  We present a new design for the water Cherenkov detectors that are in use in
various cosmic ray observatories. This novel design can provide a significant
improvement in the independent measurement of the muonic and electromagnetic
component of extensive air showers. From such multi-component data an event by
event classification of the primary cosmic ray mass becomes possible. According
to popular hadronic interaction models, such as EPOS-LHC or QGSJetII-04, the
discriminating power between iron and hydrogen primaries reaches Fisher values
of $\sim$ 2 or above for energies in excess of $10^{19}$ eV with a detector
array layout similar to that of the Pierre Auger Observatory.
