While over a billion people live without clean water, the world is drowning in the waste of millions of water bottles. The Hydros Bottle could provide a simple solution. Available for the US market by the end of the year, the 700 ml bottle features an integrated filter that cleans water as you drink. The bottle was originally developed by the University of Pennsylvania to provide purified water to increasingly mobile, urban people in the developing world. However, the researchers discovered water quality problems closer to home, with high levels of heavy metals and toxins in the tap water in some areas of the States.
The Hydros Bottle's filter reduces arsenic, particulate and dissolved lead, mercury, copper, chlorine and cadmium, which is more than some well-known household filters. The company is also aiming to wean Americans off bottled water by outlining the potential savings: at USD 6, one recyclable filter lasts for 320 refills, amounting to a saving of over USD 500 compared to bottled water. The bottle plus one filter costs USD 25; replacement filters are USD 6 each. Hydros Bottle is treated to prevent odours and can be branded with company logos. (Note that bottles with different types of integrated filters are available for the outdoor sports market; see Trailspace for an overview.)
Hydros Bottle's plans to develop a customizable filter for the developing world are temporarily on hold, but the company is still actively engaged in projects to promote worldwide access to potable water. One to partner with locally? (Related: Reusable water bottle flattens and folds when empty — Generator turns plastic bottles back into oil.)
Website: www.hydrosbottle.com
Contact: www.hydrosbottle.com/contact.php
Spotted by: Eduardo Orozco
What I don't get: Why would you fill dirty water into those bottles? Why not having one Filter and using this filter while filling the bottle?
First of all thanks to Eduardo Orozco and the team at Springwise for the plug!
Gerhard, to answer your question, this bottle isn't for filling with dirty water (e.g. river or stream water). Hydros Bottle is designed to work with tap water from your kitchen sink or water fountain.
Also, just to clarify, Hydros Bottle filters your water as you fill it up -- not as you drink it. The title of this post implies that the filtration occurs as users drink, so I thought I'd clarify.