What is the Best Water Filter Straw?

The importance of proper hydration

Staying hydrated, particularly with water, has been proven to have a multitude of benefits. Drinking water is crucial for helping your body to regulate internal temperature, keeping your joints lubricated, keeping your organs working properly, and delivering nutrients to different cells in the body.

Hydration also improves your mood, cognition and sleep quality.

The fact is, although water is so important for day to day living, you may not always have direct access to purified drinking water. Whether you ran out of water on your hike or camping trip, or the water at the river close by is inviting you for a cool drink, you want to ensure your water is fit for drinking.

One revolutionary way to access purified water on the go or in dire situations is with a water filter straw.

What is a water filter straw?

A water filter straw is really as it sounds. They are portable, lightweight, and easy to use. You simply stick the straw into the water source and drink. The straw filters out impurities, parasites and bacteria to deliver clean, purified drinking water.

These straws are affixed with a micron number, which is the average size of the openings in a straw filter. The smallest is a 0.1-micron opening. This number also informs you of the level of filtration the straw is able to provide.

So, if the micron number is 0.1 anything bigger than that will not be able to pass through the straw. The other more popular sizes are 0.2 to 2 microns. In essence, the smaller the micron rating, the higher the filtration.

Advantages and disadvantages of water filter straws

Some advantages include:

• Portable and lightweight
• Filters bacteria, debris and sediments
• Filters parasites
• Delivers fresh tasting water

Disadvantages include:

• The membrane can become clogged
• You have to change the filter overtime
• It doesn't filter pharmaceuticals, chemicals, heavy metals or chlorine

The 5 top water filter straws reviewed and rated for 2022

1. Sawyer Products MINI Water Filtration System - This lightweight filter straw weighs only two ounces, and uses the smallest micron of 0.1, to give you clean water. It is able to filter 99.999% of bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella, and cholera. It also removes protozoa exceeding the EPA guidelines and filters out all microplastics. Additionally, it uses a group of tubes to filter the water, working similarly to the technology used in medical dialysis.
2. LifeStraw Steel Personal Water Filter with 2 Stage Carbon Filtration - Durability and design makes this water filter straw an easy go-to right off the bat. In addition to filtering out almost all protozoa and bacteria, it also includes an activated carbon filter that is replaceable, reducing chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, and chlorine. This straw can filter up to 1,000 liters, and removes almost 99.9999% of bacteria found in the water, surpassing the standards set for water filters by the EPA. It is also able to filter up to 0.2-microns without needing a pump or batteries.
3. Survivor Filter Personal Water Filter Straw - This water filter straw has been tested at Intertek Labs in Columbus Ohio to show 99.9% filtration removal (Highest Certifiable Level) for tested virus, staph and bacteria. The Membrane Ultra Filter lasts up to 100,000 Liters (26,417 Gallons), while the Replaceable Carbon Filter lasts up to 1,000 Liters. This filter straw is able to be taken apart, cleaned and reassembled for use. It is also able to filter up to 0.2-microns, however, it uses single-use filters which means more regular changing of the filter.
4. Membrane Solutions Straw Water Filter - The Membrane Solutions water filter straw is known mainly for its long lifespan, which provides up to 1500 liters (396 gallons) of drinking water. It has a 4-Stage Filtration system, including coarse filter screen, pp cotton, coconut shell activated carbon and hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes. This ensures removal of 99.99999% of harmful substances (pollution, odor, chlorine and organic chemicals, etc.) and improves the taste of the water. It also has a pore size of 0.1 microns, which can filter out 99.99999% of the tiny material.
5. Etekcity Water Filter Straw - Design makes this water filter straw a favorite, as it is fitted with a pre-filter that works to remove or block the large contaminants. Etekcity has also been tested and meets EPA water standards. Additionally, it features a 0.01 mm hollow fiber UF inline Membrane to filter 99. 9999% of water pollutants.

So, if you are looking for a water filter straw to suit your needs, try one of the top five listed!