We've just got our paws on the new, improved version of the
Aquapure Traveller lightweight water purifier and thought it was
worth a shout on the site.
It looks like a simple water bottle that's been worked on by Henry
Moore - the original one just looked like a water bottle - it can
process up to 350 litres of water and combines an iodinated resin
sleeve with an advanced filter and, at 99 grammes is extremely light.
At £44.99, it's also significantly cheaper than more complex
filters that do the same job.
Spare filter units cost £40.
It's also very easy to use. You simply fill from a water source,
shake the contents to expose them to the iodine resin then leave for
15 minutes before drinking the water just like with a normal water
bottle. As you squeeze the water out, it's forced through a 2 micron
filter with overlapping pores which removes contaminants, bad tastes
and pathogens such as Giardia. The iodine is there to wipe out
bacteria and viruses in the water like E.coli, Polio, Hep A and
Cholera.
We used the original version of the bottle in Peru a couple of
years ago and it's a handy option if, for example, you're boiling
water for purification in the evenings, but want to be able to drink
from streams and other water sources during the day without messing
around with a full-on, pump-type purifier. It's also good for dubious
tap water supplies in hotel rooms and the like. The original lacked
the iodinated resin sleeve and we were very ill at one point, though
that was almost certainly down to Peruvian mountain catering rather
than water contamination.
A couple of observations based on experience: one is that the
filter does silt up gradually and needs to be brushed clean from time
to time. We found that when semi-blocked, the pressure needed to
force water through, was also sufficient to push unfiltered water
past the threads on the lid and we'd like to see a better seal to
prevent this from happening - as it is, unfiltered water can,
potentially, get out.
Second you have to be aware that if you, say, dip the bottle into
a river, water on the outside is obviously untreated, so you need to
make an effort to keep it away from your mouth.
Used with those two provisos in mind though, the Aquapure
Traveller is a handy, affordable solution to the problem of getting
purified, clean-tasting water with minimal hassle. It's also approved
by the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London.
For more information see the web
site.
