About Us
Our people, Vision and More
Improving food security, urban greening, and water management
WaterUps was founded by Sydney-siders Ian Collins and Vince Hunt in 2015. Our focus was to build a company that could commercialise the age-old concept of ‘wicking’ and to allow wicking bed technology to be used in commercial, civil, and horticultural environments as well as the home garden.
Seven years later our mission still rings true: to provide innovative sustainable solutions for improving food security, urban greening, and water management.
Meet Ian and understand his heritage and passion for sustainability.
Our Milestones
2016 |
WaterUps introduces the world’s first modular wicking cell, delivering a practical and scalable wicking solution for the first time, |
2017 |
WaterUps captures the attention of Gardening Australia team including legendary horticulturalist, Angus Stewart. |
2018 |
Research by Kimbriki Garden Education Centre in Sydney proves WaterUps uses 20% of the water of above ground irrigation methods. |
2019 |
WaterUps introduces the Reservoir Liner. |
2020 |
WaterUps provides wicking solutions to the USA |
2021 |
WaterUps introduces the Sub-Irrigation Channel (SIC), a fully enclosed wicking system for fast commercial installation, acquires shares in Flexi Gardens Frames and finalises an export deal to a major hardware chain in Canada. |
2022 |
100,000 kg of plastic diverted from landfill used in WaterUps Wicking systems. WaterUps introduces new planter bases with wheels. |
Our Team
The WaterUps team combines the expertise and experience of landscapers, horticulturalists, landscape architects, design engineers, and nursery and business managers. We are innovators and have a mix of people who have lived in large cities and those who are from rural Australia.
We are a diverse group, but all maintain a home or balcony garden. The main thing that we have in common, however, is a commitment to sustainability. We are proud of our record in using recycled materials and in promoting the water-saving attributes of our wicking bed technology.
Ian Collins - CEO
Founding shareholder in WaterUps with Vince Hunt in 2015 after a long career in the finance industry. I grew up on an orchard on the outskirts of Orange in NSW Australia. This horticultural background has been invaluable in helping me understand the challenges of food growing in particular.
Eric Sturman - Head of Sales Australia
Eric has degrees in both Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and has spent his life involved with plants. He has also worked in areas such as greening public spaces.
Our Vision
Our vision is to have WaterUps in every garden so the whole world can gain the benefits of a WaterUps Wicking system.
At WaterUps we see a future where wicking technology makes a major contribution to increasing food security, combats climate change in the urban environment (greener, cooler cities) and enables sustainable use of water.
Our Commitment
At WaterUps we are committed to maintaining our position as world leaders in sub-irrigation wicking bed technology. In doing, so we want to provide “state of the art” reasonably priced plant watering products to help both major civil contractors, landscapers and home gardens use the latest wicking bed technology.
Our Values
Innovation
WaterUps came from R&D and we continue to research and innovate in our quest to be more sustainable in wicking applications.
Passion
inspiring others to embrace wicking gardening solutions as the benefits are multiple.
Quality
Sustainability*
Our quest for sustainability shows in our environmentally friendly products, our mission to reduce food miles and water usage, and our desire to help humans combat climate change.
Gardens
* We support the UN Sustainable Development Goals with our operations directly and indirectly working towards 6 of their key goals.