This $95 water bottle uses UV technology to self-clean and purify your drinking water

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• Your hand isn't meant to fit the inside of your reusable water bottle. This makes it nearly impossible to properly clean the interior and get rid of bacteria and gunk.
• The $95 Larq water bottle is a state-of-the-art reusable stainless steel bottle that uses UV-C LED technology to not only clean the inside of your bottle, but to also purifying any drinking water you fill it with.
• I did the research and testing for you to find out how exactly this water bottle works. A $95 water bottle isn't cheap, but the innovative technology and long-term benefits justify the cost for me.

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 Larq water bottle ($95) 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 UV-C technology - the same sanitizing technology used in hospitals.

The technology behind the Larq bottle

The Larq water bottle 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 Larq water bottle 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 aesthics, 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 Larq only purifies water but doesn't filter it, so any murky or sediment-rich water should be filtered out before to filling up your Larq bottle.

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 Larq water bottle 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.

Specs

• Measures 9.6 inches (243.7 mm) high by 2.7 inches (69 mm) wide
• Weighs 13.5 oz (0.38kg)
• Holds 17 oz (500mL)
• Constructed from BPA-free polished stainless steel (BPA free)
• Rechargeable (Lithium Polymer) battery
• Charging colors and indicators:
  • Breathing green light: currently charging
  • Steady green light: fully charged
  • Breathing sky blue light: purifying and cleaning in Normal Mode
  • Pulsing blue light: purifying and cleaning in Adventure Mode
  • Pulsing orange light: Safety Mode (will flash when cap is activated outside of the bottle)
  • Steady yellow light: Low battery
  • Red/Purple light: Something is wrong; complete the Warrant Claims Form and a customer service rep will reach out

What are the benefits

When I first heard that one Larq bottle costs $95, I was a little taken aback. But then I began to assess all the benefits and capabilities this water bottle has, like reusability, ease of use, self-cleaning, self-purifying, temperature control, and a sleek look, and I felt a little better about dropping a Franklin on a water bottle.

Besides the obvious benefit of having a clean, smell-free bottle, and purified drinking water anywhere you go, this reusable aspect can make a positive impact on the environment. According to Forbes, it's estimated that over a million water bottles are bought every minute globally, and as little as 9% of plastics are actually recycled. The rest end up in landfills where it takes approximately 1,000 years to decompose. And without doing the math, think about how many times you've bought bottled water - there's also a longterm economical aspect to a reuseable water bottle.

For the environmental and cost-saving benefits that the Larq water bottle offers, $95 is a small fee to pay personally. Plus, this is one unique, innovative piece of technology that I'll be using on the daily.

Buy the Larq water bottle for $95

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