consumed in rural western Kenya (under publication)

Key Findings:

• 97% of the people report drinking water while away from home.
• Main sources of water are rivers (31%) and boreholes (14%).
• Volume of water consumed away-from-home is in average 260mL, which is equivalent to two glasses.
• Overall microbiological quality of water is poor and unfit for consumption, especially water from unprotected springs (protected springs are contaminated as well, to a lesser extent).

Outcome: There is a need for innovative approaches to address drinking water consumption in resource-poor settings in order to complement and maximize the benefits of point-of-use water treatment at the household level. It is very clear that local populations in resource poor settings consume water outside home as dictated by daily activities patterns; and that the microbiological quality of this water is very poor. Population awareness of the poor water quality has to be improved.

The first portable water filter takes its origin in the PVC pipe filters used for the eradication of Guinea Worm disease. Vestergaard Frandsen has for many years been a sole supplier for Pipe Filters used in The Carter Centers' Guinea worm eradication program. The success of the Pipe Filter triggered ideas behind the development of the LifeStraw^®.

Dr. Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, Technical Director of the Carter Center Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) quotes:

Persons who travelled away from the household for extended period of times did not have a way of protecting themselves from the Guinea Worm Disease. In 1994, we tested (at CDC) the efficacy of PVC pipe filters in the removal of copepods, and what length and diameter would be ideal for their use. Those results led to their large scale use in the Guinea Worm Eradication Programs.