Artisanal water filtration is now a thing

With big dreams -- and KickStarter -- two designers want to build a water purifier for the Apple set

Published December 10, 2012 8:39PM (EST)

       (Soma)
(Soma)

The U.S. has some of the safest drinking water on the planet. We also happen to spend a whole lot of money on bottled water and tap filtration systems. Now, two designers are hoping to dip into that market with an über minimalist new purifier they're calling Soma.

Will it, as its name suggests, give you a drink fit for the gods? (Or will it, as Aldous Huxley might have it, give you the "inner light of universal benevolence"?) If fancy ingredients are any indication, maybe. Soma is a glass carafe topped with "compostable water filters made out of vegan silk, Malaysian coconut, and PLA food-based plastic." Co-founders Mike Del Ponte and Ido Leffler are banking on this being a water system for those who value good design and good taste, or at least those who have $45 to broadcast their green credentials ($250 if they want those credentials engraved).

Frivolous as "artisanal water" might sound, filtration systems like this greatly reduce our reliance on plastic bottles -- a pretty indisputable good. But then again, drinking water straight from the tap doesn't require plastic bottles, either.


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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