Water Filtration - US - November 2014
Scope and Themes
 
What you need to know
Total US sales of water filtration products in 2014 are $833 million. Though the category sales were strong in the years immediately following the recession, the market has experienced flat to declining sales since 2012. While these products are fairly popular with consumers, they are a nonessential household item unless there is a strong functional driver for purchase and subsequent upkeep (such as issues with tap water quality or taste). Competition from tap water and bottled water has also had a negative impact on the category. Brands need to address the issue of consumers’ non-compliance with filter replacement and boost their health and wellness messaging in marketing campaigns to help reinvigorate sales.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Water Filtration – US, November 2012, as well as previous reports in January 2011, January 2008, February 2007, and January 2006, and the Water Filtration and Purification Product report that was published in January 2004.

Definition
This report covers water filtration devices and systems that are used in the home and are available to consumers through supermarkets, mass merchandisers, hardware stores, home centers, and specialized dealers. These filtration products are designed to remove contaminants as well as improve the taste, appearance, and smell of water for usage in the home.

The following water filtration products are covered in the market size, segmentation, and company/brand share sections of this report:

●	Pour-through pitchers
●	Faucet mounts
●	Portable bottles with built-in filters
●	Replacement filters for these products.

Professional or built-in systems are excluded from the market size, segmentation, and company/brand share sections. Some systems that consumers can install themselves (such as countertop filtration systems) are also excluded from these sections. However, they are all addressed and discussed in the consumer research sections of this report. These include:

●	Under-sink filtration systems
●	Countertop filtration systems
●	Built-in dispensers in refrigerators
●	Whole house filtration systems that are built into the plumbing

This report completely excludes shower heads with water filtration capabilities and purification devices that are used for outdoor purposes, such as backpack units for campers/hikers.

Value figures throughout this report are at rsp (retail selling prices) excluding sales tax unless otherwise stated.

Data sources
Sales data
Market Size and Forecast and Segment Performance – Total retail sales based on Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews; US Census Bureau, Economic Census; forecast developed by Mintel.

Retail Channels – Based on Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews; US Census Bureau, Economic Census; Progressive Grocer’s Consumer Expenditures Study; except supermarket and drug store sales, which are based on Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews.

Leading Companies and Brand Share sections – Based on MULO sales data from Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews. MULO is defined as Multi Outlet, representative of the following channels: total US Grocery, Mass, total US Drug, total Walmart, Dollar, Military, and Club. Note that the values shown in this section differ from the Market Size and Forecast and Segment Performance sections of this report. Leading Companies and Brand Share encompass only sales through MULO channels, while Market Size and Forecast and Segment Performance cover the entire retail market.

Consumer survey data
For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed GMI to explore consumers’ attitudes and behaviors regarding water filtration products. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in August 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents by gender, age, household income, and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results and to allow for more precise parameter estimates from our reported findings. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services, using the Simmons NCS (National Consumer Study) and the Simmons NHCS (National Hispanic Consumer Study). The NHCS was carried out during January 2013-March 2014, and the results are based on the sample of 24,005 adults aged 18+, with results weighted to represent the US adult population.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

Qualitative consumer data
In addition to quantitative consumer research, Mintel also conducted an online discussion group among a demographically mixed group of 21 adults aged 18+. This discussion group was asynchronous (ie not run in real time), functioning like a blog or bulletin board, with questions remaining posted for a predetermined period of time. This method allows participants to respond reflectively, at their leisure, or to log off to think about any issues raised, and return later to respond. Participants were recruited from GMI’s online consumer panel. All quotes are included verbatim, and as such, include typos and other grammatical errors as they originally appeared.

Abbreviations and terms
Abbreviations
The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report.

CPI 	Consumer Price Index	
EPA 	Environmental Protection Agency	
rsp 	Retail selling price	

Terms
Generations are also discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

World War II/Swing Generations 	Members of the WWII Generation were born in 1932 or before and are aged 82 or older in 2014. Members of the Swing Generation were born between 1933 and 1945 and are aged 69-81 in 2014.	
Baby Boomers 	The generation born between 1946 and 1964. In 2014, Baby Boomers are between the ages of 50 and 68.	
Generation X 	The generation born between 1965 and 1976. In 2014, Gen Xers are between the ages of 38 and 49.	
Millennials* 	Born between 1977 and 1994, Millennials are aged 20-37 in 2014.	
iGeneration 	Born between 1995 and 2007, members of iGen are aged 7-19 in 2014.	
Emerging Generation 	The newest generation began in 2008 as the annual number of births declined sharply with the recession. In 2014 members of this as-yet-unnamed generation are younger than 7.	

* also known as Generation Y

In order to provide an inflation-adjusted price value for markets, Mintel uses the CPI to deflate current prices. The CPI is defined as follows:

CPI 	The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.
The CPI and its components are typically used to adjust other economic series for price changes and to translate these series into inflation-free dollars. Examples of series adjusted by the CPI include retail sales, hourly and weekly earnings, and components of the national income and product accounts. In addition, and in Mintel reports, the CPI is used as a deflator of the value of the consumer’s dollar to find its purchasing power. The purchasing power of the consumer’s dollar measures the change in the value to the consumer of goods and services that a dollar will buy at different dates.
The CPI is generally the best measure for adjusting payments to consumers when the intent is to allow consumers to purchase, at today’s prices, a market basket of goods and services equivalent to one that they could purchase in an earlier period. It is also the best measure to use to translate retail sales into real or inflation-free dollars.
Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics definition.