Would you pay €39 to drink canal water?

In Amsterdam alone, over 60,000 kg plastics, 700 dead animals and 12,000 bikes are fished from the water on a yearly basis. Although the quality of the canal water continues to improve it has never been drinkable.

Until now.

An innovative Dutch start up is on a mission to provide safe and clean drinking water for everyone. Founded by Marnix Stokvis and Marc Zuylen in 2016, Aquablu is smart water purification that can produce safe drinking water from the most challenging sources.

To prove their point, the team from Aquablu installed the company’s proprietary purification system in on a boat and drew water from the Keizersgracht, Herengracht, and Prinsengracht canals in Amsterdam. The water was then purified, mineralised, and bottled on the spot.

It was supposed to be a stunt to draw attention to the potential of the technology, but it turned out to be an unexpected success. The company produced 50 limited edition glass bottles of the purified canal water and retailed it at €39 – a price chosen because the purification system has been running for 39 weeks. They were shocked when the bottles sold out in 24 hours.

The campaign was set up to show that the best water is local water and to make a statement against environmentally polluting waste and the transport of plastic water bottles. Plus, it was an effective way to demonstrate Aquablu’s purification systems can make drinking water even from the dirtiest source.

Considering the massive scale of the crisis surrounding clean water availability, the world needs more water tech startups like Aquablu. From the canals of Amsterdam to the Ganges River in India; where there is freshwater, there is an opportunity to boost supplies.