Buying guide for best water filter straws
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Have you ever been lost in the wilderness? Been out of contact far beyond civilization? Wondered if you’d ever make it back? Or have you been on an easy trail hike and realized you didn’t bring enough water?
Either way, a water filter straw has got you covered.
Water filter straws, as their name implies, are drinking implements that integrate a filter or system of filters to trap pathogens and impurities. With a good water filter straw in your pocket or pack, you can collect fresh water wherever you may find it — a stream, a lake, rain, melted ice — and drink from it with a lot less to worry about going in your system.
There’s an important caveat to this. Many water filter straws are filters, not purifiers. They have membranes that trap bacteria, protozoans and other microorganisms that often cause disease or illness. They also trap many microplastics and a lot of grit and sediment. What they may not do is trap chemicals or poisons, nor will they be able to get most viruses. For that, you need to specifically look for water purifiers.
Then again, as long as you’re smart about what you drink from, water filter straws can do a great job. We’ve tested water filter straws in the BestReviews Testing Lab, going on hikes and drinking from streams and lakes. Not only are we still here, but the water looked and tasted great.
Our picks for the best water filter straws follow. The best one, in our estimation, is the Sawyer Products MINI Water Filtration System, which combines top testing results with a truly impressive filter lifespan.
Editors’ picks
Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System
Editors’ Favorite
Dimensions: 5” L x 1” W x 1” H | Weight: 2 ounces | Filter Pore Size: 0.1 microns | Filter Life: 100,000 gallons
For the best experience getting clean water on the go, consider the Sawyer Mini Filter Straw. It can go straight in a stream or screw onto a bottle and catch all kinds of bugs and particles before they enter your system. We tested it ourselves on several trips and hikes, and we were not let down.
At 5 inches long, an inch thick and 2 ounces in weight, the Sawyer Mini lives up to its name. You won’t be bothered carrying it around in your parka, jacket or pack. Its 0.1 absolute pore-size hollow-fiber membrane filter is designed to catch 100% of microplastics in the water you drink, as well as 99.99999% of disease-causing bacteria and 99.9999% protozoa. No amoebas here. It has an approximate flow rate of 0.5 to 1 L/min and comes with a drinking bladder. It can also fit water bottles with a 28-millimeter opening.
The Sawyer Mini isn’t actually perfect. It would be nice to have a carbon filter to take out chemicals and heavy metals. Also, its impressive lifespan is aided by the need to clean and backwash it regularly. Still, in our testing, it provided fresh-tasting water sip after sip, and after a dozen trips it still worked as good as ever.
Practical Survival High-Capacity Water Straws
Great Value
Dimensions: 8” L x 1.5” W x 1.5” H | Weight: 2 ounces | Filter Pore Size: 0.1 microns | Filter Life: 1,800 gallons
If you need to outfit your whole family with a water filter straw, or you want a straw to stash in several emergency kits, you can do it for less with the Practical Survival Reusable Emergency Water Filter Straws 5-Pack.
Each filter straw in the five-straw pack is 8 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. They feature hollow fiber membrane filters with 0.1-micron pore sizes, rated to catch 99.99% of microorganisms, such as bacteria and protozoans, as well as sediment and microplastics. Each straw comes with a syringe for backwashing. The filters are estimated to have an 1,800-gallon lifespan.
Like other water filter straws in our lineup, the Practical Survival 5-pack straws lack carbon filters, so they don’t filter out heavy metals, volatiles or other chemicals. Practical Survival also isn’t as well known as Sawyer or LifeStraw.
LifeStraw Peak Series Personal Water Filter
Best Emergency Straw
Dimensions: 7.7” L x 1.26” W x 1.26” H | Weight: 2.3 ounces | Filter Pore Size: 0.2 microns | Filter Life: 1,000 gallons
When you’re out in the wild and you need to drink water fast, you can protect yourself from parasites and grit with the LifeStraw Peak Series Personal Water Filter. It’s rugged, versatile and could be a lifesaver if you’re far from known water sources.
The LifeStraw Peak is 7.7 inches long and 1.26 inches in diameter. At 2.3 ounces, it’s not heavy but it’s a bit more rugged than our other picks. It’s designed with two caps so you can drink water straight from the source, or you can thread it to a gravity bag or 28-millimeter water bottle.
Its 0.2-micron pore size filters out some 99.999999% of bacteria and 99,999% of parasites, although it is larger than the pore sizes of some of our other picks. On the other hand, its bigger pore size gives it a gulpworthy 2.5 L/min flow rate, so filtered water flows faster to you.
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter
Small but Mighty
Dimensions: 9” L x 1” W x 1” H | Weight: 1.6 ounces | Filter Pore Size: 0.2 microns | Filter Life: 1,000 gallons
The LifeStraw Personal is designed for simplicity itself: All you need to do is put one end of it in fresh water, and drink. We tried it on a murky river, and not only did we not get sick, but we thought the water looked and tasted wonderful, too.
The LifeStraw Personal measures 9 inches long and an inch in diameter. That extra length helps considering how it’s meant to be used: like a real straw. Just place one end in water, and drink through the other. This makes it supremely simple if you have water in a cup, bowl, glass or pot. It’s a little bit harder if you’re bent over a running stream.
With a 0.2-micron pore size, the LifeStraw Personal can catch 99.999999% of bacteria and 99.999% of protozoans, as well as microplastics and dirt down to 1 micron. It has a 2.1 L/min flow rate.
LifeStraw Peak Series Solo Personal Water Filter
Best for Ultralight Backpackers
Dimensions: 5” L x 1.3” W x 1.3” H | Weight: 1.7 ounces | Filter Pore Size: 0.2 microns | Filter Life: 500 gallons
Sitting between LifeStraw’s Peak and Personal models, the LifeStraw Peak Solo aims for portability most of all. It’s the obvious choice when weight, size, portability and ease of drinking are paramount.
The LifeStraw Peak Solo’s 5-inch length and 1.3-inch diameter makes it noticeably compact next to siblings and rivals. You’ll be hard-pressed to stick this in a stream and drink from it. By the same token, its size or lack thereof makes it convenient to use when screwed onto compatible 28-millimeter water-bottle mouths. At 1.7 ounces, it can hardly weigh down even ultralight backpackers.
A flow rate measured at some 3.0 L/min means the Peak Solo is notably easy to drink from. It can fill a 1-liter bottle in 20 seconds, so you’re always topped up. Its 0.2-micron pore size filters out 99.999999% of bacteria, 99.999% of parasites and 99.999% of microplastics.
How water filter straws work
Watermakeer straws are similar to water filters and filtered water bottles. They are compact, fairly lightweight, and reusable.
- Most water filter straws use a hollow fiber membrane to remove additional bacteria. These membranes remove harmful bacteria and other microorganisms by catching them in porous tubes that allow water to pass through.
- In addition to a hollow filter membrane, some straws also use carbon filters to remove harmful bacteria and protozoan cysts found in freshwater sources. This makes most water safe to drink, whether you are drinking right from the source or from a bottle of unfiltered water.
- A prefilter, which many straws include, removes larger particles, like silt and mud, to further clean your water and protect the carbon and hollow fiber membrane filters. If you are drinking from murky water, a prefilter is a must-have.
- A water filter straw relies on manual effort to force water through the straw This can make drinking tiring, but it’s also a simple system that takes no prior experience to use. Some filter straws can connect to gravity bags that force water down through the filter by weight. This can be convenient if filtering water isn’t urgent.
Key considerations
Your water filter straw should be portable, easy to use, and capable of protecting you from the bacteria in the area you are traveling in. Before you purchase a water filter straw, you should carefully research the region you will be in to find out what bacteria, parasites, and viruses are found in its water.
Filters vs. purifiers
Most water filter straws — true to their name — are filters, not purifiers. There’s a real difference between these two types of systems, so it’s an important one that you should consider before making a purchase.
- Filters remove most bacteria and protozoan from water, in addition to other impurities to improve taste. For most travel in the U.S. and Canada, this is a sufficient system for making freshwater drinkable.
- Purifiers remove everything that filters do, but they also remove viruses that may be found in some water sources. If you are not sure whether you need a filter or a purifier, you should research the area you intend to travel to.
Micron rating
Water filter straws should list a micron rating. This rating is a number stating the size of the pores used in its hollow filter membranes. Look for micron ratings of 0.1 to 0.2 microns to filter out most bacteria and protozoa in water you plan to drink. Filters at this micron rating also catch many microplastics and sediment particles.
Weight and size
While most water filter straws are fairly compact, they do vary in size and weight, and every ounce counts when you’re hiking long distances and carrying all of your gear. Most water filter straws range in length from 6 to 9 inches and weigh between 2 and 6 ounces. Sometimes a light straw doesn’t mean a short straw.
Lifespan
Any water filter has a lifespan. As particles and bacteria are filtered out of the water, the filter itself will begin to clog and lose effectiveness. When water becomes difficult to draw through the straw, it’s time to clean it, but eventually you’ll have to get a new filter.
The lifespan of a straw is measured in the number of gallons it can safely filter before it loses effectiveness. Straws can handle anywhere from 20 to 100,000 gallons of water before they need to be replaced. Keep in mind that values like 2,000 or 4,000 gallons is a maximum lifespan, and it’s likely you’ll need to replace the filter before then.
Some straws have multiple filters of different types, one filter may expire before the other. Other filter straws have built-in filters that can’t be replaced. When the filter’s maximum lifetime is reached, you should chuck the whole straw.
Cleaning
Being able to clean the filter in a water filter straw extends its usable lifespan and helps keep it operating at its best. Backwashing runs water the opposite way through the filter, carrying off accumulated particulates. Check if a water filter straw is capable of being backwashed, and remember just because backwashing works on one model, it may not work the same way on another.
Features
Additional accessories
Many water filter straws come with accessories to make drinking or purifying easier.
- A water pouch allows you to easily collect water so you can filter on the go rather than having to drink at the source.
- Cleaning syringes can be filled with clean water and used to flush the filter, removing any debris that would render the filter ineffective.
- A carrying case allows you to easily transport the straw and keeps it clean while you travel. A less bulky case is generally better, as it is easier to fit into your backpack.
Water bottle compatibility
A water filter straw may have threading at the entry point that can connect to a water bottle or an included water pouch. Not only does this allow you to turn compatible water bottles into convenient vessels for unfiltered water, but if you can squeeze the bottle, you’ll need less effort on your part to get water through the straw. We definitely liked this feature during our testing, as some straws forced us to bend down to the water directly.
Water filter straw prices
Inexpensive: For $10 to $20, you can buy water filter straws with one or two filtration systems. These often need their filters replaced after a few hundred gallons of water, and they may not come with cleaning tools or other accessories.
Mid-range: In the $20 to $40 range are water filter straws that may have two or three filters. Straws in this range often include useful accessories and may be good for thousands of gallons of water.
Expensive: High-end water filter straws for $40 and up may also serve as water purifiers and can often handle hundreds of thousands of gallons before their filters need replacing. These filters often have extremely low micron ratings of .02 or .01.
Tips
- Pick fresh water to begin with. Water filter straws can catch a lot of things you can’t see, but the first step should always be evaluating your water source first. Is it clear? Does it smell? Is it near known contaminants? Look for fresh, clear, flowing water to begin with, and your water filter straw will be additional peace of mind.
- If you have a straw that can attach to a bottle, a bottle that can be squeezed makes it easier to pull water through the straw.
- The membranes of water filter straws can be damaged if the water inside them freezes. Make sure the straw is empty in below-freezing temperatures.
- Most water filter straws have a limited number of uses before they need to be cleaned. If you are taking a long trip, bring all necessary cleaning tools with you so you can continue to drink clean water.
- If a water filter straw requires filter replacements, consider the additional price of extra filters when choosing a water filter straw.
- Most water filter straws usually cannot filter chemicals. If this is a concern, a backpacking water filter may be needed.
How we tested
We tested water filter straws in the real world, taking them to outdoor fresh water sources and using them to drink. We evaluated them on the taste and appearance of the filtered water, the kind of filter they used and their ease of use. We researched pore size, filter lifespan and flow rate, and compared size and portability, highly important for seasoned outdoor enthusiasts. Finally, we checked customer reviews, evaluated verifiability of filtration claims and compared price.
FAQ
Q. How do I clean my water filter straw?
A. You should always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, but in most cases, you can use a syringe (often included) to push clean water through the mouthpiece of the straw. This process is known as “backflushing” and can prolong the lifespan of the straw. The mouthpiece and entry point of the straw can be cleaned with soap and water.
Q. Can a water filter straw without a bottle attachment still be used with a water bottle?
A. As long as the mouthpiece is kept away from the unfiltered water, you can drink from any water container.
Q. Aside from regular usage, can water filter straws expire?
A. Yes, and most manufacturers list the expected shelf life. To keep yourself safe, you should discard expired straws.
