birding-aus

LifeStraw

To:
Subject: LifeStraw
From: Chris Charles <>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 20:14:25 +1000
It is not clear to me on a quick skim through if the personal & the family models have the same performance.
Nevertheless I would be happy to use it either way.

It seems to achieve a similar filtration performance in terms of pathogens & viruses removed as the latest systems used in Australia for town water supplies (Membrane Ultrafiltration http:// www.gewater.com/products/equipment/mf_uf_mbr/uf.jsp) , & better than the sand filter + chlorination system we currently drink from Sydney' s Prospect Reservoir.

The British mission schools in Kenya in the 50's & 60's used to boil all the drinking water to prevent sickness among the children. It worked fine until they went home in the holidays & some died from drinking the water they had been brought up on. The fix was to use sand filters instead of boiling which allowed some traces through that kept their immunities up. (I dont have a reference as I heard it on Radio National many years ago.)
Chris

Chris Charles
0412 911 184

33deg 47'30"S
151deg10'09"E





On 09/09/2011, at 4:06 PM, Stephen Ambrose wrote:



Thanks for this clarification Carl. There's obviously a discrepancy
between what is stated in Wiki and what is stated on the LifeStraw
packaging.

If the LifeStraw can filter out water particles down to 0.2 micron, it
would indeed filter out nearly all bacteria, amoeboid protozoans and some viruses . But my concern still remains with respect to viruses, because
the size range of many of them is 0.005 to 0.3 micron. Perhaps those
viruses that occur in potenial drinking water are among the larger
viruses (>0.2 micron across)?

Stephen Ambrose

BTW Stephen, I have just looked at the packaging of my LifeStraw and
 it says that LifeStraw filters out particles down to 0.2 microns. Be
happy to send you a scan of the packaging. But then again Google knows
 best.

 Cheers,

 Carl Clifford

 On 09/09/2011, at 3:02 PM, Stephen Ambrose wrote:

 Most viruses are within the 5 to 300 nanometers (5 to 300 millionths
 of a
 millimetre) size range.

 Most bacteria range in size from 0.2 to 2.0 microns (0.2 to 2.0 one
 thousandths of a millimetre)

According to Wikipedia, Lifestraw filters out water particles that are
 as
 small as 15 microns.

 Amoebozoa vary greatly in size, but many are only 10 to 20 microns
 across.
 However, others are several 100s microns across.

 Based on this information, it would appear that the Lifestraw would
 not be
very reliable in filtering out waterborne viruses and bacteria or some
 protozoans from drinking water.

 Stephen Ambrose
 Ryde NSW

 -----Original Message-----
 From: 
  On Behalf Of John
 Leonard
 Sent: Friday, 9 September 2011 1:24 PM
 To: Birding-aus
 Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] LifeStraw

 Sounds like a great idea, however although it will "filter out a
 minimum of 99.9% of bacteria, viruses and protozoans" presumably it
 wouldn't do anything about the chemical pollution of water, which
 might be a problem in intensively farmed areas.

 John Leonard

 On 9 September 2011 12:58, Carl Clifford
 wrote:
Dear B-A,

I have recently come across LifeStraw
 , a small (22cm x
3.5cm),
lightweight (approx 30g) tube, with a mouth-piece at one end. It will
 filter
out a minimum of 99.9% of bacteria, viruses and protozoans. With a
LifeStraw, you can safely drink water from sources which you would
 normally
hesitate to wash in. A personal LifeStraw will purify up to 1000
litres of
water ( or to put it into context, the equivalent to one pallet of
bottled
water). There is also a "family" LifeStraw, which has a grater flow
rate
 and
is capable of purifying up to 18,00 litres of water, which would be
useful
for use in semi-permanent camps.. While our town water supplies are,
usually, drinkable, having to cart your own water everywhere can be
a bit
 of
a pain. Being able to safely drink water from just about any creek,
dam or
water-hole, does have its advantages, especially if you are stuck
out in
 the
bush somewhere. A useful thing to add to your emergency kit.
Unfortunately
 I
don't think it will make bore water any more palatable.

I bought a couple from the local agent
 , cost $20.95 + p&p. I am
going to
Sabah next month and will try mine out in a variety of waters. It
will be
interesting to see what the Kinabatangan water tastes like.

Profits from sales of LifeStraw are used to subsidise the
distribution of
LifeStraw to individuals and communities in the third world. A nice
idea,
buy one and reduce your own water supply costs when birding and help
save
the lives of others.

I have no affiliation commercial or otherwise with LifeStraw, apart
from
being a customer who thinks it is a brilliant concept.

Cheers,

Carl Clifford

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 


===============================


 --
 John Leonard
 Canberra
 Australia

 I want to be with the 9,999 other things.
 ===============================

 To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
 send the message:
 unsubscribe
 (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
 to: 

 ===============================

 ===============================

 To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
 send the message:
 unsubscribe
 (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
 to: 

 ===============================


===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU