To those of us with an active lifestyle and always on the go, one of the most basic and essential items that we constantly carry around with us is the “water bottle”. Whether it’s made of plastic or stainless steel, we take it with us everywhere we go; in the car, to the beach, to the gym, to the mountains; you name it. To some people, forgetting to bring their water bottle is like forgetting to bring your car keys.

However, with all numerous “grab and go” handling it gets, no one really thinks about how disgusting and filthy the water bottle and its contents inside can get. Whether it’s in a gym bag full of dirty sweatpants and smelly socks, inside a humid locker room, or just on top of a park bench surrounded with smog and pollution in a big city; it is usually in an environment that is far less than ideal.

Even worse is when people refill their single use disposable plastic water bottle over the course of many days and leave it in the sweltering heat in their car at extreme temperatures. Unfortunately, this is typical usual occurrence that I see all the time.

If you look at the Internet of Things universe there are plenty of “smart” devices just about everywhere you look. Smart-TV’s, smart-watches, smart appliances, but not many companies have ever come up with a “smart-bottle”.

Noerden, a maker of smart watches from Paris, came up with a brilliant concept of putting a self-cleaning “smart-bottle” on the market. They have been primarily selling them in Europe and have recently introduced their products to America in January. This indigo-go start-up company was recently at CES and the ShowStoppers Show in Las Vegas promoting their “LIZ” line of “smart” bottles.

As I was walking past various vendor displays at the ShowStopper’s event, these award winning minimalist designed “smart-bottles” certainly caught my attention. They were displayed next to Noerden’s line of smart-watches, so out of curiosity, I had to stop and ask their reps to find out what made these bottles so “smart” and what makes them any more distinguished from other water bottles.

After all, to call it a “smart” bottle may be a stretch of the imagination. Sure, they looked “smart”, but there are no other devices or networks or via different wireless protocols that actually connect with it. It does not connect to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or even the internet. It doesn’t operate through an app or connect to any devices.

However, after the presentation I was given, I was convinced you can call this a “smart-bottle”, because these bottles have an integrated UV sterilization function, hydration reminders and a temperature indicator all rolled into one…all without using an app.

LIZ – WHAT MAKES IT SMART?

After charging “LIZ” with it’s magnetic cable dock for a few hours, I discovered that the real brains of this smart water bottle was really in its “smart-lid”. To turn the power on, you press and hold the center of the lid and the LED indicator light will then flash white quickly. (To turn off the power, press and hold the center of the lid and the LED indicator light will then flash white once indicating that the smart bottle is off.)

Once the power is on, by tapping once on the smart-lid, the LED indicator will blink on the “smart-lid” in the color corresponding to the beverage’s temperature range: blue for cold, yellow for warm or red for hot. If the temperature is above 60°C/140°F the light will be red (hot). If the beverage temperature is between 36.5 and 60°C / 98°F to 140°F the light will be yellow (neutral). If the beverage temperature is below 36.5°C/98°F, it will turn blue (cold). – If the water temperature is over 60°C/140°F the UV function will not work and the lid’s indicator light will flash red to indicate the temperature is too high for sterilization.

By tapping twice on the responsive smart lid, it starts the UV sterilization process. There is a 278 nano-meter UV-C light in the bottle that destroys up to 99,9% of harmful viruses and odor-causing bacteria by breaking down their DNA and rendering them harmless as little as 5 minutes. The LED indicator will stop flashing when the sterilization is complete.

However, don’t think you can just go and fill LIZ from any water source, like an open stream by the mountains. Water out in the open still needs to be filtered. Filtering and sterilizing are two different processes. Like previously stated, water sterilization kills viruses & bacteria, whereas filtering water removes other substances such as heavy metals or fluoride.

In addition, the LIZ water bottle will also remind users to drink every 2 hours thanks to its smart hydration reminders. Of course, you can just power it off to save on battery life, which can last up to a month with 1 UV sterilization a day.

However, LIZ can only sterilize water. Its sterilization system is not compatible with dark colored liquids since the UV-C light cannot penetrate dark beverages. Therefore it won’t sterilize Gatorade, Cola, tea or coffee, or beer. If you prefer other beverages besides water after a sweaty workout, then this smart-bottle is not for you. But if you are dehydrated after a tough workout, then you know that there is nothing more thirst quenching than pure water.

Additionally, acidic and/or bubbly beverages can damage stainless steel over time and is not recommended to have those on a regular basis unless you rinse and clean the bottle quickly immediately after use.

The only other beverage it doesn’t support is milk.

I found out that “LIZ” is not actually named after a person, but three middle letters in “steriLIZation”.

RESULTS

Besides being an aesthetically well designed product, the real value here for the active health conscious consumer is for the sterilization feature. Sterilization would be perfect for using in “sketchy” places with questionable water quality, including at home.

There are days when I feel I shouldn’t be using a public water fountain because of all the possible germs there are, so I end up dehydrated and nearly dying of heat exhaust. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but I would prefer to wait until I get to a store that sells bottled water then risk getting sick. Schools are atrocious for water fountains to stay away from. Who knows what these mischievous delinquents possibly might do to them. Probably sticking pens in the spouts to control their aim on getting certain victims wet. I just don’t want to chance it, though I would feel quite safe with sterilizing the water with LIZ, if I knew the water was filtered.

Restaurants, where you can self-serve and pour your own water would fare perfectly. Most likely, these businesses change their filters regularly, so their tap water would be up to standard for their own customers. I would just fill the tap water and have it sterilized in LIZ, rather than drinking it as regular tap water straight out of the cup.

The LIZ manual states that you would only need to charge the battery once a month, but that’s given you just use if for one sterilization per day. I would think that some days you would want to drink more water and would need to sterilize a few times a day, especially when dehydrated. If this is the case, plan to charge more frequently.

The only other issue I encountered with LIZ was when I overfilled water past the inner line in the bottle. I pressed twice to sterilize it, but the LED indicator from the smart-lid flashed red four times and the UV went into safe mode. That confirmed that I went past the fill line and needed to empty some of the water remove the lid to let dry off. The manual indicated that I should wait about ten minutes, which seemed about right. Live and learn.

PROS:

1.) Aesthetically pleasing. Well designed and constructed.

2.) Great for people who live in an area with questionable water quality.

3.) Great for people who want to sterilize water at places besides their home.

CONS:

1.) No “real” scientific way of knowing if sterilization is really working.

2.) Wish the magnetic cable when charging could be more slip proof.

To those who aspire to or have an active healthy and environmentally healthy lifestyle and truly believe that water is “life”, then you need to “contain life” in one bottle. Then this bot is for you.