Ditching the Plastic Water Bottle

story by RUTH BERKOWITZ | photos by BRADEN TUCK and CHRISTIN COUVREUX

In 2017, professional sailor Sean “Doogie” Couvreux was competing in Europe and felt disgusted by the hundreds of single-use plastic water bottles used by the sailing teams. Unlike other kinds of waste, plastic doesn’t compost and when it gets dumped in the ocean it creates havoc, ending up in the bellies of sh, choking coral reefs and strangling turtles, among other catastrophic harm.

Couvreux posted suggestions on social media, urging the sailing community to ban plastic water bottles and become a role model. “We love to play in the ocean, yet we’re polluting the ocean with plastic,” he told his peers.

It just so happened that back home in Hood River, Couvreux’s buddy Tyler Bech understood the problem. Sadly, plastic bottles seem to be everywhere at most sporting events, including many of the water- and biking-related events in the Gorge. When Couvreux returned home, the two friends bemoaned plastic pollution while biking up the pristine Syncline Trail east of Bingen. Bech, who also sails and is skilled at building things, suggested they become part of the solution. ey spent evenings tinkering in their garages. Bech had connections with AquiSense Technologies, a Kentucky-based company that developed a small device using ultraviolet technologies and LEDs to eliminate bacteria, viruses and other pathogens from water. ey decided to combine the AquiSense with a carbon block lter to make drinking water not only safe, but also taste good.

“If something breaks during a race, we have to quickly come up with a solution,” says Bech, explaining the sailor’s mindset. “Doogie noticed a huge problem and we knew we could x it.” In fact, their sailing mentality combined with their active lifestyle made them an ideal team for this project. Adding in the technical and nancial planning skills of their wives, Christin Couvreux and Tracy Bech, the team became even stronger.

Bech and Couvreux set out to build an on-the-go water lter and puri cation system.

Couvreux brought their rst ltration system, called the Spigot, to the 2018 Sailing Super Series event in Europe. Five sailing teams signed on and became his test kitchen. “ ey were fussy and gave us great feedback,” Couvreux says. “Instead of a hand pump, they wanted us to make a built-in pump. We listened to them.” e Guzzle team has continued to innovate, including developing the Stealth, a system designed to be built under small sinks like those in recreational vans and tiny homes. To get a real-world take on it, I spoke with Leigh Dearle, who installed the Stealth two years ago while venturing in his overland vehicle in Taiwan. Dearle and his wife, Steph, travel for a living, documenting their journeys on their YouTube channel @GrizzlyNbearOverland.

It worked well, but Bech learned that they needed a better design when he took the Spigot to the Overland Show in Flagsta , Ariz., the next year. While sharing a tent with a couple marketing rotisserie hot dog sticks, Bech sat there watching enviously as they sold hundreds of items. “People looked at our product, but no one bought it,” says Bech, as we talk in their third and much larger garage space near downtown White Salmon.

So he and Couvreux tinkered some more, adding a hard portable case and easy-to-connect hoses. is time, when Bech returned to the Overland Show in the fall of 2020 with 25 Streams (the name of their portable system), he sold every one of them. Since then, sales have steadily increased, boosted by soaring numbers of people adventuring outside to camp and explore during the pandemic.

While sheltering from oods during a trek on the historic Jordan Trail, Dearle spoke to me via Zoom. “Access to clean, safe drinking water is a top priority on any journey,” he tells me. Having fallen severely ill from drinking tainted water while traveling in Tajikistan, he wanted to plumb a ltration system into his camper so he could switch on the tap and con dently hydrate.

About two years ago, Dearle discussed the importance of safe drinking water on his YouTube channel, mentioning that in preparation for his trip from Spain to Morocco, he bought an excessive supply of plastic bottles, which made him feel like he “did something wrong and unnecessary.” He had been using a variety of ltration systems, including lugging a heavy jerry can to a lake or stream and ltering the water with a hand pump. “ at was kind of a pain,” he told his viewers, asking them for recommendations. at’s when he came across Guzzle H20.

“ e Guzzle system has been a game changer,” Dearle says enthusiastically. “It’s perfectly suited for what we do.” He likes the combination of the LED UV sterilization system with the carbon lter and the compact size. “It’s reduced the size of our water system by 20 times and saved me lots of manual labor and time.”

In the two years since Dearle installed the Stealth, he hasn’t gotten sick nor had to buy bottled water. Once they nish hiking the Jordan Trail, he and his wife will y to South Africa. After their vehicle arrives (it’s being shipped from Singapore) they will travel for the next three years.

“ is will put the Guzzle system to work,” he says. “Africa will be the biggest test for the system. But I have no doubt in my mind that it will perform great.”

Back home in the Gorge, Couvreux and Bech share his con dence, and are happy there won’t be any plastic water bottles thrown out along the way.

To learn more, go to guzzleh2o.com Ruth Berkowitz is a mediator and writer living in Hood River.

e 2nd Annual Ride the Rapids Deschutes River happens May 6. e event features three fully supported rides that take participants along the beautiful Deschutes River: a metric century ride (61 miles), a 39-mile ride and a 20-mile ride. e start and nish are at the Wasco County Fairgrounds, where there will be an expo, live music, a beer garden and food carts. e event is a fundraiser for the Maupin Area Chamber Endowment, with proceeds going toward the Deschutes River Athletic Complex, a stateof-the-art track and eld facility and event venue in Maupin. maupinoregon.com

Along with sunny days on the slopes, spring is packed with fun events at Mt. Hood Meadows. Kick o the o cial start of the season with Spring Brew Fest on March 25, featuring tasty pours from nearly every one of our stellar Gorge breweries. April starts with the Full Sail Banked Slalom snowboard race (April 1), followed by Mazot Fest (April 7-8), a Double Mountain Brewery-sponsored fundraiser for the resort’s avalanche dogs. Pride Day is April 15, a daylong family-friendly celebration. e resort marks closing day on April 29 with the annual Pond Skim, where costumed skiers and snowboarders 15 and older can skim their way across 100 feet of frigid water. It takes place at the base area and is a must-see spectator event. skihood.com e Dalles Art Center hosts its monthly Writer’s Talk series throughout spring, where local authors host conversations about their work and experience as writers. Hood River writer Eileen Garvin will be featured on March 16. Garvin is a widely published writer of ction, memoir and creative non ction and author of best-selling debut novel, e Music of Bees. Donna Henderson will be at TDAC on April 20. She’s the author of three collections of poems, two of which were nalists for the Oregon Book Award. On May 18, Leah Stenson will read selections from her most recent work, Life Revised, a hybrid memoir about suicide and its aftermath, and poems arising from her literary journey from New York to Tokyo to Portland to Parkdale. thedallesartcenter.org