I finally purchased a water filter!
The 550ml Water-to-Go Sugarcane Bottle.
Happily drinking from the rivers of Kyrgystan.
It was long overdue, having adventured to plenty of places overseas where there’s water that’s…yea, not the safest to drink. But the same goes with hiking in NZ, there’s no shortage of news about our polluted rivers.
And rather than going dehydrated, buying dozens of plastic bottles and/or risking sickness, a bottle that filters out 99.99+% of the baddies makes sense.
I’m not going to lie, I was nervous the first time I used the filter in water that I 100% wouldn’t drink untreated. I didn’t get sick and so since that first occasion, all is good.
What water filter system did I purchase?
I went with the Water-to-Go Sugarcane Travel Bottle (550ml), and this is my review. You’ll learn about what I like and dislike about the bottle having used it throughout Europe and Central Asia thus far.
If you want to buy one, this is the exact one I’ve got (affiliate link). And you can use code Alice20 at checkout for 20% off.
Note: I’m not going to get into the finer details of what it does/doesn’t filter…how it works etc. Click the link above to look at the finer details.
WHAT I LIKE
- The bottle is secure in side mesh pockets
- Solid flow rate
- The plastic is made from sugarcane, and is durable
- I can fill up my soft flasks
- Good customer support
MADE FROM SUGARCANE YET DURABLE
Sugarcane takes me back to good times in India drinking freshly squeezed sugarcane juice (until I had too much sometimes and make myself feel sick). But environmentally wise, sugarcane is a solid option from what I can tell. In terms of it being plastic made from sugarcane, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to break anytime soon.
The website states “As durable as regular plastic and machine washable. Plastic from plants, not petroleum!”
I’m not precious with my gear, and the bottle has had a tough life being transported around the world on all forms of transport. Along with me squeezing the bottle plenty of times to get water into my flasks.
So far, it’s holding up to the test.
SOLID FLOW RATE
This is one of those, ugh, things you just have to deal with when using a water filter. You can’t just fill up the bottle and chug 500ml of water to play catch up on hydration. But having used my friends filters in the past from other brands, the Water-to-Go seems to hold up.
I CAN FILL UP MY SOFT FLASKS
I was considering getting a Katadyn BeFree Filter, as I love soft flasks for hiking and running. But I wasn’t quite sure how it would hold up durability wise, which was more points for the Water-to-Go option.
What I have been doing is filling up my Water-to-Go bottle, then squeezing the water through the filter into my soft flasks…and while it’s not a fluid process, it’s a good excuse to stop and rest.
FYI, I can fill up a 500ml soft flask in less than 2 minutes if I’m focused.
I did check with the Water-to-Go support team about using the bottle to fill my flasks as I did see they say on the website:
“Water-to-Go bottles are designed to purify water as your drink. They are not designed to fill another vessel. You can easily get water from the bottle to brush your teeth but filling a glass or pot is not recommended.”
I got the following response:
“It wasn’t designed for that function. It can do it, but there are better products on the market for it. So if people are comparing the products their expectations shouldn’t be for the same performance as the other products.”
So that’s something to consider…but it works for me while travelling and exploring!
THE BOTTLE IS SECURE IN THE SIDE MESH POCKETS
Thanks to the design where it starts wider at the base and gets smaller at the top it fits securely in the mesh pocket of my Macpac Rapaki 22l pack (and same when I’ve used it on my bigger Salomon 36L pack for overnight adventures.
It’s been tossed around, and while I always check it’s still in my bag, that’s me being over protective. The size is perfect.
GOOD CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Through my work with Macpac (who sell LifeStraw and Sawyer filters), I’ve had to contact the respective suppliers a couple of times due to warranty issues. And getting responses isn’t always easy. But in my personal emails to the Water-To-Go team, they’ve been super responsive and answered my questions (as seen above).
Granted, I haven’t had to deal with a warranty issue with them as of yet…but I have no reason to believe they’d suddenly ghost me because of that.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE
THE TOP PART NEAR THE MOUTHPIECE GETS DIRTY
It’s not a major, but if you’re a germophobe (unlikely if you’re willing to drink dirty water through a filter?), you might not like how often the section in the photo above gets dirty. It’s not a big deal and quick wipe with my finger to get most of it off is good enough for me. But it’s something to be aware of.
CAN’T ADD ELECTROLYTES
I haven’t heard of a filter that can figure this out yet, but if a company could design a filter water bottle that you could add electrolytes too…without clogging the filter…tell me.
It’s a moonshot, but why not! For now I’ll continue filtering the water into my soft flasks and add Vita Sport sachets to them.
