Clipped, strapped, slung, hung,

and

slipped on, Seattle carries water bottles around like they were guns in a spaghetti Western. Fiercely loyal to brand, size, and type, our bottles and the water inside them are very important to us. Fourth-generation Seattle native Nancie Weston knows this, which made her home city the perfect place to launch the GRAYL Water Filtration Cup, the last water bottle you’ll ever need to buy.

Weston’s story begins back in 2006. Amid growing concerns about the harmful effects of bisphenol A in plastic water bottles, she wondered why there weren’t more stainless-steel options. Years passed and companies like Klean Kanteen solved that problem in the mainstream market, but Weston kept thinking about how to make water bottles better. With more than 25 years’ experience working with products in the outdoor industry, Weston knew a lot about two things: water bottles and filters. Naturally, she eventually began to think about how to combine them in the best possible way.

“Other companies were making water bottles that had filters built in, but they were so frustrating to use. You had to suck or squeeze the water past the filter. It was a really frustrating experience,” says Weston. She wondered why you couldn’t make a water bottle with a filter like a French press? Weston began shopping her idea to local engineers, who turned her down in droves. “They all told me it was either impossible or would be far too expensive,” Weston tells me. But she persevered, eventually finding a local freelance engineer who was willing to give it a shot. After 20 or so prototypes, they finally had something that worked.

The idea is actually pretty simple. The GRAYL has three main parts: an outer cup, an inner cup, and a filter. Fill the outer cup with water, take the inner cup with the filter attached to the bottom, and press it down into the outer cup, just like depressing the plunger in a French press. The water is forced through the filter and into the inner cup, where it sits, filtered and delicious, ready for you to drink. The time it takes to push the inner cup down ranges from seven to 30 seconds depending on the filter you’re using.

Since Weston and her team wanted this to be the water bottle to end all water bottles, they didn’t stop at just one filter. The GRAYL is available with three filters: tap, trail, and travel. The tap filter removes chemicals and heavy metals commonly found in regular tap water. The trail filter adds an extra level of protection, taking care of the bacteria and protozoa you might find in a mountain lake or stream. Finally, the travel filter takes care of the nastiest stuff you’ll find—viruses and other bugs that might exist in water in developing countries. The filters are swappable, and last for more than 300 uses before they need to be replaced.

The beauty of the GRAYL is its simplicity, convenience, and individual focus. “There are filters for backpacking, but you wouldn’t take them in the office, and there are water filters for the home and office, but they come in pitchers that you share across multiple people,” says Weston. The GRAYL is a unit just for you, so you can always have filtered water, wherever you are. E