Simply, using a water purifier for travel is better for the environment than endless volumes of plastic bottles. More than ever before it is of utmost importance to take care of the world we live in. We personally travel on a long-term basis with not only one, but two water purifiers and are more than happy to have them with us. We use them regularly and have never been sick from drinking water when we used our purifiers.
Why purify water while you travel?
- Good for the environment
- Saves money in the long-term
- Drinking save water in countries without clean drinking water
- Perfect for remote multi-day hikes
Top 5 water purifier for travel
Alternative Methods to purify water
Introduction
While more than two-thirds of earth’s surface is covered by water, there is only less than 1% of this water fit for human consumption. The rest of it is either found in oceans and other saltwater bodies (98%) or frozen in glaciers or ice sheets.
With the growth of the global human population, there is also an increased demand for fresh drinking water. At the same time though, climate change and human activity are putting the freshwater resources under stress.
Because of this, we need to think more about how we treat our water and about ways to make the acquisition of drinking water more environmentally friendly.
Why purify water while you travel?
Good for the environment
As it is not always safe to drink water from the tap, most people just buy bottled water from a shop. Heck, I come from Switzerland, where drinking water from the tap (or even the toilet!) is super safe, but people STILL go out and buy bottled water. Worldwide, one million plastic bottles are sold every single minute. In 2016 there were more than 480bn plastic drinking bottles sold across the world.
You could argue that most of these bottles are made out of PET, which is highly recyclable. But, of all the PET bottles bought in 2016, less than half of them were collected for recycling and only 7% of the collected bottles were turned into new bottles. Now guess where all the remaining bottles end up?
Guess where a lot of the non-recycled bottles end up?
Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash
With a good water purifier, you can decrease this number quite a bit. Most portable water purifiers for travel function for thousands of litres before you have to change the filter. This means that you don’t have to buy thousands of bottles. And after that, you just get a new filter and continue with purifying water. Talking about plastic waste: A study published in “Science” in 2015 calculated that America’s beaches are polluted with about 7.5 billion straws, which are not bio-degradable. We bought us some great bamboo straws in Laos and we carry them everywhere around. This reduces our straw consumption substantially. If you want to get something similar, then have a look at the great stainless steel straws from KleenKanteen. They even come with a brush to clean them. 
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Saves money in the long-term
The global average price of a litre of bottled water was US$0.29 in 2016. With a water purifier for travel, you can get that price down up to a recurring cost of US$0.0037 per litre (with a LifeStraw). Even the most expensive water purifier we list here (the Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier) brings down the price of a litre of drinking water to US$0.17.
So if you use 45 litres of drinking water a month, you will pay US$13 for bottled water and only US$0.16 with a LifeStraw or US$7.65 with the Grayl. So purifying water will save you money.
Drinking safe water in countries without clean tap water
Not all countries in the world provide tap water which is safe to drink, like for example India or Vietnam. Sometimes the tap water is also just not safe for tourists because we have different digestive gut bacteria. In those cases, it is more than helpful to have a water purifier with you. It also saves you from carrying heavy bottles of water.
Perfect for remote multi-day hikes
If you’re a fan of remote multi-day hikes, you’re going to love having a water purifier with you. With one of these, you can drink water directly from rivers, lakes and other freshwater sources without fear of catching any diseases like, for example, Beaver Fever. Furthermore, it is way lighter to carry a water purifier in your backpack than litres and litres of water.
Top 5 water purifier for travel
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LifeStraw
Filters: Bacteria and protozoa (other products of the LifeStraw family also filter viruses)
Filter method(s): Hollow fibre membrane
Filter Lifespan: 4000 litres
Cost per litre: 0.375 cents
Weight: 54g
Price US: CLICK HERE
Price outside of the US: CLICK HERE
LifeStraw is one of the most famous and well known portable water purifiers on the market. While this product marketed itself as a portable water purification system specially designed with travellers and outdoor folk in mind, it also offered a solution to provide safe drinking water to people living in developing countries.
Over 4 million LifeStraws have been distributed for humanitarian aid since 2005. In fact, for every LifeStraw sold, the company supports one school child with safe drinking water for a whole year. This makes it pretty much the best water purifier for saving the world! 
The original LifeStraw works basically like a normal straw, except that it also purifies and filters the used water and removes the majority of hazardous microbes. You can check out the LifeStraw Evidence Dossier if you want to get a more detailed overview of what it filters
We use the LifeStraw and highly recommend it for every outdoor enthusiast and backpacker who plans to visit places without safe drinking water. The purifier is especially advantageous for remote and rural areas. It has been developed with the individual user in mind. We think that the LifeStraw might just be the best water purifier for hiking in remote areas.
SteriPen
Filters: Viruses, bacteria and protozoa
Filter method(s): UV light
Filter Lifespan: 8000 litres
Cost per litre: 7.8 cents
Weight: 108g
Price US: CLICK HERE
Price outside of the US: CLICK HERE
The SteriPen is one of the best water purifier for home use or if you love to drink from your own water bottle (I absolutely love my KleanKanteen bottle!). The concept is very simple. You put the SteriPen in the water vessel of your choice, activate it and then stir it 48 seconds for half a litre of water or 90 seconds for a whole litre of water.
The UV light deactivates the DNA of 99.9% of the microbes found in water and makes them impotent and harmless for the human body. It works on bacteria, viruses and protozoa. A light will signal that it’s safe to drink the water. 
The only 2 flaws of the SteriPen are the absence of a mechanical filter and that you need 4 AA batteries for its operation. Because of that, we mainly recommend the SteriPen for a domestic use (cleaning tap water that’s otherwise not safe to drink).
Sawyer Mini Water Filter
Filters: Bacteria and protozoa
Filter method(s): Hollow fibre membrane
Filter Lifespan: about 380’000 litres
Cost per litre: about 0.27 cents (depends on how long the device survives)
Weight: 50g
Price US: CLICK HERE
Price outside of the US: CLICK HERE
The Sawyer Mini Water Filter is probably one of the best water purifier for travel you can get. With a filter lifespan of about 380’000 litres and a price of only around US$20, this cheap water purifier gets you a lot bang for your buck.
What also makes this water purifier a great choice is its versatility. You can attach it to a Sawyer Squeeze Pouch or water bladder and drink directly from the filter, screw it on a standard disposable 28mm PET bottle, use the straw attachment to drink directly from a water source or use the filter on a hydration pack. This versatility makes the Sawyer one of the best water purification systems for backpacking. The Sawyer Mini Water Filter is definitely a serious contender for the LifeStraw and we can recommend it to anyone looking for a versatile water purifier.
The Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier
Filters: Bacteria, viruses, protozoa, heavy metals, chemicals and particulates
Filter method(s): Ultra-powdered activated carbon and electro-adsorption
Filter Lifespan: 150 litres
Cost per litre: 17 cents
Weight: 209g
Price US: CLICK HERE
Price outside of the US: CLICK HERE
The Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier is the heaviest water purifier on our list. It is also the most expensive with a cost of 17 cents per litre. The filter lifespan is also comparably low. So what makes us choose this product as one of the best water purifier for backpacking?
For one, it’s the fact that this awesome gadget filters not only bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, but also chemicals, heavy metals, and particulates. This makes this water purifier one of the safest portable purifier on the market. 
It basically works like a French press and purifies a little under 500ml per load. This limits its use and we recommend taking a collapsible water bottle for refills with you if you decide to obtain this water purifier. We think the Grayl is the best water purifier for camping.
Aqua Pure Traveller
Filters: Bacteria, viruses, protozoa, heavy metals and chemicals
Filter method(s): Electro-adsorption
Filter Lifespan: 350 litres
Cost per litre: 14 cents
Weight: 120g
Price US: CLICK HERE
Price outside of the US: CLICK HERE
The Aqua Pure Traveller is, like the Grayl, a bottle water purifier for travel. Compared to the Grayl, it holds more water (600ml), is lighter and has a slightly better general cost per litre. It consists of two parts. The lid also serves as the filter, while the bottle is made from a soft squeezable plastic. To filter the water, you basically just squeeze it out of the bottle.
Because the filter lifespan is limited to only 350 litres, we recommend this product for people who only use it sporadically for holidays. For long-term travellers, we recommend getting a device with a longer filter lifespan. However, the Aqua Pure Traveller is probably still the best water purifier bottle for travel on the market.
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Alternative Methods to purify water
Of course, having a water purifier for travel is not the only mean of making water safer to drink. There are also a lot of alternatives. Sometimes it can be even safer to use two methods combined.
We always have some emergency water purifier tabs with us when we travel. Those are perfect for when your portable water purifier is broken. Those chlorine tablets work very well and are worldwide used by organisations like UNICEF or the military. On Amazon you can find water purification tabs for a very affordable price.
In Thailand and some other countries, you can sometimes find reverse osmosis machines which are a great alternative to bottled water as well. We used them for two months in Chiang Mai and never got sick. That said, they don’t always look very well maintained, so we can’t vouch for the safety of all of them.
A reverse osmosis machine like you can find in Thailand
Another well-known tip is to boil the water first. The WHO states, that to boil water and then let it naturally cool down is sufficient enough to inactivate bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
As a last resort, you could also just go to a shop and get some bottled water. If you can’t avoid this, then try to get the biggest bottles you possibly can, to reduce the surplus of plastic waste you would generate with smaller bottles. Try to find somewhere you can recycle them, rather than throwing them in a bin.
If you want to learn more about various ways to purify water head over to this interesting Wikipedia page.
Featured Image by Cia Gould on Unsplash
