Rising Alabama Startup Aims to Eliminate Waste With Water-saving Technology

An unfortunate accident in 2014 is the inspiration behind The Ark Labs, a rising north Alabama startup that aims to eliminate inefficiency and damage caused by water leaks in homes.

Robbie Hillis, CEO of the Florence-based business, came up with the idea for a water-saving technology after his then 2 ½-year-old daughter left a faucet running for about 14 hours in his home.

The Ark's machine-learning device recognizes water patterns and sends alerts to users when it detects change. The product, endorsed by water advocacy groups, has the potential to eliminate $8 billion in water losses a year in the U.S. alone.

"What we've come up with is the technology to help focus on preventing any type of catastrophic, major, getting into insurance types of events," he said. "And then also, we can detect down to a drip so that leaky faucet or leaky toilet can be addressed."

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the average house wastes about 10,000 gallons of water a year or the amount of water needed to wash 270 loads of laundry. The most common types of home leaks are worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and other leaking valves.

The Ark Labs has been recognized regionally for its work after being nominated by the Chattanooga Technology Council for the Early Innovator and Spirit of Innovation awards. The company was also among teams selected for the 2015 Alabama Launchpad competition, which helps entrepreneurs get capital to jumpstart their businesses.

Since it incorporated last July, The Ark has transformed from an early-stage startup with only a conceptual idea to a fast-moving business with a prototype that's ready for production.

The company will unveil a 30-day Kickstarter campaign to raise $60,000 on Thursday. Hillis, who said funding is already in place to start production by May, hopes to find new supporters of The Ark's technology.

"What would excite me the most is if we had say a 1,000 people in all four corners of the country decide to back us at any dollar amount, because then we can build a community of those early believers who then we can work with to really make this the best solution," he said.

A "Propel" party will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Davis Center for Innovation on 4002 Helton Drive in Florence. While The Ark Labs will kick off its crowdfunding campaign there, Hillis said attendees shouldn't feel pressured to donate.

"Propel" will really serve as a gathering point for the Shoals area's growing startup ecosystem, he added.

"I have no doubt that there are people in this area that are very innovative and very forward thinking, but their DNA tells them it's much safer to continue in that job they've worked at for 15 or 20 years," he said.

Source: Alabama Media Group

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Taxonomy

• Technology
• Sensor Systems
• Leakage Detection
• Infrastructure
• Leakage Reduction