AQUAONE AND H 2 ORB FOUNDED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF ELIMINATING COSTLY WATER DAMAGE AND CONSERVING PRECIOUS RESOURCES

The H 2 ORB serves as an effective detection monitor when potential water leaks or toilet tank overflows may occur.

"Property damage due to water leaks in toilets in the home is rated number two in terms of insurance claims," states Richard Quintana, CEO of AquaOne Technologies and inventor and founder of the H 2 ORB.

"Everyone wants to stop leaking toilets that waste water," Quintana adds. "Standing water also can cause tremendous damage to one's home or business. In many cases, preventing such water leaks and toilet overflows can not only help protect property, but more importantly, a life."

"H 2 ORB is the product that will meet the needs of the hospitality industry, as well as skilled nursing, hospitals and senior living facilities, apartment complex operators, universities and individual homeowners worldwide," Quintana explains. "H2ORB will monitor toilets and their tanks, detecting water leaks and overflows, and signaling that such problems exist or could occur. This reduces costly damage, expensive water bills and ultimately, injuries, especially to our senior citizens living in assisted care facilities who may not see standing water and could slip, fall and hurt themselves," he notes.

H 2 ORB is a small, round, extremely sophisticated monitoring device. It contains a microprocessor that is the heart of the globe. H 2 ORB easily attaches to the toilet's water line and automatically detects and stops bowl overflows, tank overflows and tank leaks of all sizes. A replaceable battery provided by Texas Instruments powers the system.

Speaking from Experience

As a former director for assisted living facilities, Quintana knows the costly consequences of toilet overflows and leaks. "Overflows caused by both leaking toilets and those that were clogged and not immediately cleared resulted in considerable dollar amounts for cleanup, repair and replacement of damaged property," he noted.

"In the field of assisted living and skilled nursing operations, we have to make sure our restroom facilities are working correctly at all times," Quintana went on to say. "I never wanted to have a situation where one of our residents or patients slipped in their bathroom and injured themselves because they didn't see or know that there was standing water on the floor, no doubt caused by a toilet that overflowed."

Designing from Scratch

After searching for a product that would effectively detect and stop those potential leaks, but finding nothing, Quintana decided to draw upon his engineering background and design one of his making and unique perception of the product's purpose. As a result of diligent research, Quintana was able to develop a reliable, working overflow-stopping prototype for tank toilets.

Real World Applications

After more than six years of extensive and exhaustive research and development, including multiple "real-life" tests, conducted at University of California, Riverside, and Cal-Poly, San Luis Obispo, as well as several Southern California hospitals and nursing facilities, Quintana is confident H 2 ORB is now ready to reach a larger population. He also holds seven patents on the product.

In addition, a Pasadena Water & Power Department study is presently examining how H 2 ORB can also serve as a water conservation device, one of the key functions of water control management. "Clearly, water conservation is important to all of us," Quintana stresses, "and a key facet of H 2 ORB's purpose. We have to continually understand how precious a resource water is."

Technology Partners

H2ORB has been designed with the latest componentry available, and enjoys a strong relationship with its manufacturing partners, including Texas Instruments. "AquaOne is very pleased to be working with such prominent technology partners as Texas Instruments, which provides H 2 ORB with its MSP430 chip technology," Quintana added.

In addition, other suppliers to H 2 ORB include Hamlin Sensors; SAIA-Burgess, which provides the pulse solinoid; and Predan, which developed the low frequency antenna embedded in H 2 ORB's circuit board.