Keeping Clear

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Air and water are the building blocks of life. But for William Wendling they’re the elements of a successful business. The owner and founder of Oxygen Ozone Inc. has enjoyed triple-digit growth designing air and water purification systems for green-conscious homes and businesses.


Since he founded Oxygen Ozone in 1998, Wendling has sold more than 1,400 filtration systems, from Montana all the way to Malaysia. In an industry dominated by large commercial names such as Culligan and US Filter, he’s carved out a niche not only with personalized service but high-quality breakthrough products.


“William takes purification a few steps beyond the rest of the industry,” notes Ellen Strickland of Livingreen, who sells Oxygen Ozone products in her sustainable design stores in Culver City and Santa Barbara. “He comes at it from a health and wellness perspective, layered by technical knowledge.”


Wendling has spent years perfecting a nine-stage process that uses carbon filters, reverse osmosis, de-ionization, and natural ocean coral to clean and re-invigorate water with essential minerals. Competitor LifeSource Water Systems Inc., of Pasadena, uses carbon filters in combination with its own proprietary conditioning treatment.


In a Wendling system, levels of TDS (total dissolved solids) contaminants usually caused by ground runoff and pesticides are reduced to zero parts per million. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines cite TDS levels in excess of 1,000 ppm as unfit for drinking. Piped-in municipal water has a TDS level of 100-600 ppm.


He also offers everything from a $500 low-voltage heating, ventilating and air-conditioning filter to a $12,000 system that cleans swimming pools with UV light and copper-silver ion technology developed by NASA. But his biggest sellers are under-the-counter tap purifiers.


Wendling won’t publish revenues or margins. But with an average of 10 installations per month in the $2500 to $5,600 range, the company is a solid, six-figure annual earner.


Wendling, 39, credits childhood visits to a John Deere factory, where his father worked in manufacturing, as sparking his love for engineering. He first noticed the impact of water contaminants on the Illinois farm where he grew up.


“Our well water was so hard, you could see the calcium and other mineral deposits on the teapot and humidifier,” said Wendling. “I think it played a part in my father’s heart disease.”


Wendling started on his path at 19 when he moved to Northern California to study herbal medicine. An article about a therapeutic ozone spa in Florida developed by a veteran with effects of Agent Orange ignited a passion for the benefits of purified waters.


“The system was water-based, so all the research I did into ozone therapy jump-started my filtration business,” he recalls.


Wendling keeps his overhead low by functioning as a virtual one-man band. He does site inspections for each new client, then custom designs orders out of his Fairfax-area home. Parts are procured through a chain of suppliers who all carry National Safety Foundation certification, and Gold Seal certification from the industry’s Water Quality Association trade organ.


Wendling then turns to manufacturing partners in North Hollywood and Orange County for assembly of his systems, which carry a $2 million insurance policy against rupture or breakage. Installations cost clients about $500, depending on the job, and are done by a staff plumber licensed in fluid waste removal. He completes all service calls personally.


Now Wendling plans to branch out.


Ozone, sprayed through jets with purified water, is the key to a line of spa chambers Wendling plans to launch by year’s end. The treatment requires patients’ bodies to be enclosed in the bubbling water (with their heads protruding).


Ozone is a charged form of oxygen that’s one of nature’s strongest purifiers. Sea World uses ozone to disinfect more than 10 million gallons of water at its San Diego location.


In the last 18 months, Wendling has funneled $20,000 into his ozone spa research and redevelopment. Europe will be a likely target market. Nathaniel Altman, author of Oxygen Healing Therapies, says more than 15 million overseas patients have tried medical ozone therapy since the early 1960s. North America is another story.


“Oxygen-ozone treatments are only allowed as experimental therapies in about seven states,” Altman notes. “They can’t be patented, so there’s no incentive for FDA or AMA approval.”


Regardless of how well his spas do, Wendling’s clients, made up of affluent homeowners and small business owners hooked into the green lifestyle, are true believers.


Janabai, who goes by only one name and is a co-owner of the Santa Monica-based restaurant Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, said Wendling is a “water wizard” legendary in the health food industry.


“The water content in raw food is very high,” Janabai says, “so to have water that’s been re-mineralized with coral calcium makes a huge difference to our customers. William keeps making upgrades all the time. He’s obsessed with water.”



Oxygen Ozone Inc.



Year Founded:

1998


Core Business:

Water and air purification systems using natural and holistic treatments


2004 Employees:

2


2005 Employees:

3


Goal:

To add 5-10 employees and open offices in Orange County, San Diego County and the Bay Area within the next 12-16 months


Driving Force:

Homeowners and business owners who are true believers of a green lifestyle

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