Larq Self Cleaning Water Bottle & Water Purification

We’ve all been through the hassle of contorting our hands into unnatural shapes just to clean the inside of our water bottles. It’s nearly impossible to reach beyond the small mouthpiece and into the depths of the base or under the neck.

As a result, your water bottle is left half clean and susceptible to becoming a breeding ground for unwanted bacteria and viruses. These unwelcome microbes can end up being one of the causes for nasty smells coming from your bottle.

If only there was a water bottle that was capable of self-cleaning and self-purifying your drinking water, so you didn’t have to. Well, you’re in luck.

The   keeps the inside of your water bottle clean (no more trying to fit your hand in a bottle that’s clearly not big enough!) and purifies your drinking water in 60 seconds with — the same sanitizing technology used in hospitals.

Don’t be part of the statistic. More than 1 million plastic bottles are added to the landfill every minute

The technology behind the Larq bottle

The  is a state-of-the-art bottle capable of cleaning itself and purifying the water that’s inside it. It utilizes environmentally-friendly UV-C technology to purify up to 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.99% of viruses when it’s set to its highest mode. The LED light is housed at the base of the bottle’s cap.

Both the bottle and USB port (which I’ll get to later) are waterproof, and the bottle itself is mercury-, BPA-, and phthalate-free. Additionally, the  doesn’t have a filter, so you’ll never have to replace any of the cleaning and purification parts — or at least for a very, very long time (after more than 100,000 uses).

To maximize the reach of the UV-C LED technology, the inside of the water bottle is made from 18/8 stainless steel which reflects the UV light and distributes it in all directions as it passes through the water. That means those places that were once hard to reach, like the base of the bottle and the corners of the neck, can finally get disinfected.

Now that we’ve gotten pasted the innovative technology, the bottle is double-walled and vacuum sealed, so it’s capable of keeping water cold for up to 24 hours and hot for up to 12. My water was the same temperature in the morning as it was when I filled it up before bed.

In terms of aesthetics, there are five colors, and I tried (and loved) the Seaside Mint.

How it works

You’ll first need to charge the Larq before you can use its functions. I plugged the provided USB cord into the waterproof port, went to dinner, and by the time I came back, the bottle was fully charged. Then you’ll need to unlock the bottle by holding down the button on the cap for five seconds. The indicator light should blink white, and when it stops, your water bottle is set up.

From there, you can fill up your bottle from any water source. It’s important to note that the  only purifies water but doesn’t filter it, so any murky or sediment-rich water should be filtered out before to filling up your .

Then, you can either press the button once for Normal Mode or twice for Adventure Mode. It’s advised to use Adventure Mode if you’re purifying water that comes from a non-man made source like rivers or you’re unsure where the source of your drinking water is coming from. No matter which mode you’re on, when you’re purifying the water, the cap will light up blue. During this time, you should lightly shake the bottle to ensure the UV-C light reaches the entire interior, including the water.

After 60 seconds (in Normal Mode) or 3 minutes (in Adventure Mode) of UV exposure, the UV-C light will have neutralized up to 99.9999% of harmful and odor-causing bacteria. This works by breaking up bacterial DNA, so it becomes harmless organic material that’s safe to drink — as in, both your water and bottle are clean.

The Larq bottle will automatically activate every two hours for a 10-second cycle to ensure bacteria never has a chance to grow; you’ll see this via the indicator light on the top of the cap. And as a basic reference, if the light is on, wait for it to turn off before you remove the cap.

Although the UV technology covers the interior of the bottle, the mouth piece should be hand washed regularly. Bacteria and germs can get inside the bottle from our mouths touching its neck.

The  also features a Safety Mode which stops the accidental activation of the UV LED light when the cap isn’t secured. Also, if you’re traveling by plane, there is a Travel Mode that deactivates the automatic cleaning too.