Island Water Case Study

Reliable Rural Purification

The Isle of Coll

On the picturesque Isle of Coll locals and visitors fear becoming ill from their water. Rural living is wonderful, and growing in popularity as we become better connected globally, but how do you ensure access safe water for guests or your family?

The Problem

Coll has no mains piped water outside of the main village, with most properties relying on: 1) Private Water Supplies (PWS) like boreholes, dams and springs; 2) traveling to the village tap several times a week; or 3) buying in bottled water from the mainland, to access drinking water.

There are 23,981 Private Water Supplies in Scotland, with E.Coli found in 14.5% of those tested in 2020.

Due to seasonal changes flow and contamination, harmful contaminants like E.Coli, Cryptosporidium, Arsenic, Manganese, Iron and others, are often not removed by traditional pruifiers like High Carbon Filters, Reverse Osmosis, Ultraviolet Bulbs and Chemical Additives.

Inhabitants of the Highland and Islands use an estimated 80 Million bottles of water a year, bringing 800 tons of plastic to rural parts of Scotland with some of the lowest recycling rates in the UK.

With tighter Government regulations around water quality coming into effect in 2023/4. Many properties are now turning to higher cost, transported bottled water.

Maintaining consistent high purity water that meets ever tightening Drinking Water Inspectorate standards, is time consuming and costly.

The Solution

IF and a passionate community on the Isle of Coll, are working to develop an all year purifier, for consistent reliable drinking water. Over the past 6 months, 15 homes and businesses on Coll have been helping us to design and build the ultimate rural purifier. The end product (expected in 2023) will use the company's patented Vapour Distillation technology, developed over the past 4 and a half years, with testing support from Scottish Water.

Our shared goal is to increase the safety of rural private water supplies, and remove the need for environmentally damaging plastic bottles in the Highlands and Islands.