WEBVTT - Richard's Rainwater

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<v Speaker 1>This is our American Stories, and we tell stories of

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<v Speaker 1>all kind here on this show. By the way, we

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<v Speaker 1>live in a state where it rains a heck of

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. We broadcast here in Oxford, Mississippi, about an

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<v Speaker 1>hour south of Memphis. And our next story is about rain,

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<v Speaker 1>or rather an innovative entrepreneur's company that collects and bottles

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<v Speaker 1>rainwater per sale out in Dripping Springs, Texas. That's right,

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<v Speaker 1>Dripping Springs. That company is called Richard's Rainwater, and its founder,

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<v Speaker 1>Richard Heineken, can probably be considered the godfather of bottled

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<v Speaker 1>rainwater in the United States. Here's Richard in our own

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<v Speaker 1>Monty Montgomery with the story. The idea behind Richard's Rainwater

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<v Speaker 1>started because of a dirty text as well well. I

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<v Speaker 1>moved out to Dripping Springs. I lived in Austin, Texas

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<v Speaker 1>and moved out to the Dripping Springs to help my

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<v Speaker 1>sister in law build the Austin Zoo out as her

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<v Speaker 1>parents had this property out there, and Susie, my wife,

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<v Speaker 1>and her sister lived out there and her sister was

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<v Speaker 1>raising goats and then it turned into a zoo. So

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<v Speaker 1>I moved Dripping Springs and built a house and out

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<v Speaker 1>here in the hill country, there's no other source for

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<v Speaker 1>water except for well water. And so I drilled a well,

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<v Speaker 1>and the well guy was he was leaving with a

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<v Speaker 1>fistical of my dollars, says mister, Heyneken, you have a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of water there. That's a darn good well, the

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<v Speaker 1>good flowing well. And oh me and I was so excited.

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<v Speaker 1>Go in the house, brand new house, right, and took

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<v Speaker 1>a shower. The hydrogen sulfite was so bad I almost

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<v Speaker 1>threw up into shower. And the water was so hard.

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<v Speaker 1>When Susie did the laundry, the levies could stand up

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<v Speaker 1>in the corner and our hair stood out like fright wigs.

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<v Speaker 1>And we said, man, we can't handle this. Called a

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<v Speaker 1>softener guy, so oh yeah, that's some pretty damn hard

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<v Speaker 1>water there. You can. I can put your tune tandem

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<v Speaker 1>water softeners together. And oh my god. So I looked

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<v Speaker 1>into solutions and I ran across a doctor who became

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<v Speaker 1>a good friend of mine, Mike McKelvin, who had started

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<v Speaker 1>catching rainwater for his wife. To really realize the well

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<v Speaker 1>water out here basically kills plants. It chokes their leaves.

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<v Speaker 1>If you sprayed on their leaves, it carbonizes over so

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<v Speaker 1>they can't they suffocate. So he started a rainwater pleasure

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<v Speaker 1>for his wife's roses, and they flourished and his house flourished.

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<v Speaker 1>He got into putting in his house and he flourished,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was a really advocate for it, and I

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<v Speaker 1>met him and I became one myself. I looked into

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<v Speaker 1>storage and found a fiberglass manufacturer in Texas and ordered

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<v Speaker 1>a fiberglass tank and put it in at a real

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<v Speaker 1>rural Goldberg job and it was all kind of new

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<v Speaker 1>technology to me, but just plumbing as all of us.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's just a water level water. If your gutters

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<v Speaker 1>higher than the tank entrance, it goes in by itself, right,

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<v Speaker 1>And so I did that and hooked up a bump

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<v Speaker 1>to it, and I took a shower, and I was

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<v Speaker 1>the happiest guy in the world. The soap just came

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<v Speaker 1>right off. It lathered up like you can't believe, smelled wonderful,

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<v Speaker 1>It drank good, and the dishes, instead of being chalky,

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<v Speaker 1>all of a sudden, it became clearer. So my neighbor

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<v Speaker 1>comes over and says, God, what'd you guys just buy

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<v Speaker 1>some new dishes? And I said, no, we're just washing

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<v Speaker 1>them in rain water. Now, I said, oh my god,

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<v Speaker 1>Well I've been buying new dishes every three years and

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<v Speaker 1>a new dishwasher every three years. So I want that.

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<v Speaker 1>So I went called back the Fiberglass guys, Hey, I

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<v Speaker 1>want to be a distributor, and he said, okay, hope,

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<v Speaker 1>let's work a deal. And so so I was selling

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<v Speaker 1>fiber of Us tanks like crazy. I was the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>tank salesman and the whole planet. I put in literally

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of these things, and I've got thousand people that

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<v Speaker 1>we're relying on tank Town as their source for rainwater

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<v Speaker 1>filters and you know, maintenance prop things, and so that's

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<v Speaker 1>how it happened. Then one day I'm putting in these

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<v Speaker 1>rainwater systems. I have a crew of guys, and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>filling up our water for our consumption, to keep cool

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<v Speaker 1>the whole crew, you know, in a in one of

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<v Speaker 1>those Igloo five gallon water buckets. One day we ran

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<v Speaker 1>out super hot day sun in July, and I so

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<v Speaker 1>I said, okay, guys, I gotta I'm going back home

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<v Speaker 1>to fill up our water again. They say, okay, hurry back.

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<v Speaker 1>So on the way, I thought, you know, I should

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<v Speaker 1>be able to pull into a store and buy this

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<v Speaker 1>stuff and the bulb went off, right, So I okay then,

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<v Speaker 1>So then I was just focused on bottling this stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>So I read the regulations on a water supply realized

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<v Speaker 1>that I needed to be a sort of a licensed

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<v Speaker 1>operator to run of water supply. So I was started

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<v Speaker 1>going to correspondence schools, and I went to Berkeley, Cow

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<v Speaker 1>and Texas, A and M and I got I got

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<v Speaker 1>a license to be a public water supply operator, got

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<v Speaker 1>a permit number and all, and then I started building

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<v Speaker 1>a plant and anyway, then I get to TCQ, the

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<v Speaker 1>government agency that oversees our water supply in Texas, and

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<v Speaker 1>they said, well, mister Hynegen, that's a pretty good idea,

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<v Speaker 1>but rain water is not approved as a source for water.

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<v Speaker 1>It's okay, So where you get in your water? He goes, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know where we get our water. We get out

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<v Speaker 1>of Lake Travis. So where does that come from? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it has it's like rain. I said, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>that's okay. So I'm gonna that's why, you know, so

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<v Speaker 1>we need to make this be able to have this

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<v Speaker 1>as a source for water. Oh I don't know, sir.

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<v Speaker 1>And another thing, mister Einigan. Now that we got this

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<v Speaker 1>conversation going, we can't talk to you anymore because you're

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<v Speaker 1>not a licensed engineer. So I went, okay, great, well

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<v Speaker 1>I will come back. So I just had to prove

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<v Speaker 1>it to them that it was a good source for water.

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<v Speaker 1>So I built a little pilot bottling plant and they

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<v Speaker 1>said they proved that. Built it them on bare hands.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a blacksmith, I'm a sculptor. I've cut the pipes

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<v Speaker 1>and use transits and got the right things and welded

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<v Speaker 1>everything up. And then we go out and put more

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<v Speaker 1>systems in, and I get more some more money, go

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<v Speaker 1>out and buy more metal, put it all up. Then

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<v Speaker 1>I thought, man, this is I can't really start this yet.

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<v Speaker 1>I got the plants going, I got everything going. I

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<v Speaker 1>need some tanks. Ended up buying thirteen tanks and we

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<v Speaker 1>had like two hundred and fifty thousand gallons. And then

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<v Speaker 1>I had the engineers and it's a friend of mine

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<v Speaker 1>and basically wrote it on a napkin. I said, here,

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<v Speaker 1>write this out, make it look real visual. Here's what

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna do. We're gonna micro we're gonna put it

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<v Speaker 1>through really tiny filters and we're gonna separate it after

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<v Speaker 1>it goes into a couple of tanks, and then we're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna put it through a UV light, and then we're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna store it in a sanitary tank, and then we're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna put just before we bottle, we're gonna put ozone

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<v Speaker 1>in it. Now. Ozone, it's a really great sanitizer. Cities

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<v Speaker 1>water supplies use chlorine, and chlorine is a cancer causing chemical,

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<v Speaker 1>and so we didn't want to do that. The Clean

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<v Speaker 1>Water Act required public water supplies to use chlorine, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's no other source of sanitation they would approve. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I have a saying the solution to pollution is delution,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's the same thing these cities use. They just say, well, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>here's a ten gallons of chlorine and so we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>have to mix that with thirteen thousand and hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>seventy gallons of water and that'll do it. Okay, my

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<v Speaker 1>taste a little chlorine, but anyway, can't do that. And

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<v Speaker 1>so my plan was, I said, Okay, here's the deal.

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<v Speaker 1>If you take me a quart and I'll here's a

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<v Speaker 1>little end of it. We have to end up in court.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna tell the jury that okay, here's what they

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<v Speaker 1>want me to do with my rain water. They want

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<v Speaker 1>me to put chlorine in it, and that will cause

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<v Speaker 1>cancer possibly. And then rainwater we've already proved it has

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<v Speaker 1>no cancer causing byproducts in it from the way we

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<v Speaker 1>sanitize it, so it seems like a really smart thing

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<v Speaker 1>to do. And so and then also if you say

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<v Speaker 1>I can't do it, then then it'll be it won't

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<v Speaker 1>be good because the jury is going to say, well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's trying. We certainly don't want you to get cancer.

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<v Speaker 1>So we like your idea. They said, well, we kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like your deal, and it's also sustainable. And then

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<v Speaker 1>we'd started doing testing on it and did their monthly

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<v Speaker 1>reports and it all always came back just beautiful. And

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<v Speaker 1>at that point, more people in Austin and out in

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<v Speaker 1>the Hill country we're getting into rainwater collection. So everybody's

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<v Speaker 1>calling this anterest and he's saying, hey, I want to

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<v Speaker 1>put a whole rainwater system in my house. So four

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<v Speaker 1>years later we got the first public water supply using rainwaters,

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<v Speaker 1>sole source of water, without using chlorine. And then that's it.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all over town and it's a pretty damn good feeling,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's a little difficult to get. But Richard makes

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<v Speaker 1>the bottling process sounded pretty easy. After catching it and

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<v Speaker 1>put it in a collection tank, that's the first thing

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<v Speaker 1>to do. Like the city of Austin doesn't have to

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<v Speaker 1>worry about that because they just suck it out of

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<v Speaker 1>the lake. We have to put it in a tank

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<v Speaker 1>that has no light in it because light makes algae

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<v Speaker 1>and algae is not our friend. And then we've processed

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<v Speaker 1>that through more filtrations and then UV light and then finally,

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<v Speaker 1>just before it goes into our bottling line, we add

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<v Speaker 1>an ozone to it at a certain percentage in only

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<v Speaker 1>last fifteen minutes. And then and then we put it

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<v Speaker 1>in the bottle and we sealed the top of the

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<v Speaker 1>bottle and then so that's a perfectly pure bottle of

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<v Speaker 1>water because there's no trihealomethanes and no chemicals in it,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's just it's just a beautiful bottle of water.

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<v Speaker 1>And you can taste it immediately. When you taste it,

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<v Speaker 1>it's sweet because rainwater cleans your mouth. I know it's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of gross, but there's calcium on your teeth all

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<v Speaker 1>day long. It's building up calcium. Wait, it washes that off.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just amazing. So I've never had anybody say, boy,

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<v Speaker 1>that's allows you bottle of water. It's always, hey, this

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<v Speaker 1>is the best darned bottle I've ever had. And it's

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<v Speaker 1>just that's the fact. That's what kept us going because

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<v Speaker 1>it's an absolute truth. There's any kind of comparison of

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<v Speaker 1>another bottle of water. It's just like blind testing. It's

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of a simple thing to do because you're

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<v Speaker 1>just it's so obvious. And I've come been through a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of them, and rainwater always prevails. And great job

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<v Speaker 1>is always to Monty Montgomery. And you've been listening to

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<v Speaker 1>Richard Heineken Richard's Rainwater, the story behind the product and

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<v Speaker 1>the man year. Oh now we're American stories.