New Boomerang Water System Offers Emissions-Free, Pure Water

2022-09-24 10:59:14 By : Ms. Suri Yu

A study conducted by the Guardian in 2017 found that humans buy one million disposable plastic water bottles per minute globally, and that consumption was only growing. But, unfortunately, those bottles are not disposable. National Geographic found that 91% of plastic is not recycled.

Global waste is so extraordinary that it changes and affects our ecosystems, and scientists fear it could have damaging effects on human health. For example, when the plastic breaks down into microplastics, it accumulates onto the seafloor, fishes and coral start eating it, and some die as a result. On land, microplastics shed from humans’ clothes, opening a bag of chips releases them into the air, and microplastics were even found to stick around in human organs.

To address this issue, among others, Davidson-based company Boomerang Water has developed the Boomerang Water system. The new machine allows consumers to enjoy purified freshwater without the waste and the carbon emissions produced by manufacturing and transporting plastic water bottles.

Now, the company is in the growth phase after raising $1.38 million earlier this year to scale its manufacturing potential. According to Boomerang Water co-founder and CEO Jason Dibble, the company is revolutionizing the bottled water industry by producing, installing, and maintaining manufacturing technology that can create fresh, pure, filtered water on-site, in any controlled environment.

This technology is ideal for companies as diverse as industrial mining sites to resorts and high luxury hotels. Beyond the benefit to employees having a purified water source, there are significant cost-savings involved since the process is sustainable and ultra-local. This means that thousands of water bottles could be manufactured per day, with zero lag time, shipping time, shipping costs, or waste by-products.

Dibble served as a Munitions Systems specialist in the U.S. Air Force and worked four tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. While based abroad, he noticed how absurd the supply chains for bottled water were set up. “It made absolutely no sense why we’re shipping plastic bottles into another country. It still makes absolutely no sense to ship plastic bottles all over the world,” said Dibble.

Previous studies have found that three pounds of carbon dioxide are produced and released into the atmosphere for every pound of plastic produced and manufactured. For example, the carbon footprint per 500ml (16.9 ounces) plastic water bottle is estimated to be approximately 90ml (3 ounces) to manufacture. Then there’s the cost of transporting that water bottle to its final destination.

As a replacement for existing processes, Dibble found himself wondering, what if we did everything all at the point of use? “Look at our future. What would that future world look like if beverage companies continued to ship plastic bottles over and over and over? We have to start setting the example,” said Dibble. Now, seven years later, Dibble has a dedicated team – including co-founder Jerrod Freund – and already has a completed prototype ready for action.

Since the Boomerang Water system can be deployed on-site, bottled water production doesn’t involve any distribution.

Used anywhere where you can control, and get the bottle back. You’re not paying for the plastic or paying for the water; when you buy a bottle of water, what you’re paying for is the logistics of getting it to you.

That means the water will be ultra-fresh and affordable. “Our quality is above anything you can buy in the store,” Freund added. Here is an example he shared with a possible investor: if you were to pick up any plastic water bottle, and you were to fill it halfway with diesel fuel, that’s about how much fuel it took to transport that bottle to you.

We want to massively reduce the carbon footprint and reduce plastic waste.

According to a Grand View Research study released last February, the global bottled water industry is estimated to rise to over $500 billion by 2028 due to changes in consumer preferences and other factors.

That Grand View Research study references a United Nations study from 2018, which found that almost 16K desalination plants in at least 177 countries were constructed to provide purified water. “Everyone is talking about getting rid of plastic water bottles but isn’t really doing very much,” noted Freund.

Shaun Zaken, the company’s chief marketing officer, said:

You’ll go down a supermarket aisle, and you’ll see sustainably sourced bottles of water for sale. But some still have a plastic top or label, and those companies are still distributing across the country.

We take it one step further by reusing everything. Our machine takes glass and/or aluminum bottles, six at a time. Over the course of 15 seconds, the machine is power-washing, sanitizing, filling with ultra-purified water, and capping it, over and over, infinitely.

According to Dibble, one client that runs a system could produce between 3,000 and 4,000 bottles daily. “That will equate to pulling one million plastic bottles out of circulation every year,” he added.

Initially launched in Dibble’s garage, the company is currently operating out of a small facility in Davidson, north of Charlotte. The money raised earlier this year allowed Dibble and his team to hire an engineer to advance the technology from its early prototype, preparing the company to install manufacturing systems on-site for a wide range of clients.

Zaken said the company is “working with one of the largest coal mines in the northeast, helping to replace up to 1 million plastic bottles of water per year from their facility.” That equals about 28,000 pounds of plastic waste that won’t be generated each year!

Each machine is leased to the client and installed on-premise. The company also generates profits via selling bottles and caps, although the bottles can be sanitized and reused repeatedly.

Boomerang Water built its revenue model with sustainability in mind. Its installations include clear descriptions for bottle returns; water can be consumed at or near the manufacturing point, and the bottles and caps recycled immediately.

Freund claims that on a per-bottle basis, the average cost for clients producing at least 500 bottles per day is between 25-35 cents, depending on overall production volume. As a bonus, with this system, “you’re never going to get a bottle less than a week old.”

Furthermore, the company will also use the funds to invest in building out its systems, hiring employees, and client growth.