Water is life.

…and hard water makes life hard.

We all know it…

It’s rough on our mouths…

It scales the water pipes blocking flow of water…

It’s difficult to use for washing…

In short, hard water is a seemingly small problem that makes our lives harder than we think.

There are water companies that seem to have solutions for hard water.

They market sophisticated water ‘softening’ filters that help make our water easier to use.

But opportunities haven’t only been on the water filter front.

BOTTLED WATER

Where I live, there is a hard water problem.

And as fate would have it, most of the middlecass folk – like myself – choose to buy drinking water to bypass this problem.

Because of this, many water selling outlets have sprung up all over the neighborhood some selling 10 litres of water at about 2 dollars!

Infact, a reputable water company has also set up shop around to market some of its water treatment merchandise.

Imagine the business opportunities that have sprung up as a result of water hardness.

So imagine again other possible business opportunities that are hidden beneath this problem.

For starters, what makes water hard?

HARD WATER

Water is a universal solvent.

It’s hard to find it without anything dissolved in it.

Some of the stuff dissolved in our water is good for our bodies.

These minerals also make our water ‘drinkable’ – it acquires a certain taste that makes it appealing.

But on the other hand, these same minerals may also be excessive in our water.

Take for instance calcium and magnesium.

When in excess, these two minerals contribute to water hardness.

Water companies seek to reduce the amounts of these two minerals in water in order to make it soft.

Now this is no easy task given that many filters can’t target calcium and magnesium.

But some companies have found a way out – by manufacture and sale of water softening resins.

Resins are materials containing exchangeable ions which replace calcium and magnesium in hard water.

Exchangeable ions act like substitutes in a soccer game.

The calcium and magnesium are pulled out of the pitch (the water) only for them to be replaced by ‘friendlier’ ions.

Come to think of it – if one stumbles upon a large scale manufacturer of water softening resins, buys them in bulk and use them to make water softeners for sale, would it make business sense?

Currently, I’ve not been successful in finding any large scale resin makers in Kenya.

But have stumbled on one in India.

Which presents another opportunity.

INNOVATORS’ PARADISE

Making ion exchange resins requires a bit of chemistry – a combination of knowledge in polymers and ions.

Since hard water is a massive problem around us, could local innovators find ways of  making affordable softeners for the local market?

Could there be an existing market for water softeners among the middle-class folk who purchase bottled drinking water?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to soften water at home than buying expensive bottled water?

Just my thoughts…