Holiday PFAS Education

Holiday PFAS Education

This month, SpringWell started their "12 Days of PFAS" series that mixes holiday themes with important water safety education. Author and chief water specialist Tommy Stricklin set up the campaign to build knowledge step by step, starting with basic PFAS facts and moving through where contamination comes from, health risks, and rule changes before showing their water filter as the answer. The company timed this well around current events, noting that EPA announced plans to think about changing key PFAS protections and push back deadlines to follow rules from 2029 to 2031, making people want to act fast on home filtration.

SpringWell points out scary health problems including an important study showing mothers near PFAS sources had 43% higher rates of low-birth-weight babies and 191% higher death rates, making a stronger argument for acting right away. The campaign gives practical tips like replacing nonstick cookware and avoiding bottled water before showing their PFAS removal system as the complete answer, noting that only 8% of US water systems can remove these chemicals.

Water Softeners as Holiday Gifts

Meanwhile, Dierolf Plumbing and Water Treatment created their own holiday marketing campaign that frames water softeners as practical Christmas gifts, showing how to turn equipment sales into emotional purchases. The Pennsylvania-based company connects hard water problems to daily frustrations that many people accept as normal: dry winter skin, cloudy glasses, crusty faucets, and towels that never feel soft despite using fabric softener. What's interesting about their approach is showing how to make equipment installations feel like gifts by scheduling free water tests ahead of holidays, creating printed certificates for "Complete Water Quality Assessment and Softener Design," and wrapping related items like new shower heads with notes explaining they'll feel better once soft water is installed.

Water Softener Bypass

Last week the official Culligan blog posted a guide about softener bypass valves, explaining that the valves let water flow around the softener instead of through it, keeping water running during maintenance or emergencies while temporarily providing hard water to the home. The guide covers practical scenarios when bypass is useful: outdoor watering to save salt, maintenance work, emergency leaks, stuck regeneration cycles, and water quality testing. The article provides step-by-step instructions for different valve types while acknowledging that every system is different, then positions their local experts as helpful resources even for non-Culligan equipment. Culligan highlights their smart water softeners that can be controlled remotely through their Connect app, allowing customers to set timed bypass periods for activities like car washing and automatically return to service mode.

Kinetico vs. Competitors

Kinetico Advanced Water Systems highlights the Kinetico advantage with a competitive comparison emphasizing their non-electric, on-demand water systems as superior to timer-based electric competitors. The company positions their technology as working "based on the way customers use water" rather than preset schedules, with systems that regenerate only when needed to reduce waste and wear. The team leverages their Ph.D. scientist Dr. Gene Smelik Jr.'s credentials heavily, noting his background in geology and chemistry while emphasizing "sound water science" throughout their approach. Their positioning is centered around connecting technology benefits to customer pain points (inefficient appliances, poor-tasting coffee, dry skin, and high energy bills) then showing how their systems address root causes rather than just symptoms. The company has grown to become the largest Kinetico dealer with 13 locations across five states since starting in 1987.

What else is happening:

• Filtration + Separation reports that DuPont is launching a new low-energy RO element aimed at making seawater desalination systems more efficient

• Praz Pure Water release their definitive guide on how often to change RO filters

• Waterdrop writes about 2026 pricing for water softeners with ranges between $600 and $10,000 depending on the size of the home

• LeverEdge posts job listing on WCP Online to support their “growing water treatment dealer network”