Business Opportunities Weblog

September 4, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

Seacoastonline.com:

Brian Meagher, like many in-ground pool owners, had grown accustomed to finding anywhere from 50 to 100 dead frogs in his skimmer basket every season.

However, last summer, armed with only a dremel tool, Meagher modified his skimmer cover to include a spiral escape ramp that hangs down just beneath the water, which provides “critters” a means to escape.

Now patented and known as the Critter Skimmer, the invention has been proven to work and already has garnered significant attention at national pool and spa shows, and attracted national media inquiries.

“We took the Critter Skimmer to our first show in Atlantic City and we were mobbed for three days and had the same reaction at the Orlando pool show,” said Meagher, who is a mortgage broker at GMAC Mortgage in York. “We also received a call from Popular Science magazine last week and they’ve entered us in the contest, What’s New for 2008.”

Meagher said he even received a letter from Sen. Bowman, D-Kittery, who praised the product and offered his support.

According to Meagher, besides the practical benefits derived from using his product, another reason his invention may be poised for national success includes people’s increasing general awareness of all things environmental and green.

“The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has deemed 2008 the year of the frog because of the declining frog population worldwide,” explained Meagher. “With 10 million pools in the U.S. alone, if even half of them have the same problems we had (with frogs), we might be able to save 10 million frogs a year and each frog eats about 3,000 bugs a month … The impact could be huge.”

Photo by Kevin A. Byron.

In Eco-friendly, Invention, Safety | 2 Comments