Roughly 25,000 people around the world die each day from contaminated water. Motivated by this statistic, John Hays started Hays Water Science in 2000. The company's product is a patent-pending scalable device that generates chlorine from salt. This chlorine is then added to the water supply to kill harmful bacteria that contributes to diseases which could cause people to become sick or die. The device can be powered by a 12 volt battery, a solar panel or a more typical electrical supply.

John Hays is the water superintendent for the City of Washington, Iowa. In 2004 the city's water plant was not meeting the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' requirement for the minimum amount of chlorine in the water. Meeting that requirement led to the one-of-a-kind chlorine generating system developed by Hays. The city council gave John permission to come up with his own chlorinator and he did it at half the cost of a purchased system. His idea for building a chlorine generator came from Hays’ experience with hand-held chlorine generators that are used in third world countries without access to clean water.

Hays’ patent-pending device reduces costs associated with disinfecting and lessens safety concerns. A hand held model is purchased by non-profits and faith-based organizations to distribute to third world countries. The larger model, in addition to being used by the City of the Washington, is also being used by the Washington YMCA for their swimming pool. The system produces on-demand chlorine that is highly concentrated—up to ten times stronger than other chlorine available on the market. Many water plants use chlorine gas to disinfect water. This gas is highly toxic and poses a safety hazard. Producing chlorine on an as-needed basis is safer than buying the gas and then storing it at the water plants. Also, the chlorine produced by Hays Water Science reduces the "swimming pool smells" that are often associated with water that is treated with chlorine.

Craig Just, associate research scientist with the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering, said the Hays system is unique, because you can generate chlorine from "essentially nothing" using it. Hays’ product is more efficient and also safer, as opposed to hauling chlorine that is already produced to developing countries.

A byproduct of the process is hydrogen gas. The company is currently looking at ways to capture this gas in order to market it and make additional savings available to purchasers of the system.

The company is currently restricted from marketing their system to other communities until the system is certified by NSF International. NSF sets the industry standards when it comes to drinking water certification. Other obstacles include obtaining adequate financing, obtaining third party testing of byproducts from the chemical processes and development of the business plan.

The University of Iowa SBDC is currently working with Hays Water Science on the development of their business plan. Mr. Hays was referred to the Small Business Development Center by Ed Raber, Executive Director of WEDG (Washington Economic Development Group). Through a student entrepreneurial class a survey was taken of potential customers to determine interest in the system. The company has been helped by the University of Iowa Hygienics Lab, the College of Engineering and it is working with Iowa State University on some of the testing issues. "The Small Business Development Center continues to be a valuable source of information to my new company. They have helped with a market survey, financing options, networking, and with the business plan." John Hays, Owner - Hays Water Science

The company is positioning itself for rapid growth once its products are certified and several customers have been identified. Though there aren’t any employees at this time, the company provides assemblies to a local non-profit organization. There, numerous volunteers work to assemble the small units for shipment to undeveloped countries, to help alleviate disease by purifying drinking water. Saving lives one drop at a time, Pure Water For All Foundation saves lives by making safe drinking water and by creating a better quality of life by treating water supplies all around the world. They have 200 units currently in successful operations in Tanzania, Africa and India, Asia and Russia, Europe and Nicaragua, Haiti and Mexico in North America and Columbia and Venezuela, South America.