This LifeStraw Go Water Bottle review is about the new version of the popular water filter with an additional activated carbon filter.
Why LifeStraw – Key benefits and a bit more
- Filter system used by millions in the past decade.
- Laboratory tested, removes all bacteria and parasites.
- Great price.
- Great design.
- Versatile.
- Replaceable filters.
- Buying it you directly support the program which provides clean water for school children in Kenya and India.
What is LifeStraw Go Water Bottle – Description
There are two versions of the LifeStraw Go water bottles presently available on the market, without and with a carbon filter. This text is about the new version with the carbon filter.
What is new in the new version
- The new LifeStraw Go bottle comes with a 2-stage filtration. An activated carbon capsule is added to the already existing award-winning filtering technology. The purpose of the carbon is to reduce chlorine, pesticides, bad taste and odor. It lasts up to 26 gallons (100 liters), which is equivalent to 3 months of continuous use.
- The price is higher. The new version with the extra carbon filter is around $45, the version without it is around $30.
- The new version bottle comes in several different colors, see below, contrary to only one blue color of the previous version.
New LifeStraw Go Water Bottle with the carbon filter, in several different colors.
Apart from the differences mentioned above, everything else is the same. Here is a bit more information you may need about this extraordinary tool.
The hollow-fiber micro filter was originally developed in 2005 as an emergency response tool to be used in situations of natural disasters. It has been on the market ever since under the name LifeStraw Personal Water Filter, collecting all possible awards and remaining top-ranked throughout the years.
The bottle with an integrated 1000 liter LifeStraw filter.
The LifeStraw personal water bottle is a great tool to have with you when you travel, regardless if this is an international travel or a weekend retreat.
Presently more than 700 million people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water. The company behind the LifeStraw has started a program a few years ago, Follow the Liters, to provide clean water for children in Kenya and India.
So when you purchase one item, you provide clean water for a child in Kenyan school for entire school year. This sounds incredible but this is a fact and you can follow what they are doing. See more about it below.
What this filter removes – first about the hollow-fiber ultra-filter
The table below shows an impressive list of bacteria and parasites which the filter removes. You can read much more about the testing in an independent laboratory at the University of Arizona in this document here. This fiber membrane technology removes everything above 0.2 microns in diameter. Its lifetime is up to 1000 liters (264 gallons), dependent on the quality of water, and it is replaceable.
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What about the activated carbon filter
New LifeStraw Go Water Bottle filter in one out of 5 colors.
This is a replaceable filter with activated carbon introduced to reduce bad taste, chlorine, and organic chemical matter. Its lifetime is up to 100 liters (26 gallons). Such activated carbon has high microporosity and it is suitable to absorb these substances from water.
This filter system alone has also received numerous awards in the past, you can read here more about it.
I stress that it may reduce chemicals like chlorine, pesticides, and fertilizers, but it does not remove them completely.
So as you realize, this new LifeStraw Go water bottle has exactly the same properties regarding the filtering as the newly released LifeStraw Steel Water Filter. In fact, they use exactly the same carbon capsule, so when you buy it you can use it for both, see the link below.
What is NOT removed from the water
- LifeStraw cannot remove heavy metals.
- It cannot remove the salt.
- It cannot remove viruses.
- It may reduce some chemicals, but you should know that you are not safe from them.
There is no personal filter on the market capable of removing chemicals, so do not believe anybody who claims the opposite.
The Vestergaard company behind these tools has developed filters that indeed remove viruses, like LifeStraw Family 1.0 Water Purifier, LifeStraw Mission Water Purifier, and LifeStraw Community filter.
A few more things to know
The filter used here is not designed for freezing temperatures, so bear this in mind if you are using it at high altitudes or in winter conditions.
If you feel any strange taste when you use this bottle for the first time, just hold it under the tap and run water through it. Alternatively, you can suck some water up and then spit it out. There are no chemicals used here at all. The fibers cannot add any taste to the water.
Do not wash it in a dishwasher, just rinse with water and leave uncapped to dry. After using it, back-flush it blowing a breath of air back into the mouthpiece to force out the remaining water which may be trapped in the filter. If you have clean water, you can suck some into the filter and backflush it again.
If you experience a problem in sucking water, this is because the filter is completely dry. So fill the bottle at least half full and let the filter stay in the water for 30 seconds before using it, to have membranes completely moist.
Lifetime
A good thing with all filters from this LifeStraw series is that you can never drink contaminated water through them, regardless of their age. The flow rate will naturally decrease in time and in some moment it will stop, but contaminated water cannot pass through the membrane in any case.
The lifetime for both filters is indicated in specifications, and you can increase it by cleaning them as mentioned above.
Specifications
- Volume: 23 ounces (0.65 l).
- Weight: 7.8 ounces (221 g).
- Two stage filtration.
- Replaceable filters.
- Activated carbon capsule lifetime 100 liters (26 gallons).
- Advanced hollow fiber membrane (0.2 microns); lifetime up to 1,000 liters (264 gallons).
- Removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria.
- Removes 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites.
- Material: Tritan plastic.
- Flip-top bite valve.
- Carabiner for easy attaching to a backpack.
- 5 colors.
- Meets US EPA standards.
- BPA free.
About Follow the Liters program
As I mentioned above, the Vestergaard company behind this filter runs an incredible program in Kenya and India. From each sold filter they put aside a part of the income and provide clean water in schools. For this, they use their LifeStraw Community filter which removes all microorganisms mentioned above, plus viruses. These filters have pores with 0.02-micron size.
See here the map of schools where they installed their filters in 2014 and 2015. A bit more about the program you can read here. You can see this related video as well:
Summary
To conclude this review, I hope you have enough information and have a clear idea of what LifeStraw Go Water Bottle is. As you realize, the new version is improved due to the extra carbon filter. The water taste is improved and some chemicals can be removed and reduced.
The other hollow-fiber filter is the same as what you have in several LifeStraw models. So what you have here is a truly reliable tool, tested in laboratories and in practice in the past decade.
So this is a great versatile tool, good to have with you in various situations on vacations, when you travel, or when you are in some outdoor activity. Obviously, this is a great inexpensive present for anybody.
I do not see any particular advantage in using the Water Bottle filter as compared with the LifeStraw Steel filter. They both have a 2-stage filtration system. It is true that with the first tool you have a bottle included to carry unfiltered water, but you can have the same with the Steel filter by simply carrying an ordinary plastic bottle with you.
Thank you for reading. It will be great to hear from you, there is a comment box below. I wish you a pleasant day.
heidi says
In future the necessity of filtering water will be ever more important. Also, filters which filter out toxic chemicals are needed – unless we see a 360° change in how agriculture works – and stop the fracking operations which potentially can destroy ALL water in the whole world.
I have a filter which works on lime, the effect on machines heating water is notable, but doesn’t completely resolve the problem in areas with super high lime percentage in the water.
It would be good to add some other filters – after I have analysed my well-water, I guess. Thanks for giving this great overview!
Jovo says
Hi Heidi, you are right about chemicals, such filters will be needed more and more. There are some who claim that their filters remove chemicals and heavy metals, and I have reviews a few of them. But I question their statement and find the irresponsible. There is no personal filter which can remove such things. Some chemicals can be reduced with the activated carbon but there can be no guarantee of a complete removal.
I am in Belgium and the issue of limestone is really big here. The water is full of it. Thank you, all the best to you. Jovo