H2O-TO-GO for Eurofighter Typhoon pilots

25 September 2007

Royal Air Force Typhoon Eurofighter pilots will now have access to an emergency drinking water facility the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.

The MoD announced it has contracted Pure Hydration,part of BW Technologies Ltd. to supply 600 units of its water purification system. The unit, better known as H2O-TO-GO will equip pilots with water purification technology in case they have to eject from their planes in unknown territory.

The lightweight bottles give pilots and other military personnel the ability to access clean drinking water for several weeks. According to Pure Hydration officials, up to 90 gallons of drinking water can be filtered through the bottle before the filter needs to be changed. The filter removes microscopic pathogens, spores and other dangerous chemicals and metals from water. H2O-TO-GO claims to kills bacteria and other organisms that could harm the user.

The bottle may not fall into good favour with military personnel who have to use it however. The filter contains iodine to purify the water. Personnel have often complained of the bad taste that iodine leaves in water. The filter also takes up to 15 minutes to purify a bottle of water.

Pure Hydration, worked closely with the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support Agency, in order to ensure that the H2O-TO-GO bag fit properly under the pilot's ejector seat.

H2O-TO-GO was tested by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is endorsed by the London Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Water filtration has witnessed a growing market in the defence industry over the last month. In addition to H2O-TO-GO, earleir this month the Lifesaver water bottle was unveiled at the DSEI exhibition in London. The bottle’s makers claimed that it could filter out anything bigger then 15 nanograms and provided good tasting drinking water instantly.