The LifeStraw Personal is designed for the backcountry and will filter out 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria and 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites. Chemicals, salt water and viruses will not be removed.

Yet Vestergaard Frandsen, the European-based company named after its CEO, believes LifeStraw, a microbiological purifier which it invented and launched in 2006 and which requires users to suck filthy water through a plastic tube or to filter it through an unattractive wall-mounted bucket.