LifeStraw Go 2.0 Insulated Stainless Steel Water Filter Bottle
LifeStraw Go 2.0 Insulated Stainless Steel Water Filter Bottle
The LifeStraw Go 2.0 Stainless Steel is a double-wall steel water bottle with the filter built into the straw, so you fill from a tap, a bubbler or a stream and drink through it. The steel body keeps drinks cold and shrugs off the knocks a plastic bottle would not.
Who it's for
Travellers and commuters who want the filter inside a bottle they would carry anyway. Stainless steel does not pick up flavours the way plastic does, so yesterday's coffee stop does not haunt today's water, and it survives being dropped on a platform.
Three sizes: 500 ml at 468 g, 700 ml at 515 g, and 1 litre at 624 g. Take the 500 for a commute and the litre for a day out.
What it removes, and what it does not
The membrane microfilter is the safety half: bacteria including E. coli and Salmonella, parasites including Giardia and Cryptosporidium, plus microplastics, sand, dirt and cloudiness. The carbon filter is the palatability half, cutting chlorine, odours and organic chemical matter - which is what turns technically-safe tap water into water you will actually drink.
Viruses are the one thing a membrane microfilter does not catch, at any brand. For Australian tap water and backcountry sources that is exactly the right risk profile, because what is actually in our water is bacteria and protozoa. Somewhere with sewage-contaminated supply, a purifier is the tool.
Flow rate and capacity
The membrane lasts up to 4,000 litres - roughly five years of daily use, and the equivalent of 8,000 single-use bottles. The carbon lasts about 100 litres, or two months. Budget for the carbon and forget about the membrane.
Maintenance
Replace the carbon on schedule rather than by taste, which fades too slowly to notice. Rinse the bottle out the same day you use it, particularly after anything but water.
Freezing and storage
Never let a wet cartridge freeze. Ice splits the hollow fibres and the damage is invisible - the filter looks perfect and no longer filters. Camping below zero, keep it in your sleeping bag.