LifeStraw Community

Vestergaard Frandsen

Snapshot
Manufacturing & delivery
Performance & use
Research & standards
Feedback

Product description Brand name and product description

The LifeStraw® Community purifier is a 25 liter point-of-use water purifier with built-in safe storage for community, education, and institutional settings. It converts microbiologically contaminated water into clean, safe drinking water.

Target region(s) Target region for distribution/implementation (listed by country if specified)

Vestergaard Frandsen is targeting Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe with the LifeStraw® Community purifiers.

Distributors/implementing organizations Organization(s) distributing/deploying this product directly to communities/individuals?"

Vestergaard Frandsen & EarthEasy

Market suggested retail price Price per unit or service price per usage/terms (USD). Subsidies noted.

$329.95 USD

Competitive landscape Similar products available on the market. May not be a comprehensive listing.

Sawyer Complete 4-Liter Dual Bag Water Purifier System , First Water’s FW-1200-M

SDG targeted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targeted with this product/application/service

SDG #6: Clean water and sanitation

Target user(s) Target user/consumer base (country, income segment)

Target users of the LifeStraw® Community purifiers are students, teachers, patients, health workers, community workers, doctors who currently do not have access to safe drinking water.

Manufacturing/building method(s) Detail regarding solution production or construction method (instructions, mass production capacity, custom made,etc...)

Mass Produced

Product Intellectual Property Open source/IP protected (note patent)/trade secret/other?

LifeStraw® Community purifiers are a registered product of Vestergaard Frandsen.

User Provision Model Where can the product be purchased/acquired by end users?

Available for online purchase via Earth Easy

Distribution to date Number of units that have been deployed, downloads or users to date

In October 2014 Vestergaard Frandsen distributed 1,646 LifeStraw® Community purifiers to 301 schools, reaching over 157,975 school children in that region.

Fields marked are sourced values that have been evaluated by the manufacturer or a third party, all others are design specifications.

Capacity (L unfiltered water)

25 L

Safe water storage capacity (Y/N)

Average flow rate (L/hr)

12 L/hr

Bacteria removed: E.Coli (logarithmic scale)

>6 log

Virus removed: MS-2 (logarithmic scale)

>5 log

Virus removed: rotavirus SA-11 (logarithmic scale)

Unknown

Protozoan Parasites removed: Cryptosporidium Parvum (logarithmic scale)

> 4 log

Turbidity (NTU)

Unknown. Filters particles of ~0.02 microns

Filter lifetime volume

70,000 - 100,000 L

End of life indicator (yes/no)

Chemical residual (found in filtered water)

Maintenance Schedule

How often/when should maintenance be performed?

Unknown

Material of Construction

Food-grade plastic

Design specifications Component and Operation overview including power, portability, facility requirements, preventative maintenance and user training requirements

The LifeStraw® Community purifiers filter 25 liters of impure water at an estimated flow rate of 12L/hour of purified water. The filtering process is as follows:

• 25 litres of untreated water is poured into the top of the unit, also called the dirty water container
• The pre-filter removes coarse particles larger than 0.080mm
• The ultrafiltration hollow-fibre membrane cartridge then stops all turbidity particles and pathogens larger than 20 nanometres (including all bacteria, viruses and protozoan cysts).
• Particles and microbes larger than 20 nanometres stay on the dirty side of the membrane and clean/purified water passes through the membrane
• Purified water can be collected from any of the four taps
• The backwashing handle allows semiautomatic backwashing; when it is pulled down and released, pathogens and dust particles on the dirty side of the membrane are lifted by backpressure and then flushed out into the red backwash container

Full specifications are shown in the included image from the LifeStraw® Community user manual published May 2013

Product schematics Design and assembly illustrations

Product dimensions are 550x550x850 mm when unfolded/ in-use

Technical support Technical support provided by

Vestergaard Frandsen provide technical support for Lifestraw® Community purifiers. Minimal training and assembly is required by the customer/user.

Replacement components Availability of replacement components (in-country, by order,...)

Vestergaard Frandsen mentions that they use a Ultrafiltration hollow-fibre membrane cartridge in the Lifestraw® Community purifiers.

Lifecycle Disposal and warranty

Lifestraw® Community purifiers provide a minimum of 70,000 – 100,000 liters of safe drinking water. This is said to be sufficient to serve large groups of people for several years. Vestergaard Frandsen offers a 1 Year Limited Manufacturer’s Warranty

Manufacturer specified performance targets Designer / Manufacturer specified targets

Lifestraw® Community purifiers provide a minimum of 70,000 – 100,000 liters of safe drinking water and 12 liters of purified drinking water per hour.

Vetted performance Findings of manufacturer evaluations or independent testing centers

Lifestraw® Community purifiers use LifeStraw® Family ultrafiltration technology, which:

• Satisfies the criteria of the “Highly Protective” category for microbiological performance specifications as defined in WHO’s 2011 ‘Evaluating Household Water Treatment Options: Health-based targets and microbiological performance options

• Complies with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 1987 Guide Standard and Protocol for Testing Microbiological Water Purifiers

Testing organizations Independent lab, academic research centers, etc.

Vestergaard Frandsen have tested Lifestraw® Community purifiers with independent labs including: Bachema Microbiological Laboratory for Environmental Testing, Schlieren, Switzerland, Underwriters Laboratories Inc., Bangalore, India., Laborotorio Fermi, Mexico City, Mexico, Para Membranes Co. Ltd, Korea.

Safety Potential hazards / risks related to operation of this product

Users must be cautious with avoid cross contamination of the clean water container and not consume water from backflush area.

Complementary technical systems Performance of this product is improved with another technology (eg. Cookstoves and Wind-blocking skirts)

Lifestraw® Community purifiers work best with a table mount or other raised surface.

Academic research Academic research related to the product (e.g. published papers in peer-reviewed journals)

Point-of-Use drinking water devices for assessing microbial contamination in finished water and distribution systems. Miles SL et. Al. Point-of-Use drinking water devices for assessing microbial contamination in finished water and distribution systems Environ Sci Technol. 2009 Mar 1;43(5):1425-9.

Compliance with regulations Product certifications and standards referenced by designer/manufacturer

Lifestraw® Community purifiers comply to USEPA Protocol and WHO regulations and standards

Evaluation methods Evaluation methods/protocols/guidelines referenced by designer or manufacturer.

USEPA Protocol and WHO regulations and standards

Other information

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LifeStraw Community

Vestergaard Frandsen

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