321 Water and Project O from award winning designer Gretha Oost

The winner of the 2015 Australian Water Innovation Challenge will be feature at this year's Australian Water Association Innovation Forum and Expo to give attendees a peek at a prototype of the winning project’s design

Gretha Oost took first place in the challenge last year for Project O, a public filtered-water fountain initiative aimed at reducing waste resulting from bottled-water consumption.

This year’s Forum will again feature innovation pitch sessions, giving dozens of water technology suppliers an opportunity to parade their latest innovations to the forum delegates.

Oost says that winning the 2015 Innovation Challenge has boosted the credibility of Project O among segments of her target audience, which she hopes will lead the way to making her project a reality.

“The key thing is the credibility that comes out of winning this award. I had conversations with water retailers before that didn’t go anywhere, but after the award I got calls from them,” Oost said.

“I am presenting at the forum this year with a real-sized prototype. I like to think that it will be a turning point for the project. Being able to show a real-sized prototype of what the sculpture looks like to an audience, rather than having it explained in an article, is a completely different situation.”

Oost begun developing Project O as an extension of her filtered water bottle business, 321 Water, with the aim of challenging the public mindset surrounding bottled-water consumption.

“It started with 321 Water, and that eventually led into Project O. The name, 321 Water relates to the amount of water required to make bottled water. The ratio is 3-to-1; you need three litres of water to make one litre of bottled water,” Oost says.

“The first reason we buy bottled water is that it's convenient, and the second is design, the status attached to it, and the third is the taste. A lot of people do not like the taste of tap water.

“Also, a lot of people don't feel comfortable drinking from a public fountain. This all led into the development of Project O.” 

Oost says that the upcoming 2016 Innovation Forum offers her the opportunity not only to unveil her Project O prototype, but also to challenge others to think about how they consume water.

“If you look at the data that says that 85% of Australians are reluctant to use a public fountain out of hygiene concerns, then you have to question what’s happening,” Oost says.

“There are certain water companies that are reluctant to touch the idea of a filtered-water fountain. In their opinion, if it has a filter in it, it's sending out the message that their water is not good,” Oost says.  

“I understand that, and I agree there is no need for a filter. Unfortunately the reality is that people don't want to drink tap water because they don't like the taste of it. So what are we going to do?

If unfiltered water is one reason why people are buying bottled water, which is making this enormous mess, then we need to do something. And if that's a filter, then let’s do it.”

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Taxonomy

• Water
• Bottled Water