A group of Royal Roads University students is trying to help you flush less cash and water down the toilet.
As part of the commerce program, RRU students are mandated to pursue a number of different ventures. The latest was a group project, where students were required to find a product and start an online business selling it.
ThinkH2O was born.
“They want you to go out and suffer through creating your own business,” said David Coburn. After hearing about recent droughts and wildfires in Canada, and around the world, he and his fellow group members wanted to do their part to save some water, he said.
“It’s a big issue across Canada and we wanted to do something meaningful,” Coburn said. “This project was something we identified as a simple solution.”
Their solution is the toilet tank bank. This little device gets filled with water and hangs on the inside of your toilet tank out of the way of internal workings. But it creates enough displacement to save a lot of water, Coburn said. It is non-corrosive, odour-resistant and made out of a material that deters algae growth. “It’s a pretty simple device.”
Research shows this simple little device can save up to 3.2 litres of water every flush, he said. That’s the equivalent of almost seven pints of beer swirling down the drain. For a household of three, this device can save nearly 20,000 litres of water in a year, which translates to a yearly savings of roughly $70 off a water bill. Toilets account for roughly 20 to 30 per cent of domestic water usage, he said.
“It pays for itself, that’s for sure,” Coburn said, laughing.
The group sells the device online for $8 and is offering a “Three for $20” special price for the remainder of the month. All proceeds from their sales are donated to WaterAid Canada, a non-government organization striving to connect people with access to safe water.
“We were interested in WaterAid because they address a lot of social issues globally… That was a really big selling feature for us,” Coburn said. The group sent the organization an email outlining their project and their partnership was formed.
Other ThinkH2O team members are Steve McCrea, Falina Stack, Stacey Devolder, Laura Randall and Amber Zanon. They sold roughly 80 toilet tank banks in their first three weeks of sales and hope to sell 200 units by the end of the month. Coburn said that with the recent sales growth and more awareness, they expect to meet their goal. Selling 200 units will translate into approximately 120,000 litres of water saved per month.
For more information go to thinkh2o.ca.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com