Once upon a time in New York City, I lived in an old apartment building built in the 1930s and renovated for cheap in the 2010s by a slumlord looking to slap a cheap coat of paint on an aged building to rent to gentrifiers. Make it look good, but not tinker with any expensive renovations under the hood. It was the day after I moved in that I discovered that when I drank from the kitchen tap, the water burned my throat going down.
Imagine giving that same water to your pet. How is your dog or cat going to know that the water in their bowl, day after day, has contaminants in it? Metals, microplastics, bacteria. They eat shit, for god’s sake, so you’re not going to be able to tell just by watching them lap it up. The motion-activated Petcube Fountain, announced at CES this past week, saves you the worry by serving up freshly purified water whenever your little buddy approaches it.
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so fresh and so clean, clean
All mammals see the same benefits of healthier living from drinking pure water as human beings do. We can’t always trust the water that comes out of our taps. Even in cities that provide rigorously enforced water standards, there’s no guarantee that the pipes of your building aren’t like the old, corroded lead pipes of my former apartment.
Tired of trusting water standards that are too easy for landlords to dodge, I religiously filled not just my own water glasses with purified water, but the dog’s water bowl, too. We had a Brita filter we’d keep in the refrigerator for us human residents, but too many times I’d pour it into the dog’s bowl and be left with nothing for the rest of us, having to wait for it to purify another jug full of tap water and for the fridge to chill it cold.
The Fountain removes the human-pet competition for the home’s cold, pure water. Fill it with up to 1.7 liters of tap water, and it’ll remove up to 99% of bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens through its four-level filtration.
There’s a UV light for killing bacteria and preventing them from growing in the water dish, too. Petcube says the filter should last “30+ days,” which probably differs based on the dirtiness of the water poured into it.
Petcube isn’t a newcomer to the pet gadget space. They’ve made themselves known to dog and cat owners through their indoor pet cameras and smart treat dispensers. That veteran résumé shows up in thoughtful touches like the chew-proof USB-C cable that keeps the Fountain running around the clock, although it can operate off an internal, rechargeable battery for up to 20 days if you want to place it somewhere away from a power source.
There’s an app, through which you can monitor the water level and set reminders for water filter replacements. But it doesn’t need Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or an internet connection to function. You don’t even need to use the app if you don’t want it.
Downsides? Petcube says the 1.7-liter capacity will last for up to a week before needing to be refilled, but we can only see it lasting that long for a cat or a small dog. My dearly departed black lab would’ve blasted through 1.7 liters of water like a dolphin through a Long John Silver’s buffet. Bigger dogs will require more constant refilling, and there’s no option for a larger Fountain.
Also, retailing for $100, you could always just purchase a faucet-mounted filter for both yourself and for filling the pet’s bowl. That’d be the cheapest way to ensure safe drinking water for your little friend. But if an app-controlled water bowl that’ll send you notifications when the dish needs refilling is just what you’ve been waiting for, then the Petcube could be worth that C-note in your wallet. Just whatever you do, make sure you give your pet purified (not distilled) water.
