The LifeStraw is not only one of the best trusted filtration systems in the market, it’s also one of the best-known in the world.

The LifeStraw can turn up to 1,000 litres of contaminated water into safe drinking water before the filter needs replaced. That means that if you used the thing for every single drink of water, 365 days of the year, it would last you approximately one full year. For regular travellers or hikers though only using it in the wild or on occasion, it will last much longer than that.

The LifeStraw Go is a fairly simple adaptation of the original product – the makers have put it into the lid of a bottle, so you can fill up when you find water and drink it through your lifestraw filter on the go. All you have to do to use the product fill it with water and then drink straight through it. You can fill it directly from streams, lakes, or even from muddy puddles!

“A video of a man drinking toilet water through the straw on YouTube has over 13 million views.”

So impressive are the LifeStraw’s filtration qualities that it’s now become something of a viral sensation. Not only has it been put to good use in developing countries, it’s featured in national newspapers from The Guardian to the Daily Mail and spawned a whole host of YouTube videos, with hundreds of users putting the technology to test on a range of contaminated liquids. A video of a man drinking toilet water through the straw on YouTube has over 13 million views.

The LifeStraw Go is light, at 168g and has a capacity of 650ml. The water it produces meets US EPA drinking water standards. There’s no electrical power used in the product, no aftertaste in the water and it contains no chemicals.

The official website for LifeStraw says that it removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria including E. coli and salmonella, and waterborne protozoa including Giardia and Cryptosporidium. The product doesn’t remove chemicals, salt water, heavy metals or viruses from the water however.