New Low-cost Portable Water Purifier

H2gO Launches Low-cost, Palm-sized Device for Individuals to Take Anywhere for On-site Water Purification, Original Technology Licensed from MIOX

Albuquerque-based Aqua Research LLC shipped 3,000 units in December to its distribution partner, Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., a more-than-century-old maker and distributor of health and personal care products that sells its own goods at retail chains throughout the U.S. It is now preparing Aqua Research's hand-held water-purifying device for incorporation into its distribution channels, said Aqua Research founder, President and CEO Rodney Herrington.

"Wisconsin Pharmacal has its own Potable Aqua brand of water products for the outdoor retail market that it's been selling through established retail chains for 40 years, so our agreement with them puts us in the market very quickly," Herrington said. "They're now preparing the packaging and instructions for our product. They expect to begin distribution in the spring."

Herrington designed H2gO (pronounced H-to-go) as a low-cost, palm-sized device for individuals to take anywhere for on-site water purification. He licensed the original technology from MIOX Corp., another Albuquerque-based water-purification company that sells large-scale systems for industrial and municipal-level use.

The technology uses a mix of water and salt shot with an electric current. The electric mix helps separate salt into its component parts, sodium and chloride. The resulting oxidant solution is poured into the water, where the chloride destroys common pathogens, eliminating the need for chemicals used in other systems.

Herrington was one of the original founders and the former chief technology officer of MIOX, which launched in 1994. While there, he invented a pen-sized water purifier for outdoors people that MIOX sold for a number of years before discontinuing it to instead concentrate on industrial and municipal systems. That inspired Herrington to license the technology and sell it on his own.

He formed Aqua Research in 2011, and spent three years upgrading and improving the original pen-shaped device, which had operated with lithium ion batteries that often needed changing and allowed users to treat only four liters of water at a time.

The new device now has a rechargeable battery with a built-in solar panel, although it can also be charged with a USB cable. It can treat up to 20 liters of water with a single application and it's expected to sell in retail outlets for $100, compared with $140 for the old MIOX unit.

The company set up a contract manager in China and it signed with Wisconsin Pharmacal last year as its domestic distributor in the U.S. retail market under a revenue-sharing agreement.

Aqua Research retains its own distribution rights for all markets outside the U.S. and for sales to non-government organizations. And that leaves some huge sales opportunities open to the company through distribution for things such as disaster relief campaigns and for use by communities throughout the developing world where access to potable water is a chronic problem.

The company is now working to establish distribution partnerships worldwide, while bulking up warehousing in strategically located storage facilities.

"We've managed to make our new product and now we've got to sell them," Herrington said. "We're working to set up distribution partnerships everywhere, from Chile and Colombia to Nigeria and the Ukraine. And we're building up inventory for order fulfillment warehouses worldwide so that, once an incoming order is received, the product can be shipped from the manufacturer to the warehouse closest to market."

Source: Albuquerque Journal

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Taxonomy

• Purification
• Technology
• Drinking Water