- [Narrator] Behold, the Life Straw.
But where did it come from?
Meet Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen,
born in Denmark in 1973.
Mikkel is the grandson of the founder of
Vestergaard Frandsen, a family
company that got its start
manufacturing uniforms
in Denmark a little over
50 years ago.
After graduating from high
school, Mikkel backpacked
across the world, searching
for the next big business idea.
Somewhere amid his
globetrotting adventures,
Mikkel was struck by
the importance of water,
especially clean water.
What would the world be
like if everyone had access
to a reliable supply of
uncontaminated water?
He found his hidden
genius in the Life Straw.
The Life Straw is basically
a human powered water filter.
When a person sucks water
into the straw, it passes
through several elements.
First, water goes through two
layers of super fine mesh.
The spaces in these meshes are
tiny enough to stop bacteria.
After the water passes through
these filters, it enters
a chamber of iodine pellets.
Then it passes through an
empty chamber on the way
to the final passage
through activated charcoal
which removes the iodine taste.
This process eliminates
99.9% of bacteria and viruses
making water much safer for
tourists and the millions
of people across the world
without access to clean water.
