‘The Hydrant’ Water Bottle

Client: Hydrate for Health

Following a serious spinal operation in 2005 Mark Moran was unable to move for a couple of days and then had very limited movement for a short while afterwards. During this time, bed-bound and stationary one of his main problems was getting enough to drink. The reason it was such a problem was not a lack of water, far from it, but the fact that the jug and cup were on a cabinet next to the bed and, as movement was so difficult, he was unable to get a drink unless a nurse was called to assist. This, coupled with the very hot and dry hospital environment, meant there was a very real danger of becoming dehydrated.

Mark was so convinced that he could provide a solution to this very real problem that he quit his job and bet his house on the idea. He approached Amalgam Modelmaking to help him develop the one-piece screw cap and integrated clip, central to his innovation.

We used 3D scanning to capture the exact proportions and thread from the bottle Mark had provided then designed the screw cap and combined clip /handle  for the bottle.   This was followed by rapid prototyping of the design and in-house vacuum casting to produce a batch of trial parts. The prototypes were used for evaluation and testing before marketing the bottle to the healthcare industry. The Hydrant is now available in all NHS locations (order code UMT004) and through a number of large distributors as well as directly from Hydrate for Health Ltd. It has also won silver in the Dignity and Daily Living category of The Nursing Times’ Nursing Product Awards for 2010.