What an unusual product launch to have been invited to, and what an interesting venue for client Aqua4Life to have chosen to launch its LifeStraw water filtration product on Thursday.

When we arrived at Le Roi Beach Bar in Camps Bay, the previous one half of Blues, we saw a pack lying on the table where the media goodie bags were displayed too. Made by Vestergaard, a Swiss company, the LifeStraw is a chemical-free filter which makes contaminated water safe to drink.  The product has been tested by the SABS, and equivalent international standards bodies, and removes ‘bacteria, protozoan cysts and turbidity from water’, according to the media release we received.   Aqua4Life has the exclusive rights to selling the product in Southern African countries, which comes in three sizes: the Personal portable filters up to 1000 litres; Go (in a water bottle) filters up to 1000 litres; and Home unit filters up to 4500 litres.  Aqua4Life MD Nico Germishuizen, said: ‘We have a plethora of projects lined up for the implementation of LifeStraw in poorer communities with little or no access to any water sources. Our foremost quest in southern Africa is to save and change the lives of those most desperately in need of clean, running water. We now need role players to step up and help us change those people’s lives’.   The product appears to have been around for a number of years already, and was named by Time magazine as the ‘Best Innovation of 2005‘.  The company is partnering with Rotary International, the Red Cross, the World Health Organisation, US Aid, and our government to provide clean water to those needing it.   On the company website, I found the prices for this innovative product range: R199 for Personal, R399 for Go, and R1999 for the Home unit. Continue reading →