Although commonly called the Lyster Bag (or Lister Bag) the correct modern nomenclature is "Bag, Water, Sterilizing."

    The Lyster Bag was issued approximately one per 100 troops. The 36 gallon capacity Lyster Bag was approximately 36 inches tall by 22 inches in diameter. It bag included a rope for hanging, a lid/cover, and had six water faucets around the base.

    In use, it was hung from an improvised tripod of tent poles or locally cut material, hung away from anything that could cause potential contamination, such as a tree. A trained technician would fill the bag, then put chlorine ampoules into the water to sterilize it. After testing the water for potability, it was available for filling canteens, cooking, or any purpose.

   The Lister bags are constructed of a canvas fabric that weeps, providing some degree of evaporative cooling at the bag surface. The bags tend to lose 5 percent to 30 percent of their contents through weeping, and are not highly effective at cooling due to the low surface area to volwne ratio.