LifeStraw Family 2.0

Product Description

LifeStraw® Family 2.0 is a 5 L point-of-use water filter introduced for household settings in developing countries made to treat microbiologically contaminated water. It is the tabletop version of LifeStraw® Family 1.0, designed and manufactured by Vestergaard Frandsen.

Target SDGs

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Market Suggested Retail Price

$67.15

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Household

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

Del Agua Health Limited, Indiamart.com.

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include LifeSaver Cube, VF 100 Village Bucket Filter, WateROAM ROAMfilter Plus, LifeWell Water Filter, ACI Household Filter, LifeSaver® Jerrycan 20000UF, WateROAM ROAMfilter Lite, AquaFilter Family, TATA Swach Cristella Plus Water Purifier, EAWAG System, and TATA Swach Smart.

Manufacturing/Building Method

Mass produced

Intellectural Property Type

Trademark

User Provision Model

LifeStraw® Family 2.0 is being piloted by Del Agua Health Limited in western Rwanda and is also available through an online retailer in Australia. It can also be purchased on other websites such as Adventure Gears, and Amazon (although currently unavailable).

Distributions to Date Status

In July 2012, DelAgua piloted & distributed 100,000+ Vestergaard-Frandsen LifeStraw® Family 2.0 water filters in the Western Province of Rwanda.

Target use case

Family use

Manufacturer-specified flow rate (L/hr)

> 12 L

Bacteria reduction

> 6 log

Type of membrane filtration

Ultrafiltration

Virus reduction

> 5 log

Protozoa reduction

> 4 log

Heavy metals and/or arsenic reduction

Unknown

Maximum recommended influent turbidity level (NTU)

Unknown

Effluent turbidity levels (NTU)

< 0.5

Material of construction

Food-grade plastics

Safe water storage capacity (L)

5 L

Manufacturer-specified lifetime volume (L)

30,000 L

Design Specifications

LifeStraw Family 2.0 achieves ultrafiltration via hollow fiber technology whereby water is gravity fed through narrow fibers. When untreated water is poured into the feed water bucket, the textile prefilter removes coarse particles larger than 80µm. Gravity pushes the water with particles finer than 80µm to flow towards the membrane cartridge. Ultra filtration takes place in the membrane cartridge – a pore size of 20 nanometre retains bacteria, viruses, parasites and fine dirt particles. Filtered water collects in the safe storage tank, which has a capacity of 5 liters and includes a tap to provide an outlet for purified water. The storage tank can be opened for cleaning. Backwashing of the membranes is done by pressing down on the cleaning lever. Dirty water flows to the small red tank. The dirty water should then be discarded.

Product Schematics

Technical Support

Community health workers and the Del Agua Country Team provide technical support for Lifestraw® Family 2.0. Minimal training and assembly is required by the customer/user. Vestergaard Frandsen provides local and international customer service through its 11 regional customer support offices across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Replacement Components

No replacement components are stated as being necessary. Schematic does refer to an 'ultrafiltration membrane cartridge' but no replacement requirement of this is mentioned elsewhere.

Lifecycle

LifeStraw® Family 2.0 water filters up to 30,000 L of water , enough to supply a family of five with clean drinking water for three to five years.

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

Estimated lifetime filtration capacity of 30,000 liters, removal of 99.9999% bacteria, 99.99% protozoan parasites, 99.999% viruses, turbidity reduction, and no electricity requirement.

Vetted Performance Status

LifeStraw® Family 2.0 uses 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 PurifiersLaboratory studies, certifications, published field studies and field reports from implementers can be found in the LifeStraw Evidence Dossier.

Safety

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

Complementary Technical Systems

Lifestraw® Family 2.0 filters work best with a table mount or other raised surface.

Academic Research and References

Barstow, C.K., et al., 2014, Designing and Piloting a Program to Provide Water Filters and Improved Cookstoves in Rwanda, PLoS ONE, 9(3).

Thomas, E. A., et al., 2013, Remotely Accessible Instrumented Monitoring of Global Development Programs: Technology Development and Validation, Sustainability, 5(8), pp. 3288-3330.

Barstow, C.K., Nagel, C. L., Clasen, T. F., and Thomas, E. A., 2016, Process evaluation and assessment of use of a large scale water filter and cookstove program in Rwanda, BMC Public Health, 16(584).

Tellez-Sanchez, S. L., 2016, Household Water Filter Use Characterization in Rural Rwanda: Signal Interpretation, Development and Validation, MS. Dissertation, Portland State University, Portland, OR.

“LifeStraw Family,” LifeStraw Water Filters & Purifiers. Available: https://lifestraw.com/products/lifestraw-family-emergency-water-filter

“Project Rwanda – DelAgua,” DelAgua -, 16-Dec-2020. Available: https://www.delagua.org/project-rwanda/

“Life Straw Family Portable Water Filter,” indiamart.com. Available: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/life-straw-family-portable-water-filter-16442860712.html

“Goal 6,” Sdgs.un.org. Available: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal6

Vestergaard, “Homepage,” Vestergaard, 03-Dec-2020. Available: https://vestergaard.com/

“Engineers deliver water filters, cookstoves to improve health in Rwanda,” CU Boulder Today, 03-Jun-2019. Available: https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/06/03/engineers-deliver-water-filters-cookstoves-improve-health-rwanda

“Laboratory Studies & Certifications,” Shopify.com. Available: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2631/0778/t/4/assets/LSF10-MissionEvidenceDossier-1544004822807.pdf?15561445152651557181

Compliance with regulations

Lifestraw® Family 2.0 filters successfully passed Intertek Quality Inspection for compliance with the EPA guidelines. Additionally, the filters exceeded the requirements for a "Highly Protective" water treatment device as defined by the World Health Organization.

Evaluation methods

Partner company DelAgua utilizes mobile data collection and a central database for programme implementation, analysis and record keeping. All distributions, education and evaluation activities are conducted through smart-phone based database tools. The project falls under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, with carbon credits being earned only after rigorous external monitoring of continued use of the new water filters and cookstoves and the resultant benefits. LifeStraw® Family 2.0 utilizes the same membrane technology as LifeStraw® Family 1.0. Therefore, studies conducted on the efficacy of LifeStraw® Famly 1.0 can also be attributed to LifeStraw® Family 2.0. This product has been evaluated for microbiological and turbidity removal, proper function, and membrane pore size by third-party laboratories.

Other Information

LifeStraw Family 2.0 usage and maintenance video LifeStraw Water Fund