A team of engineers has developed water bottles that help detect the bacteria in water and also serve as teabags.
The team of Angela Lopez Blanco, 23, from Spain, and her Emirati teammates, Amna Al Ali and Ruwayya Al Mehrzi undertook the project which has won the Ecothon Innovation Challenge, organized by sustainability specialists Masdar in collaboration with Nestlé, the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and the Authority of Social Contribution– Ma’an.
Blanco, an electrical engineering student at the University of Wollongong in Dubai, said they got the idea after interviewing people from different backgrounds and wanted to help low-income people cut down on the cost on use of bottles.
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She said through the use of recycled bottles the primary reason “may not have been to protect the environment” , but the cost of regularly buying new bottles of water.
The first design from the group, working under the name Re, was the ‘On the Go’ bottle that can be folded to fit inside a purse or even a pocket and the team worked on to develop a bottle that can be reused and is easy to carry around.
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Blanco said the bottle is useful for people “on the go, like athletes and students” and is foldable and light with a trendy design. The cap of bottle has been designed to change colour if there is bacteria present in the water, making it particularly useful during the pandemic when people are concerned about hygiene.
Priced at AED 123 the multi-purpose bottle that can last between two to three years. Nestle is discussing producing a prototype.
Their second bottle, Chillax, is not only reusable but can expand from 300ml to 500ml, while the Afternoon bottle can be used to drink water and as a tea bag.
Blanco said that it has been made from “recycled cardboard” and hot water and tea leaves will help serve two refills. (AW)
