Tell us about the history of your company.

Roving got its start when its owner and current CEO Yana invented (and patented) a small portable water purification system that was called the “MVP”. It was designed to be less than 25 lbs, completely self-contained and it could produce clean drinking water at a rate of 1 liter (a water bottle) a minute. Even if you stuck the intake in a sewer. She and her husband spent 5 years chasing down what they thought would be the best way to prove reliability and purity – through military field trials. Together they travelled to Ft. Benning GA for AEWE (Advanced Expeditionary Warrior Experiments), to Thailand (Crimson Viper), Hawaii (RIMPAC) and ultimately to Germany for the JWA (Joint Interagency Field experiments). All trials they did well in – save one thing – no sales! The soldiers loved it, but for whatever reason, there was no move toward procurement. The decision was made to abandon that effort and focus on selling products that were more portable, and more affordable.

What products do you offer and what are your top sellers?

The top-selling product is a small water purification device that is called the “Ozo-pod ®10”. It sells for $179. It’s an AC or DC compatible device that can purify 10 liters of water in 3 minutes. The technology behind it is nothing short of amazing. The core of it lies in an advanced electrolytic ozone generator – it’s referred to as “The Power of EO3”.

Not many people realize that when you dissolve ozone, or O3, into water, you make a sanitizing solution that is 50X more powerful than chlorine. It’s the strongest disinfectant that can be safely used in drinking water. In use by municipal water treatment plants world wide and by every water bottling company such as Nestle, Coca-Cola or Perrier. So its very good at killing things. The amazing thing about ozone, is that once its job is done, it quickly reverts to oxygen. So, no chemicals are needed and no chemicals are left behind. Our method of producing the ozone is what makes us special. The other units on the market – they all make ozone gas – but to dissolve it into water requires the use of an air pump and a bubbler. Most of the ozone goes straight into the air.

Another nice thing is that our devices are NOT FILTERS, so they will never clog. If you currently sell a filtration product, you can sell our devices right alongside them and impress upon the consumer the importance of redundancy. That, and ultrafilters are great, but you never know if they have been compromised or not.

Our second most popular product (which was our top seller until Covid came along and killed travel) is the O-Pen®. A device that looks just like a writing pen. It will purify .5L of water (8 oz) in :40 seconds. We have many videos of it and the other devices on YouTube if you want to check them out.

Are there any new or unique products coming up?

We are introduced the GO-3 in a limited production run late last year. We gathered customer feedback, made a few changes, and partnered with Georgia Pacific to make a production model that will be released hopefully by Christmas time this year. It a cap that fits a standard Nalgene IL or 32 oz water bottle. To use it you scoop your water up, put the cap on the bottle, turn it upside down, and press the on button. It will purify the water in 3 minutes.

Why do dealers choose your products over your competitors?

Number one reason is they actually work, and customers love them. Number two: MAP pricing ensures no price wars between dealers. Number 3 is decent profit margin – contact us for pricing!

What types of stores carry your products and who is the end consumer?

Right now we have very few dealers, so its wide open for growth. Anyone who caters to the folks who are interested in self-sufficiency, “prepping”, home-steading, or DIY water purification will be very interested in our products.

What challenges have you seen recently in your industry and what are you doing to overcome them?
The industry as whole has stagnated around 3 main categories of water purification; UV light, filtration and ultra-filtration; there has been very little innovation – until now. Roving Blue is a fresh face in this regard. Our biggest challenge is awareness, which we hope to overcome by careful alignment with companies that people also already trust.

What advice do you have for independent retailers facing the same challenges?

You have to give your customers a reason to come back. By giving them a steady stream of innovative products that do things in newer and better ways, that keeps the knife edge sharp.

What is your order process and turn around time for dealers?
Orders placed before noon typically ship out the same day. Afternoon, they ship next day.

Do you have any minimum order requirements, or requirements when choosing a dealer?

We’d like dealers take our online training course so you can learn more about the technology. For the first three orders, there are no minimums and they must be pre-paid. After that we’ll extend credit terms and would like to see orders in case quantities (which are not large, typically 12 or 24 units)

Anything else you would like to add?

Thank you so much for having us – we sold a lot of products at the GLEPE show in MI and even more at the Prepper Camp in NC this past September, so we know that people love our products, and they will buy them once they become aware of them – so give us a try – give us a call – and mention ST Magazine for a 1st order discount!