Before you get started

“Test the fabric with an independent third party. This is especially relevant with cheaper fabrics. Often, overseas suppliers will call their fabrics potable when they are only food grade. This can cause significant issues once your products are rolled out. Also, every single item that will go into the product, such as fittings, hoses and washers in tanks, needs to be of potable quality. ~Gavin Hodgins, Flexitank (Australia) Pty Ltd

“Companies considering entering the potable-water market need to address the challenges of affordability and localization. Both are resource intensive—human and financial. In addition, most potable-water decisions are made by government utilities and municipalities, organizations that tend to be slow decision makers. Make sure you buy potable-water materials only from reputable companies that can substantiate claims through third-party verification.” ~Dan Dwight, Cooley Group

“Understand current products in the marketplace and what differentiates you from them. If you have the time, search back five to 10 years and look for other potable-water products and see how they are doing today. You will find two or three great product concepts that were supported by large corporations and rolled out with much fanfare that are now shut down. The key is to understand why.” ~Nathan Jones, Hydration Technology Innovations

“We recommend working with partners already based in the regions you hope to impact. You don’t ever want to bring a foreign product in, drop it off, leave and then expect people to use it properly. Most of what we do depends on our NGO partners’ work in the field. The most important thing to think about when working in emerging markets is to look at the problems people are facing. Try to utilize resources within communities, and then test your solutions with the people who will be using them. Too many times innovations have been developed around what we think is right with material that is hard to find, when we have the opportunity to recycle mass amounts of waste in regions with little waste infrastructure.” ~Kelsey Langdale, PackH2O

“It’s a long road, and nothing happens overnight.”
~Alex Johnstone, F CUBED Australia Pty Ltd