Stay connected with your Zuvo Stratus kitchen faucet

Water is easy to take for granted. It comes out of the faucet, we collect it in a glass, and drink it to quench our thirst. But there is more to it than that, of course. Bottled water, filter pitchers, and other countertop systems have proliferated over recent years, all in an effort to make water taste and smell better to us, not to mention making it safer to drink. Now, it can communicate with us -- well, almost.

There is a lot of information hidden in the everyday stream of water that pours out of our kitchen faucets. The Stratus by Zuvo Water is being billed as "the world's first intelligent faucet and cloud-connected water filtration system." What that means in real life is that by connecting a filtration system to a specially designed water faucet, water usage and statistics can be monitored with a smartphone.

The Zuvo filtration system is a uniquely designed home water treatment process that combines UV light, ozone, and a carbon filter for an innovative means of cleaning common tap water. Previously available (and reviewed) only as a filtration system, the new Stratus takes home water care to an entirely new level. By combining a smartphone app (to relay information about contaminants removed, filter longevity as well as household water consumption), with Wi-Fi enabled faucets, the system explores new territory while providing proven results.

Currently an Indiegogo campaign, the company sees future possibilities where the communicated data from the device will eventually lead to a comprehensive water quality map that uses the national water database as a starting point. Giving the everyday kitchen water faucet a voice is certainly an intriguing idea, and the campaign looks to be off to a healthy start toward achieving its goal of raising $50,000 to get the project started. With a target date of June 2013, it looks like we might soon be taking this next stage of drinking tap water for granted, too.