A group of inventors, engineers and craftsmen with a passion for quality and durability took to Kickstarter to raise funds and introduce their newly developed Titanium personal water filters designed for the outdoor market.
The members of Go Walkabout have invented the Australian Walkabout Ti filters which are designed to withstand the stresses of cold nights, hot days, packing and unpacking, and if they succeed in their Kickstarter campaign, the world would get to see its first Titanium personal water filter.
“We have made and tested filters using a number of different metals. We know that weight, size and ruggedness are always considerations when looking at outdoor gear, so decided to use Titanium for the Walkabout line of personal water filters. Titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal. It is also the most hypoallergenic material known and doesn’t add any flavour to the water you drink,” said Go Walkabout Engineering Manager Matt Munoz.
According to the press release on the PR Wire, the core of the Walkabout Ti filters is formed by a titanium filtration membrane, which is sealed inside a tough titanium casing and can be safely frozen or boiled.
The filtration process involves pre-filtration and filtration stages to hold back harmful bacteria and particles. On the larger filter an activated carbon filtration stage removes chlorine, heavy metals and odours. The flexible and lightweight filtration system can be used in a variety of ways such as a squeeze filter, gravity filter, pumped filter, filter straw, or as an inline filter.
“Since the filters are Titanium inside and out, the only real weak point is the O-ring seal. With this in mind, Go Walkabout has designed in an integrity indicator. This means that if a seal starts leaking, water drips out of the filter instead of through to the clean side,” it says in the press release.
One of the problems facing the Go Walkabout team is the cost of manufacturing of the filters, which has proved to be uneconomical, making Walkabout Ti filters too expensive to be a good value in the outdoor gear market.
However, Go Walkabout has determined that minimal addition tolling and equipment will result in the production of readily affordable filters, and adequate funding through their Kickstarter campaign will allow Go Walkabout to purchase the needed material and tools.
The funding target for this campaign is $48,000, and it will close on 18 November, 2014. The filters are being offered in their campaign below the expected retail price.
