LARQ Water Pitcher self-cleaning water jug

It is an abomination for Dutch epidemiologists. Water bottles that are refilled again and again, because we Dutch people are frugal. There is now a good technological solution, the LARQ Water Pitcher. But you have to turn the piggy bank around for that.

Water, the best thirst quencher

Water is Mother Nature’s soft drink. And water also holds countless secrets. For example, did you know that there are 19 types of ice, plus amorphous ice? H2O, as this unexpectedly complex substance known to us is also referred to by chemists, is by far the best thirst quencher. It’s fresh, it’s healthy and it’s by far the cheapest. For € 2.50 you can drink plenty of water for a year. Because Dutch tap water is among the best in the world. Water experts from other countries are quite jealous of this.

It is therefore very smart to tap your own water from the tap and take it with you in a drinking bottle. This purifies your body and protects the environment. Because small plastic flakes are constantly being released from the plastic bottles of water. And that is the most innocent example. Because bottles of cola, or cans, also provide all kinds of artificial junk for free, which you don’t actually want in your body.

LARQ Water Pitcher, clean water next to your bed

We have already discussed the Larq Bottle PureVis drinking bottle, which costs around € 80. This makes short work of bacterial colonies and other single-celled scum with the help of ultraviolet light. Completely wrong, those annoying invisible creeps assume that they can take over your drink for a while. Of course you don’t let that happen. Unfortunately quite pricey. But if you buy a drinking bottle of water at the station every day, you will soon have it out. But for home use? There is another product for that, the LARQ Water Pitcher.

Given the excellent condition of Dutch drinking water, this is more convenient in countries such as the US. The US has a third world drinking water supply. However, it can also be useful in the Netherlands if you want to be on the safe side when it comes to preventing bacterial contamination. Because, for example, is a carafe of water next to your bed exposed for a few hours? Then all kinds of dust can end up in it, which makes certain uninvited single-celled creatures very happy.

Portable water filter with UV lamps

The Larq Water Pitcher solves this problem and more. It is basically a portable water filter. Cleaning water is done in two steps. In the first step, contaminants including heavy metals are filtered out of the water by means of activated carbon. In the second step, the filter uses ultraviolet light to limit the growth of bacteria.

With other water filters, a notorious problem is that bacteria grow in the filter. UV light solves this problem in the Larq Water Pitcher. A single filter can filter approximately 60 gallons, that is 220 L of water, before it needs to be replaced.

LARQ Water Pitcher hip and high-tech

As in any hip product, a smartphone app should of course not be missing. Of course, as befits a self-respecting US company from Silicon Valley, only usable on iPhone. Here you can keep track of the condition of the filter and your daily water use. Very handy, because health experts recommend drinking several liters of water per day.

In short, apart from the discrimination of Android, a nice product.

Unfortunately very expensive

What makes us a little less happy, a lot less happy, is the ridiculously extreme price increase since the Kickstarter ended. You pay no less than € 130 for this water carafe. That’s a lot for a water pitcher. With a lithium ion power bank of a tenner, a UV LED of a few euros and an ESP32-like board with conversion. Of which you can order the parts on the Alibaba for a maximum of a tenner.

The costs of a water filter are also not bad, around € 20 each. That is converted into a dime per liter of purified water.

And then there is the depreciation on the water carafe. If we assume five years of intensive use, you come to € 26 per year, or € 9 per filter. This is not even included. That is not much less than the cheapest mineral water from the supermarket. Saskia van Lidl, for example, which still cost € 0.12 per liter in 2017. In short: until LARQ significantly reduces the price of the LARQ Water Pitcher, it is better to leave it alone. Too bad, but it is the way it is. A great market opportunity for a Dutch or Belgian competitor.