Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 05/02) - Twenty years ago the thought of selling water might have seemed outrageous, but with the success of the French companies like Evian and Perrier, the water market has flooded the world with pure water.

Larry Shattler and his wife Edna Firth bought the Northwest Water Company in Inuvik in last June.

The first owner left town after only eight months in business.

"He only had about 24 customers when I took it over," Shattler said. "Now we're up to about 450."

Eighteen months later, the company is filtering and bottling water as fast as they can and new business keeps flooding in.

"It's expanding so much that, really, I can't keep up to it," Shattler admits.

The water is forced through a primary and secondary filter to remove and silt, then through the reverse osmosis filter.

"It's like taking a garden hose and shooting it at a filter," he explained. "Only the good water will make it through the filter."

"Only 30 per cent of the water makes it to the finished product."

Once cleaned, the water is pumped to a holding tank, where ozone is introduced to kill any living organisms. From there the water is given an extra treatment through a five-micron charcoal filter.

"If there was anything left in the water at that point, this filter takes it out," Shattler said. "It also takes out any odours in the water."

From that filter the water is passed through an ultra-violet light source that would kill anything that still managed to make it through the system.

The pure water is dispensed into five gallon, 1.5 litre, one litre and 500 millilitre. containers that Shattler has shipped in from BC and labelled with his own label printed in Edmonton.

When he first started, he was paying 22 cents for each 500 millilitre bottle, but has since gone to the source where he's only paying 14 cents for each bottle. The shipping costs are where he really gets soaked. Each 14 cent bottle costs him 22 cents to ship.

He estimates he's selling 4,000 to 5,000 gallons of water per month with the camps have been a good customer as well as most of the grocery and corner stores. They also have distributors in Fort McPherson, Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk.

"The Tuk guy is doing real good, because he has all the camps," he said.

Private homes and businesses are also buying into the pure water. For $10 Shattler delivers the five gallon jugs right to the door.

He sells the water coolers or rents on a rent-to-own basis.

"I started out doing it by myself, but we've hired three employees in the last year-and-a-half," he said. "We do everything by hand here and the labels are the biggest labour."

As well as selling the water, the company also donates a good share to the Inuvik hospital for the elder's wing.

He's outgrown the current location and has purchased new land where he plans a bigger and better facility.

He's looking at an automated labelling machine that will boost his production.

"It's almost being sold faster than I can keep the supply of bottles coming in."

He knew the business was a good idea, and when he and Edna saw it come up for sale they jumped.

"When we bought the business, I had four or five people come to me and say they were thinking the same thing," he recalled. "The way good business works is, if you're gonna do something, get off your ass and do it."