Clearwater Manufacturing, a company in Huntersville, NC has created a mini-water bottling machine that sanitizes, fills and caps aluminum and glass bottles on site. The company plans to lease or sell the machines to hospitals, universities, companies, military bases, theme parks and cruise lines.
The invention, which is called the Boomerang Water Bottling System, makes six bottles a minute. The bottles can be kept as souvenirs or returned and reused. This eco-friendly solution eliminates the need for trucks to deliver bottled water, cutting down on vehicle emissions. Obtaining a fresh bottle of water is as simple as pressing the start button: first, bottles are disinfected, rinsed and drained; then FDA-approved municipal tap water is filtered through a series of processes and used to fill the bottles; special caps are sanitized and pressed onto the bottles which are then ready to be displayed for sale. All of this occurs on-site, inside of a machine that is no bigger than a commercial-sized ice maker.
The name “Boomerang” indicates that the return and reuse of bottles is the overall goal, and so far it has been relatively successful. This is more than we can say for the recycling of plastic water bottles. Perhaps one day these machines will be able to bottle soda and other flavored drinks on-site, eliminating the need for the manufacturing and transport of plastic bottled drinks altogether. Look out Coca-Cola. Clearwater is on a mission to save the planet!.
Haywood Jablome says
I have an idea for an eco-friendly solution that eliminates the need for trucks to deliver bottled water, cutting down on vehicle emissions. Draw some water out of the tap and presto! Drinkable water without environmental damage.