Case Study
London Water Purification
"Appreciably better water quality"
After testing the WaterOne for a number of week, the water tasted noticeably fresher.
Iain - London Home Owner
Key numbers
65%
of city homes use bottled water
30
other people have drunk the water you are drinking in London
943t
tons of Chlorine is added to Londons water a year
2.6Bn
litres of water distributed by Thames Water a day
Our client wanted to know if they could be drinking better water.
Despite being connected to the Thames mains water supply, considered to be one of the best in the world, Iain and his family wanted to know what was really in their tap water.
In this case study, we explore the concerns of drinking water quality, in a city property, and show the contaminants removed by the IF WaterOne purifier over a number of weeks.
The problem
Our client was concerned about...
Soapy tasting water
We asked our clients how they felt about their water, and they said"We trust that the water is safe, we just don’t want it to taste like soap".
To account for the distance and time the water travels, utilities companies add chlorine and other chemicals to ensure the water is safe on the other end.
This doesn't necessarily make it taste nice
Modern Contaminants
"We're hearing more and more about Forever chemicals, Micro plastics and hormones in the water, but what does it mean for our families and grandchildren's health?
Answer: There is still little known about the long term effects of modern contaminants like Micro Plastics and Forever Chemicals on our bodies, but there is growing evidence of potential risks.
IF are working hard with the Royal Society of Chemistry to find out if vapour distillation can be an effective method of modern contaminant removal.
Ageing Infrastructures
In London, drinking water is piped through 32,000km of water mains, with over half of that being over 100 years old.
Old pipes can leach harmful substances into the water, and leaks can introduce contaminants or compromise water pressure.
IF are working to deliver a point of use purification technology that can take the uncertainty out of water quality.
What we did
Installed a WaterOne
We installed a WaterOne in our clients property to see if we could improve the properties drinking water quality with a single low maintenance installation.
We ran the device for two weeks, producing around 10-20 Litres a day as larger volumes were not needed at the time.
The goal was to prove premium water can come from taps in some of the largest infrastructure stressed cities in the world.
Specialist lab assessments
We took full suite samples straight from the tap and directly from the WaterOne testing over 40 contaminants commonly found in drinking water.
We did this on instillation and two weeks later, to demonstrate the consistency of the system over time. Although this is a short period, over 2 years of test data has been gathered from the technology in lab environments demonstrating this consistency fully.
In this trial we were not able to test for Modern Contaminants like MicroPlastics, Hormones and PFAS, because utilities companies themselves do not test for these contaminants, and we were using their test labs.
Taste Tests
"It tastes noticeably fresher"
Working with our clients we conducted blind taste tests of the WaterOne water and their filtered tap water.
Overwhelmingly the results showed that the WaterOne water tasted fresher!
The explanation for this is that the WaterOne takes all of the additional chlorine, fluoride and other elements of mains water out, leaving only fresh H2O.
The results
Why the WaterOne system works
The vapour distillation process used by IF involves converting water into vapour, then condensing it to produce purified water.
This method has the ability to consistently produce high-purity water, regardless of the variable water quality often found in lakes. It effectively removes a wide range of contaminants, including sediments, biological agents, and dissolved minerals, addressing the challenges of seasonal changes in temperature, algal blooms, and nutrient fluctuations.
Distillation's robust and reliable process ensures a consistent supply of safe drinking water while minimising environmental concerns associated with waste byproducts. Its scalability, low maintenance, and longevity further make it a strong choice for communities and facilities seeking a dependable solution for lake water treatment.
Compact home version coming soon!
"There were a number of device and usability improvements that we've taken from the install that we are building into our future product versions." Chris Chief Design Engineer
We worked with our client and his family to build a design specification for a city home version of the larger technology that we aim to bring to market in 2024.
Discover premium drinking water
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