The success of drinking healthier water led Scott Dickson to pursue what has now become Phox, the world’s first water filter with a refillable cartridge. Born in 2018, its vision is to take on the bottled water industry by providing water filters that don’t harm the environment. Phox fan Melanie Sykes talked to founder Scott Dickson about his thirst for creating sustainable solutions.
Scott, what motivated you to start Phox?
The idea of Phox came about in 2016 when I had been searching to cure my acid reflux symptoms. Research showed that alkaline water had the potential to be a temporary fix. After finding a love for filtered water, I realised that filtering, instead of buying plastic bottles, was a message we should promote globally. This was before single-use plastic was a fully-fledged public enemy. I was motivated by having a macro goal as I was no longer interested in material objects.
Filtered water systems have been around for a long time now, which has been great for our bodies, but they have had a negative environmental effect.
When and how did you research its impact, and how did you feel about the findings?
In 2016 when we launched our version 1 filter we had a strong environmental message against single-use plastic. However, our first product did have a disposable filter cartridge just like everyone else. It’s impossible to start at ‘utopia’ but we were embarrassed about the disposable cartridge. So after two years of development, saving every penny and winning more than five business funding competitions and grants, we launched the refillable V2: a filter with zero plastic waste and a reusable/refillable cartridge.
We researched how many disposable filter cartridges went to landfill. It’s far in excess of 100 million per annum. They don’t degrade for hundreds of years, so imagine the space that’s taking up every year. Yes, it’s much better than bottled water, but it’s not acceptable.
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Who did you work with to find the solutions and create the Phox water filter?
We partnered with Filament PD, an awesome product design company that helped us conceptualise our idea, create prototypes and get the product ready for manufacturing.
How satisfying is it to convert so many to a better, more eco way to filter their water?
We partnered with Filament PD, an awesome product design company that helped us conceptualise our idea, create prototypes and get the product ready for manufacturing.
How satisfying is it to convert so many to a better, more eco way to filter their water?
It’s really the fuel that keeps the team going. Our favourite time of every month is looking at a curated PDF of all our customer feedback and reviews.
It’s so exciting to see a product we made make so many people’s lives a little easier, healthier and more environmentally friendly.
What keeps you motivated in your business? Are you constantly looking ahead?
Absolutely! The amount of opportunity to create solutions and make improvements, whether it’s new products or in the factory is perfect for me. There is no better feeling than having an idea, bringing it to life and seeing other people enjoy it.
In what ways are you personally eco-friendly in your everyday life?
Over six years ago I gave up meat. It was much easier than I thought it would be and was the biggest effect I could have made environmentally at the time. I’m now a proud owner of a Tesla electric car. It’s been on my vision board for around five years and to finally make it a reality is a dream come true. Above those two, I’m really conscious about what I purchase and what its end of life looks like.
With bottled water being a significant part of the plastic pollution issue, why do you think there is no fast change in this area? What do you think could be the way out?
I think convenience is the main driver in behaviour that makes bottled water such a big problem. There is no fast change because huge industries have invested very heavily in machinery that makes bottled water at really cheap prices. Demand hasn’t slowed to the point where these companies have to make a change so they spend a small amount on research that may find a solution somewhere in the future.
We are doing everything we can to market our home solutions to people so they don’t buy bottles for home use. We are working on a solution that offers the same on-the-go convenience as bottled water, but in a sustainable manner. I’m hoping to launch that this year!
Elsewhere, I’m encouraged by some material science progression, which will allow bottled water to be much more sustainable and degradable but anything single-use is always going to create much more C02 than a longer-term reusable product. I’m always hopeful.
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