State Sues 4 Firms Selling Home Water-Treatment Devices

Ending a seven-month investigation of California’s water-treatment industry, the state attorney general filed suit Thursday against four companies allegedly marketing home treatment devices with claims that they will cure disease and purge pollutants from tap water.

The suits, the first of a series of expected enforcement actions, seek civil penalties of at least $100,000 from each of the companies, which the state claims are marketing expensive treatment systems, often using “scare tactics” or the guise of nonprofit research organizations.

The companies named in the suits, filed around the state, are Good Health Water Inc. of Marina del Rey; the now-defunct Citizens for Clean Water Inc., Orange County; Pacific Moon Trading Co., Santa Barbara, and Global Water Systems Ltd. of Emeryville in Northern California.

“The public has a perfect right to be concerned about the quality of their water. But because of this legitimate public concern, there have been these companies that have come in to capitalize on it. Unfortunately, it’s an industry which tends to attract the fast-buck artist,” said Deputy Atty. Gen. Jerry Smilowitz, who filed the suits.

State officials said the companies under scrutiny represent a minority of those selling water-treatment devices, many of which make legitimate claims for improving the taste, smell and mineral content of household water supplies.

“We believe as an industry we provide a product that fills a definite need, and we have gone on record recently promoting adherence to ethical marketing and sales practices,” said Bill Ferguson, president of the 150-member Pacific Water Quality Assn., a voluntary trade group.

The suit against Good Health Water claims that the company contacts consumers for the purported purpose of conducting a “water quality survey,” which is followed several days later with an offer to test tap water in exchange for a free gift.

According to the suit, a company representative then tests the water in a way that exaggerates the amount of hard minerals, such as magnesium and calcium, falsely identifies these minerals as pollutants when they are actually essential to good health, then sells a device that will purportedly remove all pesticides, bacteria, viruses and fluorides.

The suit claims that most of those representations are false. Moreover, state officials say the company violated the law by failing to inform consumers when contacted for the survey that it was seeking to sell something.

Company President David Beeman said it was an independent contractor, no longer working for the company, who made most of the false claims cited in the state’s complaint. “The allegations they’re making about us are just not true,” Beeman said.

The Orange County suit claims the now-defunct Citizens for Clean Water Inc., identifying itself as a nonprofit organization, mailed out water quality surveys stating, “We need your help . . . not your money” and pledging to “notify various governmental agencies and public officials of the results of our findings.”

In fact, the suit alleges, the organization was using the survey to develop leads to sell treatment devices. No company spokesman could be reached for comment.

The lawsuit against Pacific Moon Trading Co. claims that the company’s magnetic “polarizer water conditioner,” which purportedly uses magnets to reverse the magnetic charge of the pipe, has been falsely promoted as decreasing the amount of chemicals needed for pool maintenance, producing cleaner laundry and reducing water-heating costs.

But owner Chris Goldman said he has research to back up each of the company’s claims and offers his customers a money-back guarantee if they are not satisfied. Of 5,000 units sold so far, he said, only 33 customers have asked for refunds.

Global Water Systems Ltd. allegedly sells its electric water distiller, priced from $395 to $495, with claims that it will remove “impurities” from tap water and act as a solvent to carry away harmful inorganic mineral deposits from the body. The company calls its distilled water “the most important precaution you and your family can take against aging and disease.”

The company violated false advertising laws and laws that require approval from state and federal health authorities before claiming to cure disease, the lawsuit says.

Global Water co-founder and sales consultant Sherman White said state officials would be “shocked” if they knew of the number of contaminants in ordinary drinking water and said there is a strong public demand for home purification systems.