AWARD YEAR
2015
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions
KEYWORDS
water purification, waterborne illness, safe drinking water
COUNTRY
Switzerland
DESIGNED BY
LifeStraw® is manufactured by Vestergaard (www.vestergaard.com), a Swiss-based global company dedicated to improving the health of disadvantaged people with game-changing solutions that fight malaria, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal disease and neglected tropical diseases. The company is the largest producer of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets that prevent malaria under the PermaNet® brand, and its award-winning LifeStraw® water filters have been designed for individual, family and community uses.
WEBSITE
http://www.vestergaard.com/lifestraw-community
LifeStraw Community Water Purifier
LifeStraw® Community water purifier is a vital tool for some of the 780 million people who get sick.
LifeStraw® Community is a high-volume point-of-use water purifier with built-in safe storage that converts contaminated water into safe drinking water. It’s ideal for community settings that don’t have access to safe water which leaves them at risk for diarrheal disease, which kills more than 1.5 million people yearly. It has been distributed to schools throughout Kenya, community centers in Latin America, etc. It uses advanced hollow fiber technology, is chemical free, made of durable plastic and doesn’t require electrical power or batteries. LifeStraw Community removes 99.9999% of bacteria, 99.999% of viruses and 99.99% of protozoa, and reduces turbidity (muddiness). It meets the standard for the “highly protective” category of household water treatment options by the World Health Organization and complies with US EPA guidelines. Each can purify between 70,000 -100,000 liters of water, enough to serve community settings for several years.