Point-of-use treatment: Vestergaard Frandsen launches LifeStraw(R) Family

Vestergaard Frandsen, a company specialising in disease control textiles, has launched LifeStraw(R) Family, a new point-of-use water treatment device targeted for use in developing countries. The company claims its product can provide, at an average, at least 10 litres of purified water an hour and more than 10,000 litres over the product’s lifecycle, which is enough to provide a typical family with drinking water for 1.5 years. Vestergaard Frandsen said its product had been extensively tested by the University of Arizona, and that it complies with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for microbiological purifiers, and removes at least 99.9999% of all bacteria, 99.99% of all viruses, and 99.9% of parasites. It does not, however remove giardia.

LifeStraw(R) Family builds upon the success of LifeStraw(R) Personal, a portable water filtration device that Vestergaard Frandsen developed two years ago. It has won several awards, the latest being the US$ 100,000 (EUR 67,300) Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas. Although 200,000 LifeStraw® Personal units have been distributed, critics point out that its use is limited to emergency situations and that it is not a long-term, sustainable solution.

Lifestraw ® Family will cost US$ 20 (EUR 13.50) apiece for up to 500 units, and US$ 17 (EUR 11.45) for purchases between 500 and 3,000.

Web site: LifeStraw

Contact: Vestergaard Frandsen, Head Office, Switzerland, tel.: +41-21-3107333, hq@vestergaard-frandsen.com

Source: PRNewswire, 07 Feb 2008 ; IRIN, 04 Feb 2008, Saatchi & Saatchi, 22 Feb 2008

Keywords

• Water quality