California-based Cloud Water Filters is bringing water filtration technology to smart homes.

The Cloud RO is an under-sink reverse osmosis water filter that allows users to monitor water quality and consumption via an app.

There is a crisis sweeping tap water in America. A crumbling water system infrastructure, and the rise of emerging chemicals such as PFAS, have more consumers searching for home water treatment. Cloud WF is a new player in the residential point-of-use filtration space.

Cloud RO offers an alternative to reverse osmosis filtration. It incorporates technology that controls pressure and flow within the system to increase filtration performance. Smart sensors track water quality and communicate those data to the consumer via an app.

This provides visibility into water quality, filter health and consumption habits.

“This inside view has been lacking in the water filtration industry,” said Cloud WF CEO Ben Zvaifler, “Consumers need to know that their filter is working and that the water their family is drinking is clean and healthy.”

Cloud WF is one of the first water filtration companies focusing heavily on the smart home. Water quality data are aggregated across all the installed devices to give the firm a high-level view of water quality across the country.

In addition to connectivity, it also delivers filtration and adds healthy minerals to the purified water. A multi-stage, reverse osmosis filter eliminates all the top contaminants including lead, PFAS, fluoride, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. After the water has been purified, a remineralisation filter adds back calcium, magnesium, potassium and other trace minerals. These minerals improve the water’s taste and raise the pH leaving the water alkaline.

Residential water filtration is on the rise as problems erode the public’s trust in tap water. Nine million lead service lines deliver water to homes across the country, and the emergence of PFAS, or forever-chemicals, has the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) setting health standards that could leave many water utilities in violation.

In addition, regulations around single-use plastics are encouraging families to ditch plastic water bottles and switch to in-home filtration.

“The issues facing water quality are pushing more Americans towards point-of-use filtration,” said Cloud WF CFO Nick Braun. “It’s a rising tide in a well-established $6bn industry. Even though we are the new kids on the block, Cloud is well-positioned for immediate growth.”

Cloud WF launched earlier this year and has already shipped and installed systems in over 30 states. In their first few months in business, it has filtered thousands of litres of water, accounting for more than 20,000 water bottles saved.

“It’s a metric we love to track,” said Braun. “We know we are doing good, and my kids are blown away when they check our app to see how many bottles we are saving as a family.”

Based in San Diego, Cloud WF is developing connected filtration technology that allows users to track water quality from their smartphone. It launched to the public in early 2023.