Founded by Marnix Stokvis and Marc Zuylen in 2016, Aquablu is smart water purification started from a small village in the Netherlands, Voorhou — working hard to prevent the use of environmentally-detrimental plastic water bottles.
The Dutch startup has recently launched smart water taps for the supermarkets and offices across Europe dubbed as Aquablu Refill. These refill stations will offer both chilled and sparkling water, and it is the first in the EU that is completely free of disposable packaging and harmful substances. Dutch retail chain Jumbo will have the exclusive premiere in their Amsterdam store in the coming week.
Aquablu coming to UK
At the same time, Stokvis also informed UKTN that the Netherland tech startup is planning to enter UK boundaries soon. He says, “We are planning to launch the smart water dispensers in the UK beginning Q1 2022.”
Talking about upcoming UK partnerships for the launch of their brand in the country, he adds, “At this stage, we have received interests from several potential partners in London, but have not yet reached an agreement yet. We are looking for a partner — who covers the entire UK — similar to Jumbo Retail and MAAS international in The Netherlands.”
Ending single-use packaging
Although Dutch drinking water ranks among the highest in the EU, research institutes warn that tap water contains more than meets the eye. Dutch research institute “the RIVM” recently warned that the Dutch are ingesting too much of a chemical named PFAS through their drinking water, while similar reports have emerged in other EU countries as well.
Saving 1 billion bottles
Aquablu has also joined forces with one of the leading coffee suppliers MAAS coffee, so that office workers have the choice for both a healthy and sustainable thirst-quencher. “We have the ambition to save 1 billion plastic bottles of water worldwide before 2030. A number that represents more than 80,000 tons of CO2 savings and also with us 1 billion liters of water made available in developing countries through our litre for a litre campaign. I call that a win-win-win”, according to Van Zuylen.
Smart technology
Unlike existing taps, Aquablu Refill uses the latest supreme osmosis technology, which removes all potentially harmful substances from tap water. It then naturally mineralizes and rebalances the water. This smart technology constantly monitors the quality, while you carefree tap a glass of sparkling or chilled water. The beauty of this is that the system can be installed anywhere, while the taste of the mineral water remains constant; from German tap water, to the canals of Amsterdam.
When will it be available?
The first Aquablu Refill points are expected to be available for European business customers mid-September. Starting this week, the first demo can be seen at the Jumbo City in Amsterdam. Here, customers can tap 600ml of fizzy or still water, starting from €0.40 at selected locations. For those who come to the store without their own bottle, Aquablu offers aluminium design bottles directly on location for €2.49.
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