Sell a Reverse Osmosis System to Install

If you’re just getting started in water treatment, you may think water softeners are your easiest sell. After all, hard water is something your customers can see on their shower doors and feel on their skin, hair, and clothes.

But hard water isn’t the only issue that will get you in the door. Increasingly, homeowners are concerned about water safety as well as bad tastes and smells. If they’re buying bottled drinking water or using a filtration pitcher in their fridge, they’re concerned about water quality.

When you sell and install a reverse osmosis system, you show your customers you care about their safety and their health.

4 Reasons Why Now is the Time to Sell Reverse Osmosis

Aging city infrastructures: It’s no secret that America’s aging water infrastructure is overdue for repair. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2021 U.S. infrastructure report card, the United States gets a grade of C- for its drinking water systems.

Much of our country’s water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. Cracked and aging pipes pose a health risk, allowing contaminants into the water they carry. Plus, many communities across the country still have lead water lines – leaching lead into home drinking water.

It’s a massive problem and homeowners are growing increasingly concerned about the quality and safety of their municipal water supply. Reverse osmosis systems remove lead and other harmful contaminants – providing health benefits and a valuable sense of security right at the kitchen faucet.

Heightened environmental concerns: The environmental impact of bottled water is 3,500 times greater than tap water. That’s according to new research from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

Bottled water uses fossil fuels and causes pollution. The Earth Policy Institute reports that more than 17 million barrels of oil are required to produce the plastic to meet the annual bottled water demand in the US. (That’s enough to fuel more than 1 million cars for a year.) Plus, according to the EPA, only about 30% of the plastic bottles used in the US are recycled.

These issues are of growing importance to today’s consumer, particularly Millennial homeowners. Many see installing a reverse osmosis system as a way to get high quality drinking water while reducing their environmental footprint.

Post-pandemic home improvement trends: The pandemic sparked a sustained interest in home improvement projects. As people spend more time at home, they want to improve their space – and that includes water quality.

Homeowners are thinking more about water quality now that they’re working from home all day. They’re used to the fresh-tasting water available in their workplace, and now they want that same water quality at home.

Government infrastructure programs: Multiple initiatives are underway aimed at improving water infrastructure in the US. While $50 billion has been allocated to repairing and replacing large scale water delivery systems, additional resources may target individual homeowners in rural areas not served by municipal water supplies.

In April, for example, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), introduced the Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act, also known as the Healthy H2O Act, in Congress. If approved, the act would authorize a new grant program at the United States Department of Agriculture to cover costs of water quality testing and the purchase, installation, and maintenance of home water filtration systems. Funding would go directly to individuals, as well as non-profits and local governments.

With political support behind healthy drinking water initiatives, you can expect public awareness to grow. Now is the time to get ahead of the market and develop your install plans for reverse osmosis and other water treatment equipment.

Tips for Selling a Reverse Osmosis System

• Market annual water testing to all your well water customers. Well owners should be testing their water annually to ensure it’s safe, but the testing process is not convenient for the average homeowner. An annual well water testing program provides a great reason to stay in front of your customer – and to discover new opportunities to protect their home water quality.
• Talk about the cost benefits of reverse osmosis over bottled water. People think bottled water is an inexpensive solution, but a reverse osmosis system saves money over time. Assuming they buy the cheapest store-brand variety of bottled water, and they buy it in bulk, they’re still paying about $1.10 per gallon. Compare that to the pennies it costs to get a gallon of quality drinking water from a reverse osmosis system.
• Educate consumers on the limitations of pitcher filters and in-fridge filtration units. While those simple carbon filters can remove chlorine and other unpleasant tastes and odors, they can’t provide water safety. They don’t remove lead, nitrates, microorganisms, and a host of other potentially harmful contaminants.

People want quality drinking water, and reverse osmosis systems provide it. From a sales perspective, selling reverse osmosis is an opportunity to connect with people around core values – including health and safety, convenience, sustainability, and home economy.

Installing reverse osmosis systems isn’t complicated, particularly for existing plumbing or well water professionals. Water-Right systems come with clear install instructions. If you run into an unusual problem, our technical support team is always just a phone call away to coach you through.

Learn more about how Water-Right supports its partners. And talk to us about adding water treatment solutions to your business.