I didn’t start Free Water Project to sell water.
I started it because I became frustrated with advertising — and wanted to build something people actually appreciate.
The idea came from real frustration.
While trying to grow my wife’s business, I tried almost everything.
I hung over a thousand flyers on door handles across neighbourhoods — only to realise most of them were essentially random. You never truly know who lives behind each door, whether they are your target audience, or whether the flyer goes straight into the bin.
I then moved into digital advertising.
Google Pay-Per-Click felt like entering a bidding war against thousands of businesses competing for the exact same attention. Every click cost money — whether the person became a customer or not.
I also experimented with Meta ads across Instagram and Facebook, influencer marketing, social campaigns and multiple other forms of online promotion.
Instagram performed the best by far.
But over time, I noticed something bigger.
People are overwhelmed by advertising. We scroll past ads, close pop-ups and ignore messages competing for our attention every day. Brands are spending more and more simply trying to get noticed.
I started asking whether advertising could work differently.
Not all attention has equal value.
The real power of advertising is not simply reaching large numbers of people. It is reaching the right people, in the right environment, at the right moment.
That is where we specialise.
Free Water Project creates custom branded canned spring water for businesses and campaigns, with targeted distribution available at carefully selected events, exhibitions, conferences and other high-footfall environments.
Advertising should feel natural.
A wellness brand should not appear in the same type of environment as a gaming company.
A luxury brand should not communicate in the same way, or in the same setting, as a budget-focused brand.
Our goal is to create campaigns where the branding feels relevant, useful and genuinely connected to the people receiving the water.
Instead of another disposable advert, a branded can of spring water becomes a useful physical interaction between a business and its audience — something they can hold, drink and engage with.
What if advertising could physically benefit people instead of interrupting them?
That question became the beginning.
I wanted to bring advertising back into the real world — but in a way that felt genuinely useful, memorable and appreciated.
Not another flyer. Not another pop-up. Not another advert people try to skip.
Something people would actually want.
That is when the idea for Free Water Project was born.
Water is essential. Advertising is everywhere. I started wondering whether one could help fund the other.
If magazines and other media can be distributed free of charge because advertising pays for them, why couldn’t the same principle work for water?
That single idea became the foundation of Free Water Project: create branded canned water that gives businesses a physical way to reach people while putting something genuinely useful into their hands.
Today, we create custom branded cans of spring water for businesses, events, exhibitions and conferences and marketing campaigns across the UK, with 10p from every can going to charity.
“If people are going to see advertising every day anyway, why not make it improve their day instead of interrupting it?”
— Sandor Toth, Founder of Free Water Project
Help Us Keep Water Free.
Every donation helps us produce and distribute more free spring water across the UK.
Donate Now →
Water is a
right.
Not a privilege.
Free Water Project turns branded canned spring water into a useful real-world connection between businesses and the people they want to reach.
Get A Quote →