Water to Go Eco Active

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So I was gifted this bottle directly from Water to Go. They reached out to me after my last review of their Active Water Bottle and offered to gift me a bottle in exchange for a review. However, they have not seen this review in advance and have had no say over what I write. They did provide me with an affiliate link but unless stated otherwise all opinions in this review are my own. 

So in terms of design, the Active hasn’t changed much. In fact it’salmost identical to the original Active I reviewed last year. But that’s perfectly fine. Realistically its a water bottle, the old design was great. It was functional, the filters were easy to change, and it filtered water really quickly. So why change what works?

So if the design of the water bottle hasn’t changed, what’s new with this model? Well, that lies in the material. Although it feels the same, instead of using traditional plastic the bottle is now made using plant-friendly materials. Even the filters have been adapted so they are now fully recyclable.

One of the few visual design changes made in the Eco Active is to the lid, which now fully encompasses the spout. This is for hygiene reasons, and a change makes sense. There is little sense in spending all that effort to ensure the water is clean only for the spout to get contaminated.

The bottle and filters are now 100% recyclable, using materials such as sugarcane, wood pulp and vegetable oils for its construction. Water To Go claims it to be their most sustainable bottle to date, with even the packaging made of recycled paper and vegetable ink. I’m not afraid to say sustainability isn’t my area of expertise. So I called my friend Lizet from AWanderFoodWorld to ask for her opinion. Here’s what she had to say:

Each filter is replaceable but lasts for an incredible 200 litres. After this, the filter stops removing taste and smell, but the water will still be completely safe up to 230 litres. Currently, there isn’t an indicator that tells you when you are near the end of a filter’s life, but the change in taste is a good reminder you are due.

If you don’t use a filter, they will still expire naturally. But this takes three years so you have plenty of time to use it.

Swapping to a new filter is really easy, as they just screw in and out of the lid of the bottle. However, you must ensure you activate a filter as it deactivates when dry. To activate the filter, it’s now easier than ever. Just submerge the filter in water for 15 minutes. To deactivate it for storage, just let it dry out. Could not be simpler.

At the time of this review, the Eco Active is £35, which includes one filter. Extra filters start from £13 each but there are discounts for buying multiple (and you can get 15% off with the code BradsBackpack15). Considering a filter is good for 200L, that works out to be 13.3p per litre of clean drinking water. Significantly cheaper than buying bottled water. This will pay itself back in no time at all.

So this new version has replaced my existing Active bottle, which I continued to use after my trip to Bali. It has now become my water bottle for the gym. I did used to use it without the filter (which you can just by unscrewing it from the lid) but I did see someone with Their mouth fully over the tap at the bottle refill and since then the filter has remained on. The filter protects against germs, and I’m not risking picking up anything from there.

The design of the bottle is so that it will work with an active lifestyle. You can easily squeeze it so you can drink water quickly. It’s worth noting that doing so does not affect the filter, so you can drink in peace knowing the water is still safe. If you’re a cyclist it will fit in a bike cage, and for hikers into your backpack mesh pockets.

With the filter, the bottle has been proven to remove 99.9999% of microbiological contaminants, harmful chemicals and heavy metals from water. However, it will not work with salt water so don’t try and use this on a day at the beach. But that is seriously impressive considering this requires no electricity, no moving parts, and it doesn’t take time to filter water like some Brita filters.

So being made of plastic, the Eco Active has no form of temperature control. There is nothing better than an ice-cold drink after a workout or on a hot day. However there is always a workaround. Since this filters out almost all contaminants, that does mean we can break a rule most of us have been taught to live by when travelling. Yes, We can use ice cubes.

Of course they will melt over time, but they will help keep your drink cooler longer. Any microbes in the ice that would usually cause an upset stomach will be filtered out. It isn’t recommended to have flavoured drinks in the Eco Active anyway so you’ll be left with clean pure water, that’s slightly more chilled.