Reefill Is Building The First Network Of Smartphone Activated Water Refill Stations In New York City

Reefill is a low-cost, eco-friendly bottled water alternative that supporters can help expand by backing their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign

New York, NY (PRWEB) - Reefill (http://www.reefill.com), a New York based technology startup, is building the first smartphone activated network of water refill stations providing members with unlimited access to cold, filtered tap water on the go. Stations are conveniently located inside cafes and other retail businesses around the city. Reefill has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo (https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/1188ad2c#/) to grow the network from eight existing pilot stations in Greenwich Village to over 100 locations citywide. The goal? To help as many people as possible ditch bottled water.

Last year, US bottled water sales topped $21 billion, finally surpassing those of soda, making bottled water the nation’s drink of choice. But bottled water, which can cost $2 or more for a single serving, is often just glorified tap water and negatively impacts the environment in a myriad of ways. A decline in public water fountains has left consumers with few options to avoid contributing to this massive waste problem. Reefill solves the economic and environmental problems of bottled water by providing users the same convenience, but without the waste and at a fraction of the cost.

To use Reefill, members (who pay $1.99 per month for unlimited access to all Reefill stations) simply download the Reefill app on iPhone or Android and search the map for the nearest location. When they arrive at the business they activate the station using Bluetooth via the app and then fill their bottles with cold, filtered water in seconds. The app tracks how many bottles members have saved from the landfill as well as how much money members have saved by avoiding buying bottled water, helping reinforce their positive behavior.

“Reefill’s pilot program has been a huge success and we have gotten great feedback from our users who let us know that they are eager to see a citywide network,” said Reefill Co-founder and CEO Jason Pessel. “We are ready to make that a reality and help as many people as possible ditch bottled water.”

There are many ways to contribute to the Reefill campaign. Supporters who help Reefill expand the network with just $19 will get a one-year membership to the service. $39 will get you an insulated stainless steel Reefill bottle and one-year membership. Support of $199 will get you a lifetime subscription and a Reefill bottle. For the duration of each Reefill membership purchased, Reefill will provide someone in the developing world with access to safe water via their partnership with Water.org (http://water.org).

For those looking for even bigger opportunities to help Reefill expand, $1000 will allow you to sponsor a new Reefill station, choose the New York City neighborhood it is installed in and get your name featured on it. If the campaign passes $500,000 in total pledges, Reefill will expand to a new city beyond New York.

You can view the Indiegogo campaign here (https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/1188ad2c#/) and download images and video here (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nk87dwtq959gu47/AACh0qEy_e7CyLz4ALXXbI0ea?dl=0).

About Reefill
Reefill was founded in 2015 by Jason Pessel, Patrick Connorton, and Andrew Betlyon. The company set up its first station in September 2016 in New York’s Greenwich Village. It received an NYU Green Grant, won the New York Public Library’s and Citi Foundation’s 2016 New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition, is part of the 1776 Startup Incubator and previously participated in Think Beyond Plastic’s 2015 accelerator cohort.

Negative Impact Of Bottled Water
The manufacturing and transportation of bottled water wastes more than 17 million barrels of oil and creates more than 2.5 million tons of CO2 annually. The bottling process wastes 3 to 4 liters of water for every liter of bottled water produced. Because over 80% of plastic water bottles are not recycled, two million tons of plastic bottles pile up in U.S. landfills each year.