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STONEHOUSE WATER TECHNOLOGIES LLC LEADERSHIP: Hensley Foster and Anne Wick A D D R E S S: 247 W. Freshwater Way, Milwaukee WEBSITE: stonehousewater.com W H AT I T D O E S: Develops water treatment systems and antimicrobial products F O U N D E D: 2012
Stonehouse Water Technologies develops antimicrobial products amid pandemic By Brandon Anderegg, staff writer
hile several businesses were stymied by the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, Stonehouse Water Technologies LLC pivoted, becoming more than just a water tech company by quickly developing virus-fighting products. Located in Milwaukee’s Global Water Center, Stonehouse Water Technologies’ patented water purification system, the “Water POD,” landed the business on WISN-TV Channel 12’s TV show “Project Pitch It” in February. The at-home “mini water treatment facility,” which the company has sold globally, garnered the support of Project Pitch It moguls, who awarded Stonehouse Water Technologies with the Get Unstuck Award – a $5,000 cash prize and one year of business coaching and strategy deployment from serial entrepreneur Jerry Jendusa. The water tech company has since grabbed the attention of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce for a series of products it brought to market through Stonehouse Innovations, LLC, the research and development arm of Stonehouse Water Technologies. “We were developing products for the water industry and along came COVID and we came up with some really pretty cool ideas,” said Hensley Foster, chief executive officer of Stonehouse Water Technologies and Stonehouse Innovations. “We started with the theory of, ‘What would it take for us to feel safe going back to work?’” The pandemic had just arrived in the U.S. when Stonehouse Water Technologies launched SI to spearhead the development of three new antimicrobial products within a fivemonth period. Using technology from its flagship product Water POD, SI developed POD X and BEDIA, a
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Hensley Foster, chief executive officer of Stonehouse Water Technologies.
soon to be released system that uses engineered plasticized and antimicrobial pellets as a water filtration medium for industrial and residential applications. The first product the company developed during the pandemic was Samaritan Shield, a cleaner protectant that creates an antimicrobial shield coating on hard surfaces for a minimum of 25 hours and up to 21 days. In tandem with Samaritan Shield, SI developed Dr. Moe’s Mist, an air and surface fogger that uses natural and environmentally safe ingredients to eliminate bacteria and viruses on contact. As the shortage of personal protective equipment became evident and the need for reusable PPE products grew, SI released O3 Safe, a portable cabinet that uses ozone gas to decontaminate PPE daily at home or in a business. The company’s latest product, “Sannies,” is set to release this month. The antimicrobial slip-on shoe covering is made from germ-killing material that prevents the room-to-room spread of pathogens from within hospitals. n
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