Introduction

 There is an large range of MSR portable water filtration devices http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/ available for consumers. They have chemical, non-chemical and electrical based water filtration/purification devices. 

The AquaSafeStraw specifically designed for travelling, hiking and disaster situations. Further products will be released in coming months. AquaSafeStraw is the only product that is safe for all to use, irrespective of know and unknown health conditions.

There are no close product matches to the AquaSafeStraw in the MSR range. AquaSafeStraw has been designed for immediate use whereas the MSR products are time consuming when compared to the AquaSafeStraw.  

Filtration Methods

MSR products use one, or a combination of the following; ceramic, carbon, hollow fibre, labyrinth with carbon, Silica depth plus sodium hypochlorite, and salt with electrical current. Most of their products filter down to 0.2 microns.

The AquaSafeStraw uses a polyethylene membrane that filters down to 0.2 micron, exceeding the US CDC recommendation of 1 micron to effectively remove Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

Ease of Use

All the MSR products provide instructions on use and maintenance. They are required as there are many components to replace once the unit stops filtering. To actually retrieve water, there are many steps to obtain clean water from the MSR range of products. Taking time to assemble, time to use, time to dismantle, time to pack away. With the multi-part system of the MSR, there could be potential for breakage and loss of parts needed to filter water.

The AquaSafeStraw is a very simple, easy and self evident product to use. It has been designed for children as young as 3 to use. There is virtually no maintenance except let it dry after use.

The AquaSafeStraw uses a membrane technology that filter out all (99.9999%) bacteria, Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Water WILL NOT pass through the AquaSafeStraw when no longer effective. This filtration exceeds the CDC’s recommendation of 1 micron to effectively remove Giardia and Cryptosporidium. 

Speed to Access of Water

There is a lengthy time to obtain water from all the MSR products. The longest being 4 hours (MIOX range, electrical powered device) to take out Giardia and Cryptosporidium. The others take a minimum of a couple of minutes and that amount to then pack it away.

The AquaSafeStraw is immediate for both usage and storage.

Chemical Based Filters/Purifiers

As quoted by the US Army Centre for Health (2006) http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA453960&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf regarding to iodine resins, “…resins are not effective for inactivating or removing Cryptosporidium oocysts….Giardia cysts appear to be more resistant to inactivation by iodine resins..”. These oocysts and cysts are a major cause for water related illness.

Reliability and State of Mind

Both the MSR and AquaSafeStraw have past extensive testing to verify their specification when the product is in prime condition. Both the AquaSafeStraw and MSR products stop working once the filter is congested.

Cost per gallon/liter

The cost of MSR range start form $79US and up to $139US. That’s at least 12.7 cents per litre or 48 cents per gallon!   Compared to 7 cents a litre or 26.5 cents per gallon for the AquaSafeStraw.

Portability

AquaSafeStraw is light weight (24g), 21cm long unit, 1.8cm diameter. The product can fit in your pocket.

Most of the MSR products are quite large in comparison over 17cm tall x 8.3 cm diameter, weighing over 220g, plus all the tubing to fit into the water source and to the water catchment. This making the unit significantly more cumbersome to carry. With the multi-part system of the MSR, there could be potential for breakage and loss of parts needed to filter water.

Longevity

Most of the MSR range filters/purifies in excess of 700 litres/182 gallons compared to AquaSafeStraw 500 litre/132g (minimum recommended levels of water intake are 2 litres/3 pints of water per day. Lasting approx 250 days of average consumption).

Bacteria and Virus Removal Properties

MSR products removes bacteria and in MIOX also viruses. The MSR (except the MIOX Water purifier) removes everything larger than 0.2 micron. The AquaSafeStraw filters out all Bacteria as well as Cryptosporidium and Giardia above to 0.2 microns exceeding the America’s Centre of Disease Control and prevention (www.cdc.gov) recommendation of filters to a minimum of 1 micron. The

AquaSafeStraw exceed this by a factor of 5. AquaSafeCorp is about to release two new products, AquaSafeBottle and AquaSafeStraw+, that filters down to 0.01 micron below the size of viruses.

How can AquaSafeStraw be so cost effective and be an effective water filtration system?

How does AquaSafeStraw be technologically advanced and be so price competitive?

AquaSafeCorp have taken state of the art materials and technologies, along with advanced manufacturing techniques (patented) to produce a cost effective advanced product.