Tapping into the
water business
Filtered, purified water is easy on appliances, dispenses with plastic bottles, and makes great coffee. It’s a business proposition that Darwin Seale hopes his customers will buy into.
Darwin Seale is the kind of consumer who does his research.
So when his home needed a new water system, he was astounded by what he discovered. “When I saw what water treatment can do for people,” he says, “I wished someone had showed me this 10 years earlier.”
Seale learned that water treatment can improve people’s health while reducing their environmental footprint; in fact, he was so impressed that in May of 2006 the Air Canada pilot started a sideline to his day job and launched Envirowater Technologies, a family-run water-treatment company (envirowatertec.com). Based in Fall River, N.S., Envirowater offers a range of water-purifying products and technologies, including filters, ultraviolet-light treatment, reverse osmosis, and bottle-less water coolers. All of the company’s products use low-cost, energy-efficient techniques to give homeowners safer, healthier water. Envirowater is also a member of Clean Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Homebuilders Association.
“Results from independent studies show that using products to clean, filter, condition, and soften tap water cuts down on toxic cleaning products and the use of energy-hungry cleaning appliances,” says Seale. “Large manufacturers like GE and Whirlpool say in their owner manuals that cleaner water makes their products last longer.” There are also health benefits to removing chlorine bleach and other chemicals and harmful bacteria from drinking water. “I always think of it like this,” says Seale: “Buy a filter or be a filter.”
Seale’s company isn’t the only one offering purified drinking water, but it may be the most environmentally friendly.
The technology uses no saltwater softener, doesn’t produce wastewater, and requires no electrical power. Envirowater’s filtration systems are also easy to clean, using about two gallons versus 40 to 60 gallons in a traditional system, or 96% less water. And the company’s water coolers eliminate the need for bottled water. “It’s built-in filtration, just tap water,” says Seale. Instead of buying individual bottles of water, or even family-size water-cooler bottles, all of the plastic and energy needed to manufacture those items are saved.
Envirowater customers don’t have to worry about the health risks associated with drinking from certain types of plastic containers. Beyond the health benefits and short-term savings on bottled water, customers also save money in the long run. The system does require an upfront investment by homeowners, of somewhere between $800 and $3,000, depending on the home’s needs. The system can either be installed at the water’s point of entry, in a pressure tank, or at the point of use, at a tap or faucet. The cost for water treatment works out to less than a dollar a day and saves much more in energy costs.
Seale has no regrets about taking the plunge into the water-treatment business, although he has kept his job as a pilot. He says that his four full-time employees and several part-timers get busier every month. “I've flown for 20 years now,” he says. “That’s my job, but I can take the time to run this business.”
According to Kevin Muise, who recently bought a reverse-osmosis filtering system, the personal touch makes a difference to homeowners like him. “The technicians took several hours to give us the rundown and explain what they were doing,” he says. “The previous water system installer we had just said here you go, turn it on, and see you later.” Muise’s water quality is now exceptional, and his family has never tasted better coffee. “Even my cat likes it.”
— CHRIS BENJAMIN
