The Business and its Principal Activities

EcoClear Inc.'s mission is to profitably supply environmentally friendly water filtration systems. The launch product is an innovative self-cleaning swimming pool filter and our lead international market is the US, following the successful testing and launch of the product in Australia. The immediate goals are to secure a licensing agreement with a major American pool industry manufacturer, gain funding for initial working capital, and continue R&D activities to apply the technology to other industries and guarantee the long term success of the company.

The Product

The pool industry has long felt the need for a better filtration technology. Pools are typically filtered by Diatomaceous Earth (DE), sand, or cartridge filters. These filters waste time, energy, water and chemicals in the cleaning (or back washing) function, and offer varying levels of filtration effectiveness. (For background information on pool filtration, refer to Appendix A).

EcoClear is a self-backwashing filter that is more economical, environmentally friendly, and consistently filters to a finer level than existing pool filtration products. It is the invention of an Australian engineer with considerable experience in both the pool and plastic industries.

EcoClear works on the principle of increasing water pressure (caused by the normal congestion of the filter screen) triggering an automatic reversal of water flow back through the filter screen, carrying the sediment away to waste. The resultant drop in water pressure immediately causes a latch mechanism to reset the filter to the filtration mode, and the filter cycle begins again. This self-cleaning process is virtually instantaneous, happens once every 1-4 hours when the pump is running (depending on water condition), and sends only about half a gallon of water to waste each time it cycles. (Schematic diagrams illustrating this process are shown in Appendix B).

EcoClear's Benefits

EcoClear Inc. has identified 10 benefits of the product relative to the criteria that the pool industry and their customers use in their purchase decisions.

• Saves Production Costs due to its simple design, substantially smaller size and low pressure operation, allowing lower prices and higher margins;
• Maintains Water Quality at a given micron level, whereas other filters become increasingly less effective until they are cleaned;
• Saves Water by wasting 85% less water than DE or sand filters, and 66% less than cartridge filters;
• Saves Pool Chemicals as waste water contains those chemicals;
• Saves Electricity by operating at 2-10 lbs/in² compared with the 40-80 lbs/in² needed to force water through the other filters;
• Saves Time by eliminating the manual cleaning chore of other filters;
• Reduces Financial Risk by eliminating the uncertainty of when to backwash the filter and thus avoids unexpected costs resulting from algae infestation;
• Reduces Health Risk as it eliminates the use of DE, a known carcinogen;
• Saves Installation Costs because it comes with a protective housing; and
• Saves Poolside Space due to its compact size.

Product Comparison

The following table indicates that EcoClear outperforms the other filter types not only overall, but on every purchase decision criteria.