Giving Water Its Rightful Place: Smart Builders and Homeowners Add Dispensers to the Design

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Carol and Bill True are less than a year away from an empty nest. When their youngest child leaves for college next fall, they'll have a family-sized home all to themselves.  "We're thinking about finally finishing the basement," Carol said.  "It would make a nice new living space with a smaller second kitchen so we're not rattling around the whole house."  

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"We were looking at little refrigerators in the appliance departments, and I kept noticing those new hot and cold water dispensers.  Bill likes the taste of bottled water better than our tap, and it just seems to make sense to incorporate space for one into our design."

"Our dispensers are the next must-have appliance," said Kelly Lockwood-Primus, VP of Marketing for Primo Water Corporation.  "They're stylish and fully featured, offering instant hot and cold purified water at the touch of a button."

Primo is the top in-home water dispenser supplier in the nation, commanding 60% of the market since the company entered the category in 2008.  A recent model was named a Better Homes and Gardens Best of 2009 Editor's Pick.  It's similar to the Primo model the Trues are leaning toward for their new basement living area.  "It just looks nice," Carol True said.  "And because it's a bottom loader, I don't have to lift the bottles.  Besides, Bill's a 'foodie'," she said of her husband.  "He's really picky about how things taste, and he uses bottled water a lot when he's cooking.  I think a five gallon bottle in a built-in dispenser would be a whole lot easier than the case of bottles we use now."    

Lockwood-Primus says convenience is only part of the reason that demand for in-home dispensers is up 75% over the last decade; one of few appliance categories actually seeing gains.  "Twenty-five percent of bottled water is consumed in 5-gallon containers these days," she said.  "Our bottle exchange program makes it easy for consumers."  

Carol and Bill True aren't alone in integrating a water dispenser into their home design.  Contractor Brian Haire, owner of HMH Construction, says placement of in-home water dispensers seems to be evolving much like microwave ovens did years ago.  "Microwaves started out as something you put on your counter," he said.  "These days, it's a mistake if you don't draw the microwave in your plans as a built-in."  

Haire says most of the built-in dispenser applications he's seen are part of higher-end home designs.  "I've seen them most often when someone is designing a really nice master bedroom suite with a kitchenette," he said.  "It's nice to be able to get hot water there for a cup of tea before bed or something like that.  I like designing for them because the homeowner can get hot and cold water where they want, and I don't have to pay a plumber to tap the water line," Haire said.

Media Contact: Jay Rickerts, +1-336-724-1766

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SOURCE Primo Water Corporation