New Study Shows LifeStraw® Family Meets Highest Standards of Water Purification

Product’s potential in Preventing Diarrhoea, Leading Cause of Morbidity and Mortality in the Developing World is Further Established

New York, NY, 01 June 2009—A new study reported in the May issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene found LifeStraw® Family to be a highly effective point-of-use water purifier for people lacking access to clean and safe drinking water in developing countries.  The study found LifeStraw® Family to be one of only a few household-based interventions to meet the microbiologic performance levels for reductions in bacteria, viruses and protozoa established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The study also noted that household-based water treat interventions offer an excellent means to help reduce the estimated four billion cases of waterborne diseases reported each year.

“The results of this independent study verified our own research findings on the effectiveness of the LifeStraw® Family in reducing by more than 99.9% the levels of bacteria, viruses and protozoa from water typically found in the developing world,” said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of the European-based Vestergaard Frandsen, S.A. “It’s equally satisfying to see how cost-effective the product is compared to other interventions.”

LifeStraw® Family is a fully-integrated, gravity-fed, point-of-use microbiological water purifier designed for use in the developing world.  To meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations, it was designed to operate without electricity, batteries, or replacement parts. Each LifeStraw® Family unit will purify about nine litres of water per hour and filter at least 18,000 litres during the product’s lifecycle.

This study reported on laboratory testing of the microbiologic effectiveness, flow rate and longevity of the LifeStraw® Family water purifier. Test methods were based on EPA Protocol for testing microbiological water purifiers. Conditions chosen for the test were harsher than the maximum limits of EPA standards to simulate real life conditions found in the developing world. Three LifeStraw® Family units were tested in 16-hour cycles over approximately 330 days during which the units produced 20,000 litres, representing roughly 110% of their 18,000 litre design lifecycle.   

To meet the requirements of a microbiological water purifier under the EPA Protocol, the LifeStraw® Family units had to meet the mean of all log reduction values:  six logs for bacteria, four for viruses and three for protozoan cysts. The average log reductions for all three LifeStraw® Family units exceeded six logs (99.9999%) of the test organism for bacteria, four (99.99%) of the test organism for virus, and three (99.9%) of the test organism for cysts.  All three units continued to produce at least 100 ml/minute flow rate through the 18,000 litre design life. There was no evidence of impaired microbiologic performance through 20,000 litres of operation.

In the report, led by Dr. Thomas Clasen of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the researchers noted that household-based water treatments have proven to be highly cost-effective. Based on average usage in a five-person family, this works out to be less than US$1/person/year. The cost per litre treated would be US$0.001.

Vestergaard Frandsen, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, is an international company specializing in complex emergency response and disease control products. The company operates under a unique Humanitarian Entrepreneurship business model.  This “profit for a purpose” approach has turned humanitarian responsibility into its core business. Vestergaard Frandsen was founded in 1957 and has evolved into a multinational leader focused on helping to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. For more information, please visit www.vestergaard-frandsen.com.