Company has a clean water solution

A pair of longtime Bend residents want to make fresh drinking water available for everyone. And they have the technology to make it happen.

Gary Cruikshank, CEO of Aquamira Technologies, and Noah Lemas, Aquamira’s vice president of sales and marketing, have spent the past year finding customers for the company’s newest and biggest product, the Divvy emergency water system.

The Divvy and other Aquamira products are made out of a production facility in Logan, Utah. But the company is planning to increase its Bend workforce this year, potentially adding 15 employees to work out of its sales office on Northwest Arizona Avenue, Lemas said.

The Divvy system can convert up to 2,500 gallons of freshwater a day into potable drinking water, using a pump system that doesn’t rely on electricity. It’s about 200 pounds, and can be broken down into three parts, making it easier to transport.

The lightweight and electricity-free features have made the system popular among faith-based humanitarian groups, which have already used Divvy filters in Honduras and Haiti. Aquamira is preparing to send two Divvy systems to the Philippines.

The company is also in talks with the military about using the Divvy system to supply troops in remote locations with fresh drinking water.

Aquamira has developed a variety of consumer products, like water purification tablets and filtered water bottles, since the company was founded in 1999.

But the Divvy system is a big step into military and emergency response markets, Lemas said. With a $10,000 price tag, it’s designed to respond to some of the biggest disasters imaginable. The product has only been marketable for about a year, but could make a big difference mitigating the effects of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in the future.

“When Katrina hit and thousands of people were in the Superdome, it took five days to get drinking water in there,” Lemas said. “We could have been outside converting floodwater in the parking lot in about 90 minutes.”

Q: What type of applications do you see the Divvy system working for?

A: There’s a lot of potential use for state, county and city governments and their emergency management systems. Say there’s a flood that knocks out power and drinking water. We could convert floodwater into drinkable water. And there’s a lot of potential with military use. Going to trade shows for the National Guard has proven beneficial. The Army is looking to change from its use of water bottles, and we see our product as a viable option.

Q: Where do you see the company going from here?

A: We’re really looking to ramp up our Bend presence in the next year. Depending on the success of the Divvy system, we could be adding 15 employees in Bend to handle sales of the product.

What: Aquamira Technologies

What it does: Develops freshwater treatment products

Pictured: Noah Lemas, vice president of sales and marketing at Aquamira

Where: Bend and Logan, Utah

Employees: 30

Phone: 360-306-5586

Website: www.aquamira.com