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Like most kids from the seventies and eighties, I remember drinking water right out of the faucet. We drank water from the water
hose during the summer because it was there and nobody's momma wanted them or
their friends tracking dirt and sand through her house. Grown-ups never hassled
us about drinking water from the water hose because it was, gasp, contaminated.
 Providing unpolluted drinking
water is important to many families today as seen from the number of plastic
water bottles found in coolers on various fields and at numerous events around
town. Many families make the financial sacrifice to purchase bottled water from
various stores believing they are providing their family with the cleanest
water available. However, not only does the cost of purchasing bottled water
add up, but so does the amount of unwanted trash in the form of the plastic
water containers. According to research provided by Advance Water Systems, only
fourteen percent of plastic is actually recycled. The other eighty-six percent
end up in landfills. What if the amount of plastic trash could be reduced significantly?
Jesse Smelik found a way to do it. In 1971 Smelik's father bought a Kinetico Water System for
his family. Unknowingly, he was purchasing a water system that he and his
family would one day sell. When the family moved to our fair state from Ohio,
they found there wasn't a retailer for Kinetico Water Systems. Acquiring a
license to distribute the Kinetico products, Smelik's family launched their
business, Advance Water Systems, and became a private dealer for Kinetico Water
System Products. Over the past twenty years, the business has grown and now has
offices in Raleigh, New Bern, Hampstead and Morehead City. This family-operated
business provides Kinetico Water System products to areas like Greensboro and
as far south as Myrtle Beach. The family business provided
Smelik with the opportunity to think outside the box and find a way to save
money. The company, Advance Water Systems, had been purchasing water by the
palette from Kinetico to sell to customers. The Kinetico water was averaging
more than $2.00 a gallon. Wanting to cut costs, Smelik formulated a plan and
begin to build in secret. "My first prototype, I didn't
want any of my family to see or have any involvement with," Smelik explained.
Using exclusively Kinetico products, Smelik built the device in the back of a
portable trailer located at his Hampstead office. His goal was to produce water
that was filtered and treated and that was powered by water moving instead of
electricity. His machine, the Blue-Green Machine, produces microbiologically
pure drinking water through reverse osmosis from any potable water source. Reverse osmosis is the
process of purifying water by passing the water through a semi-permeable
membrane that filters out unwanted substances. "The dirtiest water we can
process clean is salt water," Smelik explained. Various stages of
purification inside The Blue-Green Machine include purification,
pre-purification, softening and reverse osmosis. The water is also exposed to
ultra-violet light. This light is extra protection and kills any bacteria that
may still be present in the water. When the water has traveled through the
various filtration processes, it is passed through a cold plate made of
aluminum. This cold plate's stainless steel coils cool the water to sixty-four
degrees and when the tap or spout is turned, cold clean water is available for
drinking within less than two minutes. Pure water is both made and stored in
the reservoirs. The machine can hold one hundred twenty gallons of water. "The only products that work
inside the Blue Green Machine are Kinetico products. Everything is reusable and
nothing will find its way into a landfill somewhere," Smelik believes. "The
better the water, the better the planet." His philosophy extends to the
way individuals consume water, especially at festivals and sporting events. His
idea is simple. Organizations rent a Blue-Green Machine, which is portable, and
by providing wrist-bands for a minimal fee. Attendees can drink water from the
Blue-Green Machine all day by filling-up a reusable plastic bottle. Not only
are attendees saving oodles of money, let's face it, most events charge
somewhere in the neighborhood of three to four dollars per bottle of water, but
they are also eliminating a lot of unnecessary plastic trash. Wanting to eliminate the
number of bottles of water,  Smelik's company also has a catalogue available for
purchasing biodegradable-corn based cups. Depending on the temperature, these
cups disintegrate within forty-five days to the size of a dime. The cups are BPA
free as well. "We are using more plastic than ever and businesses wanting to
promote being 'green' should consider purchasing a Blue-Green Machine." He
explains that businesses can even put their logo on the Blue-Green Machine.
Smelik now has five separate
Blue-Green Machines that are solar-powered and produce clean water and can be
rented for various events. The machines can also be specially designed to suit
the owners needs. Offering me a drink of cold
clean water from the Blue-Green Machine, Smelik gives me a satisfied smile and
drains his biodegradable cup of water and says, "She tastes good today. She's
tasting good."
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