Jeff Shumate, Amway Durables Product Development Manager, Shares the Challenges of Developing New eSpring™ Water Purifier and The Patents Obtained

A: Amway Express

J: Jeff Shumate

A: Could you share some of the challenges that you faced during the development of the New eSpring™?

J: Working with cutting edge, new technology like UV-C LEDs can be challenging. Nobody in the industry was using them so there weren’t experts to rely on when figuring out the best way to apply the technology. We became the experts throughout the development process as we tested different concepts and learned from them. Throughout the development process from idea to final product we sought feedback. This came in the form of market research, consumer studies, in-home use evaluation, and general usability studies. Any time you ask for feedback on something you get opinions and suggestions that range across the board from love it to hate it, from this looks great to this is something I would never buy. It was sometimes challenging to determine if we should take any action based on the feedback. If there was a consistent theme and it affected the performance or user experience, then that carried more weight than comments which were more subjective opinion.

A: Amway has more than 300 patents, including 42 granted or pending for the New eSpring™. Can you share what are they?

J: Patents come in two types, there are design patents and utility patents. Design patents cover things like the overall appearance or configuration of a product or system. Utility patents cover specific technology applications withing a product. Rather than going through a long list, here’s a couple examples for which I’m one of the inventors. There is a design patent which just covers the general shape and configuration of the unit. There are a couple utility patents as well. One of them is about the design and application of a UV-C LED system and the other is about the design of the filter tank features that we came up with to improve the filter change process.

New eSpring™ Water Purifier

Effectively reduces 170+ contaminants, including lead, mercury, VOCs, pesticides, micro-plastics, PFOA and PFOS, and pharmaceuticals
Effectively reduces particulates down to 0.2 microns (like asbestos) which is 300-500 times smaller than a human hair
UV-C LED effectively destroys*** up to
a) 99.9999% of bacteria
b) 99.99% of virus
c) 99.9% of Cysts
Retains benefical minerals that may be present in your water, including calcium and magnesium
Certifications in NSF/ANSI 42, 52, 55 and 401
First Company to have a water treatment system with UV-C LED technology certified by NSF/ANSI Standard 55 for Class B microbial reduction
The world's No.1 selling brand of home water treatment systems
Water Quality Association Gold Seal
e3 Carbon Filter treats up to 5,000L of water/year
e3 Carbon Filter's filter life varies by water consumption and water quality but the maximum life is 12 months or 5,000L of water/year (whichever comes first)
Easily monitor e3 Carbon Filter's filter life and water usage by connecting Amway Healthy Home App
Change the filter easily as 2-1-0, 2-mins filter change and 1-time per year and 0-tools is needed
Above-the-sink Installation. No hole drilling on the counter top, simply apply the diverter to the existing faucet

*** The eSpring™ Water Purifier is designed only for use with portable water deemed safe to drink by local public health authorities