U.K.- and U.S.-based water-filtration technology company Pure Hydration plans to reduce the environmental impact of disposable plastic water bottles. Its stainless steel product, known as the Ice Bottle, can filter water and is intended to be used and re-used anywhere throughout the world where tap water is available, ensuring access to safe drinking water while reducing the use of plastic bottles.
The solution goes beyond a simple re-fillable filtering bottle, however. To help a user track his or her own role in reducing water bottle waste, find the nearest refill area or engage with a larger community using the bottles, the technology also offers intelligence. That’s where the Smart Cosmos software platform comes in. Smart Cosmos provides cloud-based data, the company reports, and based on Near Field Communication (NFC) tag reads.
Jon Grant founded Pure Hydration in the United Kingdom in 2008, to offer a filtration and purification system that could provide safe drinking water. The company designs and supplies water-purification systems to users such as the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) aircrew. The filters remove microbiological contaminants, including viruses and bacteria, metals and chemicals. The firm offers its water-purification system to customers worldwide.
Recently, Grant began looking at designing filtration technology for everyday use, with a goal of reducing plastic waste. “He became passionate about bringing that same technology to the consumer world and trying to drastically reduce, if not eliminate, the use of single-use plastic water bottles,” says Joyce Andrews, Pure Hydration’s VP for the Americas. The company reengineered a stainless steel water bottle with its own digital print technology to provide printed bottles, personalized to the needs of the businesses that order them, or featuring prints that consumers can select from the company’s website.
Unlike some existing solutions that offer water filtration through a straw, which requires some effort on the part of a consumer, Andrews says, Pure Hydration’s bottle utilizes the filter in the cap, so it can be sipped gently. The filter works with tap water from around the world, she reports, and the water can be consumed safely and still taste good. The bottles are manufactured in China, while the cap is built in Taiwan and the filer is made in the United States.
The Smart Cosmos platform and the NFC technology that forwards data to that platform, however, allow a community connection. For each Ice Bottle, Pure Hydration applies an NFC tag to the bottom of the bottle, which remains with that bottle for its lifetime. The passive 13.56 MHz tag, compliant with the ISO 14443 standard, comes with a unique ID number that links to the bottle and is durable enough to withstand multiple washings.
When purchasing an Ice Bottle, an individual can tap his or her NFC-enabled Android- or iOS-based device against the tag. The phone’s reader captures the unique ID and automatically connects to the software platform. On the Ice Bottle App, the user can then input data that links the bottle to him or her. Such information could include an e-mail address, the company for which he or she works, or specific interests that could then link the bottle to related content.
For instance, Pure Hydration has partnered with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) UK to promote information about endangered wildlife. Consumers can purchase a bottle printed with a picture of a specific animal. When they tap their phone against the tag, they can then view or select content specific to that animal. That media is expected to be updated periodically, Andrews says.
In addition, the system is designed to help users access data related to their location and their use of the bottle. “We’ve added some engaging features,” Andrews says, such as enabling users to track their water consumption, as well as view how much is being consumed worldwide with the bottles. It also helps users find their closest “refill station.”
To track water consumption, a person would tap the tag each time the bottle is refilled and log in that refill. That data would be provided anonymously to the entire bottle using the quantity without the user’s identity to calculate how many plastic water bottles are not entering the waste or recycle stream. An individual could also view his or her own personal record at any time. To locate a refill station when the bottle becomes empty, a user would tap the tag on the bottle, and the software platform links that unique ID with the phone’s GPS location, thereby providing a map showing the nearest refill station.
Pure Hydration is also developing functionality so that the bottle can be customized for a company with its own logo printed on the front, and each bottle’s unique tag ID could be linked to a particular employee of that company. Each time the bottle is refilled, a user could tap the phone to update the data, which could then be shared specifically within a company’s team or with management.
The refill station map currently lists the nearest Starbucks sites, since the coffee company’s policy is to provide free water refills, and more refill areas are expected to be added over time. Pure Hydration’s goal is to have a relationship with coffee houses and other refill businesses, so that they could not only provide refills, but also sell the bottles.
The Smart Cosmos software platform also offers insight into the supply chain of Pure Hydration’s products. “Smart Cosmos provides a simple, streamlined method to digitize Pure Hydration’s water bottles,” says Dinesh Dhamija, Smart Cosmos’s CEO. “By making these physical bottles digital, Pure Hydration is able to provide their customers with an amazing customer experience while being able to glean insights into the manufacturing and digitization operations.” The software enables the firm to create a digital twin of each bottle as it is manufactured, shipped and then used by the customer. “By tailoring and providing these digital interactions, Pure Hydration is able to turn a one-time customer into a life-long advocate.”
The system does not monitor the need to replace filters within the bottles because the filter life depends on the water’s location and quality. “As long as the water is flowing,” Andrews says, “the user knows it’s safe to drink.” The filter cap needs to be purchased separately and is slated to be made available in April 2020. In the meantime, the Ice Bottle is now available. In the long run, she says, “My goal would be that we don’t need [plastic disposable] water bottles at all.”