(Brooklyn, New York June 24, 2012) — Bottled water isn’t often associated with environmental sustainability. However, a Brooklyn based venture, PH2OG Water, is challenging those conventions. The company uses cloud harvesting technology, an innovative and ecologically sustainable technique, to sustainably source pure water directly from clouds.
PH2OG builds equipment that captures airborne water droplets from clouds and fog. The process requires no additional energy input and avoids both groundwater depletion and pollution, issues affecting both the developed and developing world but directly contributed to by major bottled water companies. Their social mission is to expand the global availability of technology that provides clean water to those in need by working with humanitarian water organizations to provide funding for community water systems.
PH2OG is a not just for profit company that hopes to avoid both the funding insecurity of humanitarian organizations and the environmental costs of traditional bottled water companies. One of the company’s cofounders Michael Thomas has said: “We’re using clouds, an untapped resource, to responsibly source water and provide value to the planet. We’re resource efficient, we don’t deplete groundwater, and our social mission is central to what we do.”
Drawing on contemporary research, PH2OG has been able to adapt ancient Incan methods with modern resources. To collect potable water, the Incans would set up systems to mimic plants that thrived in mountainous regions that experienced little rainfall. Their modest pilot site on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will yield over 1 million liters of water per year.
In a rapidly urbanizing and climate insecure world, access to fresh water continually emerges as a problem facing the world’s civilizations. According to the World Health Organization, as much as 80% of illnesses in the developing world are linked to poor water conditions. While these issues have traditionally been associated with poorer nations around the world, water insecurity has also emerged as a problem facing the United States, with chronic droughts affecting crop yields and water supply throughout the American west and Midwest.
The group will expand their reach by providing funding to organizations that address the issue of water insecurity. “We know the technology works. We know that we have a viable site, and that we have an environmentally sustainable product that is differentiated from any of the current options. Further than that, we want to work to change expectations of what we know the big companies should be doing. This is both about providing water to those in need and innovating in a space that desperately needs it.” The group is launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo during the summer of 2014.
For media inquiries, please contact: Michael Thomas, 9175896590 (phogwater@gmail.com) For more information, please visit:
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