Modern Marketing

Modern Marketing

​​WCP Online published a practical guide on organic social media strategy, written by water dealer marketing specialist Cari Berman. The piece opens with a common scenario: a homeowner notices hard water symptoms and when their water heater fails they call the local water company they've been passively following on Facebook, without ever Googling a competitor. Berman's core argument is that organic social media isn't about reaching people who are actively shopping, it's about being the name that comes to mind when they finally are. The guide notes that community partnerships (e.g. tagging a local coffee shop after installing their filtration system) are the primary engine for reaching new audiences without ad spend. For content, Berman recommends rotating through five categories: educational posts about local water quality, myth-busting, video testimonials, employee spotlights, and timely advisory content during boil water notices or water main breaks.

Cost of PFAS Compliance

In a story from across the pond, Jersey Water, the sole water utility on the island of Jersey off the coast of France, is sounding the alarm on what strict PFAS limits could actually cost ratepayers. If local lawmakers approve a new legal limit later this month, the utility says bills would need to rise 15-25% every year for five years (a 70-110% total increase) that would make Jersey's water among the most expensive in the world. The reason: hitting the new threshold would require building an entirely new treatment facility estimated at £140-210 million, a project the company says realistically takes seven years, not the five proposed.

Jersey Water isn't opposing the limit itself. PFAS contamination around the island's airport from firefighting foam is well documented, but the utility argues that the funding plan and timeline are unresolved. As the U.S. EPA pushes toward its own 4 ppt federal limit for PFOA and PFOS, the infrastructure and cost implications for small and mid-sized utilities are going to be significant.

Verifying a Water Filter's Claims

Last week WIRED published a practical guide on how to verify whether water filter certification claims are actually legitimate. The piece breaks down the three main NSF/ANSI standards that matter: 42 (aesthetic effects like chlorine and taste), 53 (health effects including lead, arsenic, and PFAS), and 401 (emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals and pesticides). The author explains that three bodies are accredited by ANSI to certify against these standards (NSF, WQA, and IAPMO) and that consumers need to check all three separately since a product certified by one won't necessarily show up in another's database. The article uses Clearly Filtered as a case study, noting the company is currently transferring its PFAS certification from WQA to NSF under newly revised standards, which means their PFAS certification temporarily doesn't appear in search results despite being legitimate.

Water at Every Stage

WCP Online sat down with Jackie Goranson, general and operations manager at Water Doctors Water Treatment Company in Minneapolis, for their ongoing industry profile series. Goranson's story is a classic family business arc: her parents Bob and Laurie Hoey founded the company in 1984, and she grew up around it before stepping away for a few years and ultimately returning over a decade ago. Now, with her parents stepping back, she's navigating the transition of taking the reins of an established business (inventory, field technicians, office operations, and all). On the industry's learning curve, she quotes her father: "You don't know what you don't know, you know but have to think about it, you know without thinking about it." Outside of Water Doctors, she also serves on the Board of Directors for Women in Construction (WINC), a local organization focused on advancing women in the trades.

What else is happening:

• Culligan has added to its global network by purchasing Perth’s Complete Home Filtration, a rapidly-growing Australian company

• Waterdrop debuted its first whole-house RO system and iSpring showcased its water filtrations for kitchen remodels at KBIS 2026

• Rusco has expanded its product lineup to make it easier for users to address water quality challenges with a single supplier

• WCP Online releases a detailed and technical guide regarding RO system design (part 1)

• WCP Online also explains atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) and how it might expand in the future