Pritchard was inspired to develop the "Life Saver" after learning about the difficulties in the provision of drinkable water that usually arise after natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tsunamis. In the recent Hurricane Katrina, victims were cut from all sources of clean water, and many people died from drinking contaminated water. Death due to consumption of contaminated water is common in disaster-hit regions, where epidemics often break out, "Something had to be done. It took me a little while and some very frustrating prototypes but eventually I did it" – Pritchard said.
The bottle's filter is able to distill more than 4,000 liters of sullied water before it must be replaced. This is an extremely important characteristic for military applications, according to defense experts. The purifying mechanism removes all particles larger than 15 nm – a revolutionary size compared with conventional filters that are capable of removing only objects larger than 200 nm. In fact, this means that the new filter is able to eliminate viruses, which typically measure only 25 nm, from our drinking water.
Pritchard’s bottle was recently presented at the DSEI Defense Conference in the UK, where it was received with overwhelming enthusiasm: All of the 1,000 bottles brought to the exhibition were sold in only four hours, for a price of £190 (about $385) each. The “Life Saver” has attracted the attention of military organizations from all over the world and was named “The Best Technological Development” at the recent Soldier Technology Conference. Apart from defense applications, Pritchard expects his unique bottle be used by campers and travelers.
More information and images as well as purchase options on the lifesaversystems website.
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