For many years now I have been an avid drinker of Fiji and Eternal water- both “silica rich” and “artesian” waters.
Why?
I simply can’t stand other sources of water for very long.
Some are not as bad as others, but all- in a long enough time span, and including home filtered water- gave me mild head aches, cotton mouth, and just tasted like pool water to me after living off of a Fiji/Eternal mix for so long- until now.
I have officially quit my Fiji/Eternal habit, and replaced it with the most advanced water bottle on the planet- a bottle that produces high quality drinking water on the spot, that tastes great, and is absurdly pure.
And at the same time, I am now saving $30+ dollars a week on bottled water =)
It began when I saw the above video on the homepage of TED.com. Dropping over $100 a month on water was getting annoying after a few years, so the video caught my attention pretty quickly- a possible solution to an expensive addiction.
Not long after watching the video, I ordered the bottle off of Amazon (was substantially cheaper there due to free shipping).
Let’s clarify though- I dropped a clean $150, on a water bottle.
Even I was a bit hesitant, and I often buy the weirdest of items- whether it’s toe shoes or an electric-hybrid bicycle- I’m always first in line.
But hey, Amazon has a thirty day return policy, so hell, why not I thought?
Days later it arrives, I take it out, and begin playing with my new toy. Felt like Christmas morning as a kid =).
Anyway, enough story time. Long story short, I had to return it to Amazon due to an unfortunate accident that caused it to spring a minor leak.
Actually, I called the company that produces the bottle- a person answered the phone in two rings- and they helped me trouble shoot the problem. No luck, so they directed me to just exchange it with Amazon- and I was told if Amazon gave me any problems, to call them back and the company would take care of me immediately at no cost.
I hopped onto Amazon, went through the return process (took about 3 minutes), and shipped it off the same day back to Amazon.
The next day, a new one arrives at my door- no extra cost.
Go Amazon! Never had to exchange anything before, but I was impressed.
The Bottle
Okay, second bottle, this time around I opted not to create anymore “unfortunate accidents” and did things carefully.
My thoughts on the bottle itself?
A+
This thing filters out both bacteria and viruses- all of them. It has a 15nm (that’s nano meter) filter, and the smallest virus is 25 nm.
How totally bad ass is that?
Safe drinking water, from virtually any source of fresh water I can find (it will not filter out salt).
Now, I’m not particularly paranoid, but I experienced Hurricane Charley first hand- in fact, I remember watching the eye pass by my house with the rest of my family (our house is on the very South Western tip of Cape Coral, only miles from where the storm made landfall in South West Florida).
While damage was minimal for us personally, being outside during a storm like that (don’t ask) is enough to leave a lasting impression that you are hardly the single spec of a fart stain on the face of the Earth compared to mother nature.
Due to the lack of damage, and ridiculously rich people that lived just down the road (one of the richest men in the entire County), our power was miraculously restored in less than 24 hours.
My grandmother who lived less than 10 miles away, was without power for over 2 weeks.
Now, my town was not devastated like New Orleans was from Hurricane Katrina, but I was able to observe a valuable lesson watching my grandmother and other relatives come to our house every day during that time- you can’t depend on the “system”.
If $hit hits the fan, you better be able to take care of yourself- period.
And that, is the beauty of this bottle. I can now travel to anywhere in the world, and drink their water, no worries what so ever.
The replaceable filter in my model lasts for 4,000 liters (years worth of water), is very durable, and completely self sustaining. I simply fill it up with almost any source of fresh water, pump it, and out comes clean and safe drinking water.
While I might not need this very often, I’m sure I will be thankful to have it some day- whether I be in Mexico off of a cruise ship, in some random country in South America, or when a natural disaster hit’s Florida and resources becomes scarce- I’m set.
My only real gripe about the bottle is the amount of water it holds- 750ml. If the filter were a tad smaller, and a bit more water was available, the bottle would be nearly perfect. As it stands, I just use it to fill up old Fiji bottles and put them in the fridge.
As for the cost- totally justifiable in my eyes. I now spend $0 per month on bottled water, so the bottle will quickly pay for itself.
Combine that with its ability to be taken anywhere I go, and how long it lasts- and it’s worth it’s price many times over (especially if I opt to travel next year to nations with questionable water).
The only real upkeep is replacing the carbon filter every ~250 liters. Even at 4 liters a day, this is over 2 months worth of water that has been filtered for additional substances (pesticides, some minerals, and heavy metals such as lead & copper- among others).
It’s not necessary, but improves the taste even further, and removes unwanted substances- at $30 bucks a pop, not too worried about it.
Anyway I’m not an expert on the Life Save Water Bottle, but you can check out their entire sit here, and pick my model up on Amazon here (which I recommend for the free shipping and ridiculously fast exchange policy), or get the 6,000L model here.
Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.
Im a bit confused with some of what you wrote on the aritcle you put “The replaceable filter in my model lasts for 4,000 liters (years worth of water), “.
Then put “The only real upkeep is replacing the carbon filter every ~250 liters. Even at 4 liters a day, this is over 2 months worth of water that has been filtered for additional substances”
Is there two filters in it?
Yep. Sorry for the confusion.
The primary filter (the 15nm filter) lasts 4,000 liters, the- optional- carbon filter (that improves the taste and filters out additional compounds such as heavy metals) lasts ~250l. The bottle itself comes /w 1 carbon filter, and a replacement is 30 bucks.
The primary filter can also be replaced for around 80 dollars (off the top of my head, check Amazon for an exact price).
Check here for more features on it
http://www.lifesaversystems.com/unique.html
-Anthony
This really makes me appreciate the wonderful water we have here in northern Sweden. In cities like Stockholm and Gothenburg it’s awful in my opinion compared to the water up here.
We have this little cottage up in the mountains, around 3,5 hours from here, where we get the water directly from the mountains. It’s so awesome to go to the little brook(?) and drink directly from it.
There’s no better tasting water
Dude I’m jealous…and I want some next summer! Bottle me some up! =)
Good article… the bottle sounds really interesting. I might have to check it out.
Tynan
At least this helps end your FIJI habit. Half the natives of Fiji do not have access to clean, parasite free drinking water. The idea that water is exported from there is an atrocity in my opinion. The carbon footprint isn’t a laughing matter either.
In classic American, rugged-individualistic fashion, the life saver water bottle sounds like an excellent way to allow you to “live off the grid” if the grid cannot be relied upon (like your experience with the recent hurricane). I however, will stick to city water until disaster strikes.
but i dont think it filters out the trace elements of birth control pills and psycho active drugs that people flush down the toilet and which then gets into our water supply.
@Prez
I have heard a number of negative things about water exported from Fiji, however options are limited where I live. The only other bottled water I found that actually tasted like “water” and not some chemical concoction was Eternal (exported from New Zealand).
Then again, drinking Fiji has probably made me hyper-aware of anything in water, that “shouldn’t” be there.
As for the carbon footprint…it certainly is a bit silly to transport water from across the world, but again, options are limited- which is sad on our part here in the US. I continually read water from other nations is of much high quality (not consdiering nations in worse economic shape however).
Despite all that, would you care to elaborate on the “carbon footprint” comment specifically? A lot of rational thinkers who I highly respect (guys like Dr Doug Mcguff, Dr Michael Eades) are very skeptical of “global warming”, which is what I assume you were referring to.
Would love to hear an argument for it, that wasn’t the same as I could read mainstream.
Finally
“I however, will stick to city water until disaster strikes.”
The only problem I foresee with this mentality is…when disaster strikes, it’s too late. UPS and FEDx will not be overnighting anything to an area with a hurricane on it’s doorstep. Consider New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina- a complete disaster, people literally shooting each other over food and water. I certainly never want to be around an environment like that, but if I was, I would not want to deal with people shooting at me either- or risk severe dehydration.
thanks for commenting, look forward to your response
-Anthony
@a
You could ask the company about specific elements such as those you mentioned. While it’s not perfect, it does filter out quite an array of substances with the carbon filter attached (the primary filter is there to remove any and all pathogens down to 15 nano meters in size).
-Anthony
@Tynan
Thanks. Hope to see it on your official list of travel gear some day =)
-Anthony