LifeStraw

How's about this for a clever invention: the LifeStraw.

The plastic tube is designed to purify water as it is drunk. Inside are disinfectant filters, a chamber impregnated with iodine and a chamber with active carbon. These kill the bacteria, remove parasites & improve the taste of the water. You could take this puppy off with you to the Thames or your local nasty equivalent, dip it in the dirty pool of water and have yourself a drink. For the price of £1.85 you can drink your way to 700 liters per straw.

When the inventors first presented the Lifestraw to a group of journalists, they were asked to demonstrate its effectiveness by drinking from city fountains and the likes. According to the inventors, it can even be used to drink water from club toilets or sewers. And I'm thinking... when would I EVER be in a situation where I'd want to drink from the club loo?? I mean, no matter how paraletic one may drink themselves, surely one would remember how to ask the bartender for a pint of tap?! But then I supose I have yet to party hard in the remote foreign realms of say... Borneo. I'll be sure to take it with me then ;-)

Joking aside, the invention could prove very useful as a short-term solution in certain Third World countries. Clever invention... at any rate.