Airplane Hangar to Water Empire

Airplane Hangar to Water Empire

A new profile from WCP Online highlights how Clear Water Filtration turned a simple well water problem into a multi-market success story. What started as founder Jim Parker fixing iron issues in his airplane hangar in 1980 has become a textbook case in business expansion under his kids Jen and Steve. The Vermont company began by focusing solely on residential customers, but Steve spotted an opportunity in the craft brewing boom and landed 23 breweries and cideries for water treatment work. That commercial success opened doors to agriculture, hospitality, and government contracts.

The bigger expansion came through municipal work—Clear Water already had connections with engineers designing public water systems for small communities, but many of those communities lacked operational support. So, Jen earned her Class III Operator certification and built a team of licensed operators to fill that gap. They scaled from managing 10 public water systems to 55 at their peak, offering everything from sampling and budgeting to consumer confidence reports. The siblings bought the business from their father in 2015 and recently moved operations out of that original hangar.

Geological Challenge

St. George Water Heaters is addressing Southern Utah's notorious hard water problem in a sponsored piece for their local news site. The numbers tell the story as each of the cities in the area have water that measures "very hard" by the U.S. Geological Survey. Owner Chandlyr Tebbs is emphasizing the local geology, telling customers that "everyone should have a water softener" because the water is "just crazy hard." The company installs SENTRY II softeners from Utah-based Pacific Water Inc, positioning them as specifically designed for the state's challenging conditions. The article connects water softeners to their core tankless water heater business as well, saying softeners are essential for protecting tankless systems from mineral buildup. The piece explains the technical side well, covering ion exchange and maintenance requirements while emphasizing long-term cost savings from avoiding appliance damage.

Municipal Sticker Shock

H2O Systems Inc. is highlighting Cape Coral's high municipal connection fees in a new blog post that positions wells as a financial lifeline for struggling homeowners. The company reports that northeast Cape Coral residents are getting hit with mandatory water hookup notices carrying price tags of $35,000 to $40,000 (a massive jump from the $12,000 costs when some homeowners first moved in). The family-owned operation is positioning wells as the smart financial alternative for households earning under $75,000. Their pitch is straightforward: avoid the city fees, lock in water costs, and gain long-term control over your water supply. The company offers the full package with well drilling, pump installation, water treatment systems, and ongoing maintenance.

PFAS Treatment with ​Granular Activated Carbon

The Water Quality Research Foundation (WQRF) finished its free Summer School webinar series with a session on removing PFAS using Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), led by Calgon Carbon's Daniel McGervey. The presentation covered GAC basics that water treaters should know when setting up PFAS treatment systems. McGervey explained that different starting materials create different results; wood-based carbon is good for transport but weak on capture, coconut is the opposite, while coal-based carbon does both well. He used a simple comparison: transport pores are like streets that let contaminants move through the carbon, while adsorption pores are like parking lots that trap and hold them. The session covered reagglomeration, a manufacturing process that makes GAC more consistent than standard methods. McGervey stressed that picking the right GAC for PFAS is crucial, pointing out that "one handful of GAC has the surface area of a football field."

What else is happening:

• WIRED releases a story about new research that suggests filtration systems that remove PFAS can also get rid of other harmful substances

• WCP Online details removing arsenic from drinking water, covering the three main options for residential arsenic treatment

• Water Filter Guru installed and reviewed the NU Aqua Efficiency Series, a tankless under-sink reverse osmosis system, giving it an 8.32 overall rating

• WCP hands out their Young Professional of the Month to service technician Morgan Arney of Aqua General in Houston