Seth Siegel’s finest promoting guide Let or not it’s water describes how Israel reworked from a water-starved nation with frequent droughts into a rustic with enough water surplus to export to neighbors, particularly landlocked Jordan.
A lot of Israel’s water miracle has been desalination, which removes salt from seawater to make it drinkable. However the soggy elephant within the room is that desalinated water lacks all of the minerals important for correct human vitamin which might be current in spring, lake and nicely water.
When the primary native analysis research on what desalinated water does for well being got here out, we discovered that individuals had been dying in Israel as a result of the water they drink has no minerals, Elad Erdan tells ISRAEL21c.
The research used knowledge from one among Israel’s HMOs and in contrast well being outcomes from six years earlier than and 6 years after the arrival of desalination. We had been in a position to see the distinction within the variety of strokes and coronary heart assaults.
It isn’t only a drawback for Israel. Desalination is a course of that’s accelerating all over the world, Erdan factors out. Globally, based on the Worldwide Desalination Affiliation, greater than 300 million individuals now get their water from desalination vegetation.
Erdan is the CEO of Mayu, an Israeli startup primarily based in Emek Hefer, close to Hadera, devoted to water restore.
The clearest instance of what Mayu is proposing is including minerals to present water. The corporate already has formulations to spice up the immune system and add electrolytes, that are essential for runners (like Erdan).
However this is just one piece of the puzzle.
Mayus water filtration units handle three essential phases: purification, the place the water is filtered; aeration, the place the oxygen ranges within the water are balanced; and mineralization, which entails microdosing minerals in your each day beverage.
Our imaginative and prescient is to verify we can provide the world wholesome, sustainable water that’s accessible to anybody, anyplace, Erdan explains.
The Vortex
The corporate’s first product, on the market on the corporate’s web site and on Amazon, seems to be deceptively easy. It seems to be like a big flask or jug.
However on the backside of the glass is a steel connector connected to a porcelain base, handcrafted by Mayu’s cofounder, Shay Eden. When lit, the balloon and connector create a vortex, a mini-tornado within the heart of the water. This aeration motion provides the product its identify, Mayu Swirl.
You probably know the molecular construction of water: two molecules of hydrogen and one among oxygen. However, Erdan says, when water flows in nature, further oxygen is launched. In case you had been to drink from a pure spring in Jerusalem, the water can be laden with oxygen.
Zeev Zohar, chief expertise officer and co-founder of Mayus, shared an instance of an aquarium with ISRAEL21c. The bubbles you see within the water are oxygen and that is what fish breathe. If there are not any bubbles, the fish dies.
Erdan encourages us to replicate on the place water comes from and the way it’s used.
All of the water we’ve got on Earth is similar water that has been right here since creation. It is just recycled. The solar evaporates the water within the ocean, and when the clouds collect and it begins to rain, every drop swirls on its approach down, mixing oxygen with H20.
Personalised water
It isn’t simply the aeration that is essential to the well being of the water.
As water passes underground by the rocks and soil it encounters alongside the way in which, it picks up completely different minerals, Erdan says. That is why Fijian water tastes completely different from the water in Yosemite Nationwide Park.
Reverse osmosis units have lengthy been thought-about the gold commonplace of water purification. However they don’t seem to be a lot better than desalination. Sure, they filter out 95% of the unhealthy stuff within the water, but additionally all the good things, no matter zinc, magnesium, iodine or minerals you need to drink. Additionally they waste a whole lot of water.
If you pour water into the Mayu Swirl gadget and add your required minerals, you get personalised water.
The Swirl was to not be Mayus’ first product. The most important prize is the tentatively titled Mayu 2, an over-the-counter water air purifier. The water will robotically enter the machine, the place it is going to be subjected to the identical kind of vortex because the Swirl.
Not like Swirl, the place the person has to manually add minerals, Mayu 2 may have as much as six buttons, press one and you will get the precise mix of blended water you need.
The choice to launch the Swirl earlier was a results of the Covid-19 pandemic. Customers had been caught at dwelling and wished clear, protected water.
We had been searching for a minimal viable product, says Erdan. The Swirl was a pilot who stated, “Hey, we’re Mayu, we’ve got an incredible swirl and the very best quality water on the earth, come discover out extra.”
The Swirl was a runaway success in a short while. We have already got greater than 30,000 clients in 70 international locations, from Abu Dhabi to the remoted islands of the Philippines, Erdan notes. Roughly 88% of gross sales happen in the US.
With Swirl or Mayu 2, it takes 5 to seven minutes to succeed in 80% oxygen stage in plain water. Forty minutes will get you to 100%.
74 billion bottles of water
And in case you have not learn between the strains, having a Mayu Swirl or Mayu 2 at dwelling cuts down on shopping for plastic bottles of spring water, so it is good in your private well being and the well being of the atmosphere.
Individuals purchase 74 billion bottles of water a 12 months. One in three Individuals say they’ve stopped consuming faucet water altogether.
Mayu is progressing alongside two gross sales channel strains: direct-to-consumer, as with Swirl, and a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) mannequin the place Mayu 2 can be put in in colleges, dormitories, lodges, gyms and places of work.
Erdan would additionally prefer to see Mayu all through Africa the place many individuals lack entry to recent consuming water. She will be able to additionally assist clear up water in the US that usually runs by pipes which might be, on common, over 75 years outdated.
Water utilities in the US are required by rules to search for about 100 completely different contaminants in water, Erdan notes. However there are literally greater than 80,000 chemical substances!
These embrace every little thing from asbestos (from outdated pipes), to agricultural runoff, industrial waste and prescription drugs. Even when the water is clear on the supply the place it is processed, it will not be when it reaches your faucet, Eden factors out.
Grasp distiller
Mayu started in 2018 when Zohar’s enterprise accomplice Eden was pregnant along with her third baby. Eden is tremendous well being aware, however when it got here to the place to get the healthiest water for her children, she was stumped.
I by no means considered water till my daughter was born. I could make wholesome meals enjoyable, nevertheless it all the time ends in water, she says.
Zohar and Eden sought more healthy, oxygen-rich, mineral-rich water. They’ve visited dozens of pure springs all over the world however come away empty handed. Mayu was their reply. Erdan joined a 12 months later as CEO. The small five-person firm raised about $3 million.
Whereas all 5 employees members are key to the corporate’s success, Eden has her personal superpower.
She is a grasp distiller, Erdan tells ISRAEL21c. We are able to fill in all the identical minerals, however perhaps the magnesium comes from a special supply. You’ll be able to inform the distinction. You’re our high quality management.
So far as competitors goes, there may be little to none.
Most different firms that attempt to mineralize their water achieve this by supplying a pipe with rocks inside that the water flows into. However that does not make sense, says Erdan. Within the wild, this will take a decade, not minutes.
Corporations like Aqua tru and Berkey Filters within the US, and Mitte in Germany, do not present an app store-like atmosphere for mineral blends, nutritional vitamins, and premium merchandise like Mayu goals to do.
You should purchase a Mayu Swirl for $180 plus $15 for minerals (sufficient for 60 gallons of water). The Mayu 2 might be launched in one other 12 months. The corporate is already speaking to some very well-known and promising companions within the hospitality business.
Get your whirl right here.
