Josef Schucker: Leading a water revolution
Luqel
I’ve seen the future and Luqel are in it. A water tasting invite at the Luqel HQ with founder Josef Schucker resulted in this journalist feeling like she wants to be part of the water revolution WORDS BY EMILY MILLER
I
don’t give a huge amount of thought as I take my plastic re-usable water bottle to the tap at home twice a day. In fact, I always felt really rather smug about the process – water is good for us, right? That was until an inspiring meeting with intelligent water company Luqel’s founder Josef Schucker where I discovered some really rather harrowing and unforgettable truths. A highly successful entrepreneur, founder Josef tells me it was a change in his outlook on life and the kind of imprint he wanted to leave on the planet, that meant he quickly came out of a short-lived retirement to do more. After the lucrative sale of his businesses, at 58 Josef decided it was time to pursue his travel dreams. “I love travel, in particular sea travel, and decided that it was time for me to fulfil my lifelong dream to build a yacht and sail the world.” Pretty soon though, he found his way back to business when he saw something which set his sail for a different course. “It was when I reached the shores
of untouched islands, with not a footprint in the sand, yet there were plastic water bottles surrounding their shores, that I started to investigate the ways in which I would bring drinking water onto the boat – I certainly didn’t want to add to the plastic bottle crisis I was seeing.” It was through this realisation that Josef starting drawing on the skills of engineers he had worked with in the past – he wanted clean water, for himself and for the planet. As he started utilising teams to research what was in the water from our taps, and how much bottled water contributed to the planet in a negative way, he was astounded and knew he wanted an entirely different system for his personal use, but also for the world. “Water is the most precious commodity on the planet. Without it, life simply cannot exist. We can’t undo the damage done, but we can reduce further damage.” This philanthropist attitude is inspiring to say the least and now, as the company grows, the groundbreaking research his team are doing
in both the health of our tap water and its effects, and the technology developed to produce the intelligent water systems is shared by all who he enlists. The systems offer the most optimum water filtering known to science, with users able to access 30 artisanal water recipes, three carbonation settings, and any degree between steaming hot to super chilled water assisted by personalised apps and ground-breaking, sophisticated dispensers. Josef’s altruistic spirit is one of planet philanthropy, a desire to leave a legacy of doing good with his money for the planet in a significant way, “I have no children, have worked so hard all my life and decided quite quickly that I wanted to leave an impact on the planet that did more, to know that I will leave it in a far better state than I would have done if I had stood back and watched.” It’s no secret that businesses need to take ownership of a greener future – are you going to join Josef in shaping that future? NICHE | 53
