Water, water everywhere. And lots of drops to drink — from a can.
Jack Simon, 35, and Riaco Smith, 36, are founders/owners of Memphys Pure Artesian Water. It’s canned water, as the label states, “Sourced From the Memphis Sands Aquifer.”
“We have some of the sweetest water in the world,” Simon says.
And the cans — with the Hernando de Soto Bridge and the Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid depicted on the label — reflect the owners’ love of the city.
The label also includes the Psalm 23:2 Bible verse, which reads in part: “He leads me beside the still waters.”
“The quality of our water is unique and abundant,” Smith says. “It’s one of the most precious things we have as far as the city of Memphis.”
As for putting the water in a can, Simon says, “God made the water. It’s not really about us. God made the rain, the sand, the aquifer, all of that. We’re just vessels.”
Simon and Smith believe they’re the first to put pure still Memphis water in a can. They know of another company that uses a carbonated version of Memphis water.
Simon adds, “Someone in the early 1900s put it in glass bottles. But in modern times, nobody canned and distributed Memphis water as commercial water, as far as I know.”
Other commercial water brands, including Fiji and Saratoga, are named after specific places. They believe Memphis water “can hold that same place on the shelf and space in people’s hearts and minds,” Simon says.
They originally named their water “Memphus,” but, Smith says, “We saw someone had another company called ‘Memphus.’ We didn’t know about the clothing brand.”
Their mascot is “Memphys Mane,” a Memphys can with face and legs. “He embodies Memphis,” Simon says.
The idea to start selling Memphis water began when Smith and Simon were just shooting the breeze. “Me and Jack were on the phone one night talking about Memphis history and the culture of the city,” Smith says. “I remembered I had one video where I found the location of the Sheahan Water [Pumping] Station.”
Smith posts videos of “nostalgic memories” on his Facebook and Instagram media channel, Memphis Forgotten, which showcases Memphis history. He posted one about the Sheahan Water Pumping Station on Grandview Avenue, near the University of Memphis. The 1930s-era water pumping station is “one of the most requested places for tours.”
The video “went crazy with people” after he posted it. “It resonated very well. It was an educational opportunity to see how impactful water was.”
It also resonated deeply with Smith and Simon. “Born and raised in Memphis, I knew this water is special,” Smith says. “It needs to be commercialized and put out to the people.”
They discovered it was okay to can or bottle Memphis water as long as they complied with the regulations of the FDA and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Smith says. “Once we got that out of the way, the sky was the limit. The city allows us to sell the water as much as we can.”
Smith and Simon met during freshman orientation in 2008 in the old Richardson Towers at the University of Memphis.
In 2016 they started “Mad Paper Coaching,” an online coaching platform, which they still operate. The real estate/self development course teaches people “how to flip houses with little or no money,” Simon says.
It also teaches people how to understand “the power of their mind,” he says. “Not only in business, but in life.”
“We’ve been doing it for years and helped thousands of people,” Smith says.
Smith was intrigued with Memphis water the first time he heard the word “artesian” associated with it. That means the water was “naturally filtered for years.”
They went “down a big rabbit hole of history” after they discovered the “Artesian Water” marker on Jefferson Avenue near Danny Thomas Boulevard, Smith says.
The marker reads: “In 1887, the Bohlen-Huse Ice Co. struck, at a depth of 354 feet, artesian water of such purity and abundance it immediately became the city supply, one of the country’s finest. In 1903, the wells became municipally owned.”
Smith and Simon went online and tried to find other resources where they could learn about Memphis water.
According to U of M’s Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research (CAESER), “The Memphis aquifer (also known as Sparta aquifer or Memphis Sand) is the primary water supply, with some wells pumping from the deeper Fort Pillow aquifer.”
And, it says, “Most water pumped from the Memphis aquifer is over 2,000 years old with low levels of impurities.”
They decided to go full force with their water business. “We put the vision on paper so people could see what we’re doing,” Simon says: “We created one or two prototype cans.”
They got good feedback, so they bought a canning machine and went to work.
Their cans don’t have any plastic in them, Simon says. That includes BPA plastic protectors, which are found in most plastic bottles.
Simon and Smith currently work out of a commercial kitchen, where they are capable of producing more than 2,000 cans in eight hours.
They don’t have any employees. “Friends are helping us,” Smith says.
Smoker’s Outlet on Main Street was the first business to carry their water after they got the bar code on the cans, Simon says. After getting that order, Simon and Smith walked out of the store to take photographs of the can. Someone on the street saw them and asked where he could buy their canned water, Simon says.
That was last May. “Slowly but surely word got out. The Smoker’s Outlet owner said, ‘Hey, I need more. I need more.’”
Smith and Simon got Memphys endorsements from Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau president/CEO Kevin Kane, Zach “Z-BO” Randolph, Penny Hardaway, Al Kapone, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Project Pat, 8Ball & MJG, and Lil Wyte. “We were blessed to get local support from local legends of Memphis,” Simon says. “Lil Wyte loved it. When he saw it he said, ‘Goldarn it. Somebody took my idea.’”
Lil Wyte drank a can on stage at his show at last May’s Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, he says.
Memphys water is now in 50 locations, including Maciel’s Tortas & Tacos, Sweet Noshings, and Wet Willie’s.
They want to eventually sell Memphys water all over the world, Simon says. But, for now, he says, “We want to be the number-one premium canned water beverage brand in America.”
Simon and Smith hold other jobs. Simon is the owner of Platforms and Traffic, a website development and marketing company. And Smith is a real estate investor.
But they hit the streets every day with their water to “keep up with the demand,” Smith says. “My wife tells me all the time, ‘Don’t forget me. I still exist.’ The water has consumed our lives.”
People always ask if they’re going to use up Memphis water with their canned water business. The answer is “no,” Simon says. They use less water daily than a laundromat uses, he says. “There’s over 100 trillion gallons of water in the aquifer. The only time to be scared and alarmed is if it were to stop raining. If it stops raining, we might have a problem.”
Visit memphyswater.com to learn more.
