Consumers' worries boost maker of filtration systems

Consumer concerns about water quality are driving sales for a Sparks manufacturing firm that's getting ready to grow dramatically.

Water Safety Corp. plans to move to a 28,000-square-foot building at 3760 Barron Way in Reno early next year.

"The new facility will allow us to double production," says Mike Parise, president and chief executive officer of the maker of water filtration systems. "So sales has their job cut out for them."

Another positive for the company: The recent push to limit the number of plastic bottles that are headed for landfills.

The biggest positive, however, has been the weak American dollar and the opportunities it provides in export markets. Water Safety breached the Japanese market in 1989, then followed up in Spain, Greece and Australia.

And while domestic sales comprise 92 percent of the total, Parise says he's diligently working the foreign markets this year.

"We're advertising in foreign publications and getting good responses."

That, he says, helps offset weak growth in U.S. markets.

"The markets we sell into demand quality," he adds, "So we don't compete on price, but on the quality end."

Among its 28 employees, Water Quality employs two mechanical design engineers to design the products.

Parise started the company in 1986 in his garage with a partner, whom he later bought out.

They hadn't picked the water filtration category on a whim.

"At the university, we researched emerging growth industries. In those days, there was no brand name recognition in this industry. The industry was fragmented, dominated by small companies, with no dominant players. That fact made it attractive to us."