The document summarizes a life cycle assessment comparing the environmental impacts of three water purification systems used by families in Guatemala: an ecofiltro water filter, bottled water, and boiled water. The ecofiltro filter was found to have significantly lower impacts than bottled water or boiling across all metrics assessed, including global warming potential, cumulative energy demand, water use, and human toxicity. The ecofiltro filter uses locally sourced materials, requires little energy to produce, and can provide clean water to a family for two to four years using reusable parts.

1. Putting the metrics behind
sustainability at ecofiltro.
ecofiltro Water Filter
Delivering Water with Minimal Environmental Footprint
The Challenge
Guatemala-based start-up ecofiltro
developed a simple water filter
that provides clean drinking water.
For placing first at the Sustainable
Brands Innovation Open (SBIO)
competition, held at the Sustainable
Brands ’12 Conference (San Diego, CA) in June 2012, ecofiltro
was offered the services of PRé North America to conduct a life
cycle assessment (LCA) of its product, as well as a comparison
to two alternative methods of water purification.
The Products
Three water purification systems were analyzed and compared,
based on the water consumption of a typical Guatemalan family
in one year (2,920 liters of potable water). The systems studied
include delivery of water via:
• An ecofiltro water filter
• Bottled water
• Boiled water
The scope of the study is “cradle to delivery,” which includes
raw material extraction through delivery to the consumer. The
analysis for all three methods includes raw material extraction,
manufacturing, and distribution to the consumer.
All of ecofiltro’s materials are locally sourced
Clay
Activated Carbon

2. ecofiltro Water Filter
Impact Category ecofiltro Bottled Boiled
Filter Water Water
Global Warming Potential (kg CO2 eq) 5.26 561 15.2
Cumulative Energy Demand (MJ) 125 14,500 5,920
Water Use (m3) 3.84 1,970 10.4
Human Toxicity Potential (CTUh) 1.58E-09 1.18E-07 2.59E-08
Ecofiltro Filter
Bottled Water
Boiled Water
100 %
90 %
80 %
70 %
60 %
50 %
40 %
30 %
20 %
10 %
0 %
Global Warming
Potential
Cumulative Energy
Demand
Water Use Human Toxicity
Potential
Results
Compared to bottled water and boiling, ecofiltro water filter has
several characteristics that positively impact its environmental
footprint:
• ecofiltro water filter is made from low impact raw materials (clay,
sawdust, water, and a small amount of silver), all sourced from
Guatemala.
• ecofiltro’s production process requires little energy.
• One ecofiltro water filter is guaranteed to supply an average-
sized Guatemalan family with potable water for two years — and
many last for three or four years.
• The plastic bucket that holds the ecofiltro water filter can be
reused for several years.

3. ecofiltro’s climate change impacts are less than 1%
of the impacts from consuming the same amount of
bottled water, and 35% of the impacts of boiled water.
Global Warming Impacts
The environmental impacts assessed in this study are global
warming, energy, water, and human toxicity. When compared
to bottled water and boiled water, the ecofiltro water filter has
drastically lower emissions in all impact categories analyzed.
For the filter, the plastic bucket and manufacturing process are
the main contributors to global warming potential, though these
impacts are very small overall.
kilogramsCO2e
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Filter
Plastic bucket
Distribution
Packaging
Manufacturing
Raw Materials
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Filter Bottle Boiling

4. Please contact us
for further information:
United States
PRé North America Inc.
20 F Street NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
USA
Phone: +1 202 507 6231
PReNA@pre-sustainability.com
The Netherlands
PRé Consultants bv
Printerweg 18
3821 AD Amersfoort
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 33 4540 4010
consultancy@pre-sustainability.com
We look forward to being your
partner in putting the metrics
behind sustainability.
pre-sustainability.com
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