Water Filtration Systems
Turning Consumers off the Bottle

You’d think the prevalence of bottled water in all shapes and flavors would leave filter manufacturers with a marketing burden as heavy as a multi-gallon cooler replacement. But today’s purveyors of water cleansing systems cite liters of reasons to choose their products over anything found at a convenience store.

It’s not a particularly difficult sell these days. Moen wholesale group product manager Beth Allison said, “Contractors often talk to new home buyers and builders about the ease of integrating water filtration right into their kitchen faucets where they are already working or using water.”  The pitch: “Customers can save dollars and preserve the environment through point of use filtration versus throwing away bottle after bottle.”

Mark Laucella, senior marketing manager of Cuno, Inc., in Meriden, Conn., has a slightly different approach. “Plumbers don't look to installed water filtration equipment or appliances as an opportunity. We spend most of our time trying to explain the revenue stream these systems create for their business with very little effort or capital.”

One indisputable argument in its favor is as a space saver. Fred Sternke, product manager for Pentair in Sheboygan, Wis., maker of American Plumber filters, put it this way: “Residential filtration systems will usually be installed under the counter or under the sink, or possibly, for point of entry, in the basement. Compact and out of sight, their smaller footprint frees up living space.” He added, “This can't be said of the usual five-gallon bottled water dispensing unit, which in many cases, also uses electricity to chill or heat the water, adding to overall cost.”

Not to mention the heavy lifting that can be required with those big bottles. “Shlepping heavy multi-packs from the store to the car to your home isn't exactly fun either,” Sternke said. “And if you want cold water, those bottles take up a lot of space in the refrigerator. While you do have to change the filter cartridge periodically, the frequency of cartridge changeouts is nothing compared to those regular bottle changes and lugging bottles around.”

Then there’s the gigantic price disparity. Major Avignon, president of Water, Inc. in Carson, Calif., said “the added convenience of a ‘plumb-in’ filtration system, aesthetics and increased home value” justifies filtered water’s higher initial cost. “Annual filter replacement costs can run half of what bottled water services charge, meaning the customer reaches long term savings quickly. At a cost of up to $10, bottled water is more expensive than gasoline!”
    
Perhaps the biggest selling point concerns the other kind of green—the environment. Avignon said the trend is moving away from bottles. “With the media focused on the environmental impact of the plastics used in bottled water, it’s a logical step to move towards less damaging products, like filtered water.” 

Bob Maisner, vice president and general manager for Watts Premier in Phoenix, agreed with the advantages. “The big sustainability and green movement with those bottles filling up our landfills--when they could go with, let’s say an under sink reverse osmosis system to give them that same quality of water. And then they can just keep refilling the high quality bottle, as opposed to the polyethylene terephthalate that Dasani and Aquafina use.”

Recent reports suggest 1 in 5—totaling more than 40 billion annually—water bottles end up in landfills. And filtration brings protection against contaminants. “The public has also only recently learned that regulation of bottled water is lacking, meaning consumers are unsure of what quality of water they are getting,” said Avignon. “When educated, the decision becomes much simpler.”

Water Filtration Systems

What’s on Tap in Water Filtration?

Just decades ago we used to get our liquid refreshment straight from the tap. That prehistoric period is over, with the onset of designer bottled water and water filtering technology. It doesn’t get any better than this, or does it?

The technology behind clear drinkable water hasn’t changed dramatically in recent years, but there have been some developments. Senior marketing manager Mark Laucella, of Meriden, Conn.-based Cuno, Inc., said, “Designs, applications and pricing have, but technology hasn't. A carbon filter is still the best route to get good quality and good tasting drinking water and a reverse osmosis system is still the best to get as close to pure as possible."

“New technologies include higher flow carbon block and hollow fiber membrane,” according to Fred Sternke, product manager at American Plumber in Sheboygan, Wis. Sternke said residential filtration systems became more popular after 1993, when the parasite cryptosporidium infiltrated Milwaukee’s water system, killing 100 people and making hundreds of thousands ill.
 
Bob Maisner, vice president and general manager at Watts Premier in Phoenix, said people used to be satisfied with earlier systems but have become more aware of  improved technologies. “It’s just got better materials, better membranes, higher production, better rejection rates, different types going from a CTA for cellulose triacetate membrane, to a thin film composite or TFC for short.” Maisner added, advances in manufacturing have resulted in better performance. “So it’s definitely making strides. It’s just that more attention is being brought to the table.”

While systems of old were mostly limited to sediment and carbon filtration, today’s technologies can sift out not only volatile organic compounds but also lead, asbestos, dirt and odor.

Improved testing methods and consumer demand will bring more opportunities, noted American Plumber’s Sternke. “A good example would be the combination of technologies we are seeing, for instance, wrapping carbon block around a hollow fiber cartridge. Combining these two unique technologies in a single product presents additional opportunities to treat troubled water using a more affordable approach.” Sternke mentioned another contributing factor: municipalities switching from chlorine to chloramine disinfection. “Traditional carbon block can't effectively handle chloramine, so new products are available and gaining in popularity for addressing chloramine removal.”

Of course, filtration technologies affect bottlers as well. Watts’ Maisner said Coca-Cola and Pepsi use reverse osmosis to purify the water in their sodas. “That’s why it was so easy for them to get into the water business. All they had to do was turn off the syrup. They already had purified water.”

The next big thing in water filtration is probably more of it. Sternke said, “In addition to enhancements to smaller systems, larger, whole house (point-of-entry) systems have evolved, offering the same features and performance/water quality with the added convenience of dispensing from multiple points of use.” Some homeowners are even considering adding filtration systems to their bathrooms.

Can Evian-filled bathtubs be far behind?

PEOPLE

Lake Coulson , Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors—National Association vice president of government relations, will leave the association Dec. 1 for a “similar position” with the National Electrical Contractors Association of Bethesda, Md. “I consider myself fortunate to have been a part of PHCC for the past seven years,"  Coulson said. "I’m sure PHCC will continue forward with the same kind of laser-like focus I’m proud to have been part of during my time working with the association.”

Ohio-based Mansfield Plumbing Products lost two very longtime employees in November. Twin brothers Jerry and Jack Banks retired from the company they’ve worked for since the late 1950s. Jack, who was hired in 1959, was assistant supervisor of the mold shop. Jerry started in 1957 and retired as supervisor of the brass and fittings department. The 68-year-olds said people could tell them apart only because they worked in separate departments but that their 92-year old mother still mixes them up on the phone.

The California Building Industry Association board of directors Oct. 19 elected new officers for the 2008 term. The new chair is Ray Becker, a 25-year veteran of the Southern California real estate development industry. Horace Hogan II, president and COO of Brehem Communities in San Diego, is the new vice-chair. Finally, tapped to serve as CFO and secretary, is John Young, a founding partner of Young Homes in Rancho Cucamonga.  The California Building Industry Association is a statewide trade association.

Steamist October 24 announced the recent appointment of Tom Walker as director of operations. Prior to joining the manufacturer of steam bath and sauna products and systems, Walker spent 18 years with The Woodbridge Group, a leader in automotive urethane technologies, as the production and plant manager, corporate productivity manager and manufacturing engineering specialist. Walker entered into a private business venture in 2003 and joined Steamist in June of this year.  He is based at corporate headquarters in Rutherford, N.J. 

Water, Inc.'s eco-friendly HousePure whole-house water filtration system filters water for the entire home making it safe to drink, bathe in and better for use when it comes to laundry and dishes--and, it does all of this without the use of salt or caustic chemicals, the company said. By introducing the HousePure whole-house filtration system, Water, Inc. is, for the first time, offering a green/eco-friendly solution to whole-house water filtration and, therefore, offering homeowners the perfect water filtration solution to help build a "green home."

Moen's Muirfield filtering faucet, built for four-hole applications, has an under-the-counter water filtration system and separate waterways that allow the user to deliver both filtered and unfiltered water from one faucet. It's coordinating side lever handle controls flo w of filtered water. It comes with a dry change, ChoiceFlo filter the comapny said improves the taste and reduces odor and contaminants including lead, cysts, mercury, lindane, atrazine, turbidity, and toxophene while letting beneficial fluoride to pass. With an average filter life of about six months and an electronic filter life indicator, the unit's filtered flow is 1 gpm (4L/m).

Pentair Water's American Plumber WRO-3500 Reverse Osmosis System features an electronic water quality monitor that indicates when to change its RO membrane. In addition, the WRO 3500 reduces salts, dissolved minerals, bad taste and odor. Designed for both chlorinated and non-chlorinated water, the WRO 3500 produces up to 7.6 gallons of water per day while reducing cysts, lead, chlorine taste and odor, and dissolved minerals and salts.

Watts Premier's patent pending one-piece manifold system provides a seamless water path, effectively eliminating 17 connections, the WP-5 one-piece manifold offers easier installation while reducing arsenic, barium, cadmium, copper, Lead, perchlorate and a host of other nasties that can sometimes be found in water. The one piece manifold has been NSFNSF/ANSI tested and certified to Standard 58 and offers five levels of filtration.

The TFS150 reverse-osmosis system from Cuno produces between 150- and 225 gallons of water per day for a better-tasting cup of coffee or espresso. The proper level of dissolved minerals for consistent quality can now be achieved regardless of incoming water quality. The company said because reverse-osmosis removes virtually all of the minerals that cause lime scale, the associated problems of reduced energy efficiency, poor coffee flavor profiles, poorly-controlled water temperatures, and high maintenance costs, can be reduced.