The best water filter bottles for every trip

The popular LifeStraw Go bottles are BPA-free, reusable, and they can remove most waterborne bacteria and protozoan parasites. These water bottles are ideal for bringing along on holidays or camping trips where you’re unsure of the quality of water.

You can scoop water straight from streams, lakes, rivers, or puddles. LifeStraw’s hollow fibre membrane removes the bacteria and parasites, while its activated carbon filter is able to reduce odour and chlorine, providing you with clean water without any aftertaste. And both filters can be easily replaced.

For every bottle sold, a school child in need will receive safe drinking water for a full school year, so you can feel good about buying a LifeStraw Go.  

While all reusable bottles are eco-friendly, the pH Hydrate is plastic free. Made by Invigorated Water, a top purifying brand, it also lives up to its name.

It has an alkaline water filter, in which there's a little pouch of goodness-dispensing pebbles. The filter removes heavy metals, chlorine, and fluoride while also increasing the pH and adding minerals that include zinc, magnesium, selenium, and iron.

Just be aware that this bottle doesn't claim to remove bacteria or other pathogens, so it's not made for filtering water from natural sources. Also keep in mind that since the pH Hydrate is glass, it weighs more than other bottles on this list.

It's safe to say we all love reusable bottles, but that musty smell that gets trapped inside between washes is the absolute worst. The LARQ PureVis bottle works to combat that smell with an advanced purification system.

While other bottles run the water through a filter straw, LARQ filters your water with a UV light that coats the inner surface. Just press the top of the cap to activate the purification process. It neutralises 99.99% of harmful germs and the battery lasts up to one month on a single charge. 

It also self-cleans every two hours unless you choose to put it in travel mode, which locks the system in order to conserve battery. It essentially takes filtered water a step further by ensuring the bottle you're drinking from is also clean.

A reusable bottles can save up to 400 single-use plastic bottles. Not only that, but you'll be saving money as well. Because not every reusable bottle costs the earth — even a filtered bottle. The Brita Filter Bottle Active comes from one of the top brands in water filtering and costs under £12.

It uses a filter disc with PureTaste technology, which not only reduces impurities and unwanted elements, but ensures that any water from any tap tastes fresh. It does mean some rolling costs as the filter discs do need replacing, but they're cheap in the long run, giving you around 60 litres of filtered water per disc. It's a matter of pennies.

The robust, lightweight build also makes this a great option for the gym. Just throw it your bag and go. It can easily withstand some rough and tumble.

Consider the GRAYL UltraPress the Ferrari of filtered bottles. It eliminates 99.99% of viruses as well as illness-causing bacteria and protozoa cysts — but that’s not all. It’s also able to filter out silt, sediments, chemicals and heavy metals. That makes this a serious piece of kit of serious outdoors types.

Just fill your bottle up — from a lake, puddle, stream, or other source — and press down on the cap. It takes just 10 seconds to filter the full capacity of 500ml of water. It's ideal for bringing on trips where you’re uncertain about the quality of water you’ll have access to, or in the case of an emergency.

Other nice details include a flip-up handle, a multifunctional vented cap, and a RiverFlow spout that allows you to quickly chug your water.

The Philips GoZero is another super cheap option — it costs just a touch more than £10 — and it comes from a brand you can trust. Sure, you probably think of Philips as an electronics brand. So, it stands to reason that this bottle is packed with impressive technology. Even at this price.

The Philips GoZero has an option of two filters. The GoZero Fitness Filter reduces chlorine, lead, and pesticides, turning your tap water fresh and tasty. That makes it a great option for the gym or everyday use.

The Adventure Filter, however, uses electro-absorptive technology to eliminate 99% of viruses and bacteria. That means you can filter water from lakes and streams — perfect for the great outdoors. The catch is that it only comes with the Fitness Filter, so you’ll have to buy the Adventure Filter separately.