The LARQ water bottle is the answer! It's the answer that many travellers face on how to access clean drinking water while reducing the dependence of plastic water bottles. As travellers, how many times have we seen beautiful beaches and scenic national parks only to be littered with plastic rubbish? Then again, how many times have we arrived to a country to be told ‘don’t drink the tap water’? Now we have one solution.
Disclaimer first. LARQ approached me and asked if I would be interested in doing a product review. I said yes, as long as I’m allowed to write my honest review, with the good and not so good points. I’m not interested in skewing my review just because I got a free product. They responded that they respect honest opinions as they have complete confidence in their product. So, here we go.
Types of LARQ water bottles
LARQ offers two types of bottles (each with two size options). Both use the same technology but have the following differences in design:
LARQ Bottle | LARQ Bottle Movement | |
|---|---|---|
SIZE - WEIGHT | 500ml - 380gr (17oz - 13.5oz) or 740ml - 500gr (25oz - 17oz) | 710ml - 300gr (24oz - 10.7oz ) or 950ml - 350gr (32oz - 12.5oz) |
CONSTRUCTION DESIGN | Double-wall vacuum insulation. | Single-wall construction. |
INSULATION EFFECTIVENESS | Keep hot water for 12hrs. Keep cold water for 24hrs. | No insulation. But LARQ do sell insulation covers |
This review is based on the 710mL/24oz LARQ Bottle Movement.
I chose LARQ Bottle Movement as its 200gr/4.5oz lighter than the equivalent sized insulated bottle. Travelling light as possible is important for me. Also, insulation is not that essential when you consider the disposable bottled water you buy is also non-insulated. You can always buy an insulation sleeve.
Plus, as I tend to buy the 600-750ml sized bottled water, I find this size ample for me while touring during the day. I can always fill it up at restaurants, cafes and water fountains.
What is unique about LARQ water bottle
Self-contained water purification system
It’s the first time I’ve seen a portable water purification system incorporated into the bottle itself. On previous travels I used my SteriPEN. It’s a little device that I insert and stir into a bottle or glass of water. It uses UV technology to purify the water.
The only drawback is that that the ‘pen’ section is not long enough to reach down the spout of a plastic bottled water and stir. You really need either a wide-mouth water bottle to pour into or a jug/glass to purify in and then pour back into the plastic water bottle.
LARQ water bottle on the other hand has the UV technology located in the bottles’ lid itself. That’s one less item that I have to carry, plus the AA batteries. The SteriPEN can stay at home.
Self-cleaning
Another unique benefit is that it’s a self-cleaning water bottle. The lid intelligently activates every 2 hours for 10 seconds, to bask the water and inner surface with UV light. I always knew when it was self-cleaning because the blue light activated on the lid.
So I tested this by bringing my water bottle to work as I work in very dusty conditions. I drive dump trucks in the Australian mining industry. The job helps with funding my travels!! With my current water bottle, I have to continually wash the lid and spout to remove the dust.
But after using the LARQ water bottle for three months, I noticed it was always clean. There was never any dirt or dust. The website recommends you can hand wash with warm soapy water every so often. You only need to occasionally wipe the mouth area as the UV-C light doesn’t reach that section.
How does LARQ water bottle work
The bottles’ lid contains propriety UV-C LED technology to emit UV-C light into the water. It helps eradicate up to 99.9999% of germs by destroying the DNA in bacteria, viruses and protozoa.
According to LARQs website, the technology has been tested by independent third-party labs and is effective against germs such as E.coli, salmonella, staph and MRSA. Please note that it does not remove heavy metals or fluoride.
Unfortunately I can’t confirm these claims as I don’t have a lab and I’m not a scientist. I have to accept on face value the lab test results conducted by Harrens in California. The only type of test I can do is put my body on the line with on-the-road testing.
How to use the LARQ water bottle
All the controls are located on the lid. The system is easy to use.
- Fill up the bottle with water to just below where the curve begins on the bottle (to leave a gap between the water level and the cap technology).
- Press the centre of the lid once to activate the cleaning the cycle.
- Give the bottle a couple of swirls to agitate the water a bit.
And in 60 seconds, you have purified water.
The functions
Press centre of lid | Activates | Light indicator on lid |
|---|---|---|
Once | Normal mode – 1 minute cleaning cycle | Blue light in waves |
Double tap | Adventure mode – uses higher dose of UVC light in a 3 minute cleaning cycle. Use for extra safety or if unsure about quality of water. | Blue light flashes |
No action required | Maintenance mode – every 2 hours the UVC light will automatically activate a 10 second clean. | Blue light in waves |
Hold for 5 seconds | Travel mode – deactivates the self-cleaning mode. Recommended for extended storage or to conserve battery life. Hold for 5 seconds again to re-activate. (it functions like a Lock/Unlock setting) | Two blue light flashes. |
Charging
The best part is you don't have to carry batteries. Because the lid contains a rechargeable lithium polymer battery. Simply charge it via the supplied micro-USB cable. The micro socket is located on the side of the lid.
Their website claims that 1 charge lasts up to one month. I found this to be true, lasting 4 weeks for me. I tested this by using the water bottle every day, mostly activating the normal cleaning cycle once a day in the morning and never turning it off. Plus I did notice sometimes it was activating the maintenance mode (self clean) automatically as I saw the blue light flash on the lid at random times.
The website does mention that if you use the Adventure Mode, it may last 10-12 days.
Check out my video for a full testing review and how to use.
Click to play
Benefits/Cons analysis
Conclusion – LARQ water bottle gets thumbs up
For me this a real game changer while travelling. I dislike buying plastic water bottles as I want to refrain from adding rubbish to the environment. But I also don’t want to risk drinking contaminated water. So the LARQ bottle solves both issues. I will definitely be bringing this water bottle on future travels – once Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted of course.
Yes, it does look good but it’s also useful and practical for travelling. And that matters to me the most.
It is more expensive than other water bottles but it’s much cheaper than buying a SteriPEN. The fact that it may help prevent you from getting sick and ruining your holiday, I think the cost is justifiable. Nothing worse than being confined to your bed while everyone else is enjoying the day.
Therefore I recommend ditching the single use plastic bottles and buy the LARQ bottle. Note, I will update this post with further testing once I fly internationally again.
Great things you’ve always shared with us. Just keep writing this kind of posts.
The depth of the content is truly extraordinary. Pure water is essential to stay healthy. Otherwise, various diseases will take root in our bodies. So drink pure water and live a healthy life.
Agree. Well nothing is pure unless its rainwater (without pollution)! But we do need to drink water as pure and clean as we can.
Hello, have you tested this in other places yet? Thanks!
Hi Shea. Although I havent been overseas yet, I have tested it in two other places in my home state of Western Australia. I did a road trip and the only water I could find was a dirty old tap in a dirty toilet block in an outback country town. So I filled up my water bottle and did the swirl. The water tasted just fine and I didnt get sick. The other place was a tap connected to bore/ground water in a remote national park. Unfortunately, after putting it through the water bottle, the water still tasted foul. It might have been clean but it tasted so disgusting I threw the water out. So I dont recommend to use it for ground/bore water – it wont alter the taste!
Great review! Thank you!
You’re welcome.
How long does water stay cold in this one, since it is not insulated? Thanks!
I took the bottle with me on a trip 3 weeks ago and it kept the water just above room temp for the whole day – as long as I didnt leave it in direct sunlight. However, when I use a water bottle jacket (made of wet suit material), it keeps the water cool all day. Unfortunately I forgot to bring it with me on my holiday! So although its not insulated on the inside, you can still insulate it on the outside with wet suit jacket. Larq does sell bottle jackets but I use the ones from my Onya water bottle as they fit just nicely anyway.