BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 8/7/2026
Purified Water To-Go is a locally owned water purification company in the Hosmer area of Tacoma.
While owner Nicole Bell says her customers access water there for many different reasons, a common one is a desire to avoid contaminants. Many of her customers visit frequently to get refills of their three- or five-gallon bottles.
Their system removes “100% of agents that affect the taste and quality of drinking water, i.e., fluoride, chlorine, bacteria, lead, and pesticides,” without any chemical treatment.
As just one example, in the City of Tacoma, tap water includes 0.365 parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic. While this is less than 10 percent of the legal limit, it is still 91 times the health guideline limit of 0.004 ppb from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
A quick search by ZIP code on EWG’s website reveals that local tap water also contains bromodichloromethane, hexavalent chromium, chloroform, dichloroacetic acid, dibromochloromethane, and other contaminants, with 11 contaminants total exceeding EWG’s health guidelines.
To be clear, contaminant levels in Tacoma are all well under the federal guidelines, so according to the federal government, local tap water is completely safe.
At the same time, these legal limits for contaminants in tap water have not been updated in almost 20 years, and health guidelines and goals often recommend lower levels than those accepted by federal guidelines.
“I never thought water was that big of a deal, the taste of it or anything, until I bought the store,” Bell said. Now she is very knowledgeable on the topic.
When she tells people that she sells water for a living, people are often “astounded or amazed” because it doesn’t make sense to them, but when you think about the fact that more than half of the human body is composed of water, “it’s one of the most important things we can put in our body,” Bell said.
The store offers a 12-step filtration system and three different types of water: purified, alkaline, or ozone.
Customers can fill up their own bottles in the store or sign up for water delivery, and the store offers discounts for frequent users.
Purified water is just what it sounds like: It is water that has had everything taken out of it.
Alkaline water is also known as mineral water or pH water and has additional calcium and magnesium added to it, which increases the alkalinity.
This water has been “gaining in popularity more and more as more nutritionists and doctors are recommending it,” Bell said, but she encourages people to do their own research because she doesn’t make a habit of making any particular health claims about the water she sells.
Ozone water is another option. It is highly ionized water that actually contains extra oxygen for about the first hour and a half after it is poured. Even after that extra oxygen is gone, the water still has some special properties and is popular for hospitals and other situations where there could be some type of residue that could benefit from being cleaned, such as a V tank or other water dispenser, Bell said.
When the water is dispensed, Bell said, it “kind of smells like lightning, like when you have lightning or thunder and you smell the ions in the air. . . . So I really like the smell of it.”
Bell said she bought the business in 2019 for two main reasons, one being her passion for the environment and the natural world.
“I’m big into conservation, so just limiting single-bottle use is kind of near and dear to my heart,” Bell said.
She also supports local environmental causes through her business and through personal donations, as well as by volunteering.
“I donate monthly to probably 10 different organizations every month. . . . I volunteer at the Nisqually Nature Center and at the Wildlife Rehab Center up by Marysville. . . . It’s just something that’s always been super important to me, especially under this administration,” Bell said.
She also appreciates the stability of the business because water is not cheap to ship, meaning there is a steady local customer base.
Since taking ownership, she has increased the company’s local delivery service. While the company doesn’t cross the bridge into Gig Harbor, it delivers anywhere within about a 15-mile radius in the greater Tacoma area.
Being a small business also means the company can work with customers more easily to meet any needs that come up, and it can offer discounts in a variety of ways.
This includes its membership program, where frequent customers can prepay and receive different levels of discounts for 100, 50, and 20 gallons.
Some customers prefer not to have their personal information in any computer systems, Bell said, so the company offers memberships with physical cards as well.
Along with the water itself, the store also sells water treatment options and dispensers, including showerhead filters and colorful water carafes.
While owner Nicole Bell says her customers access water there for many different reasons, a common one is a desire to avoid contaminants. Many of her customers visit frequently to get refills of their three- or five-gallon bottles.
Their system removes “100% of agents that affect the taste and quality of drinking water, i.e., fluoride, chlorine, bacteria, lead, and pesticides,” without any chemical treatment.
As just one example, in the City of Tacoma, tap water includes 0.365 parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic. While this is less than 10 percent of the legal limit, it is still 91 times the health guideline limit of 0.004 ppb from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
A quick search by ZIP code on EWG’s website reveals that local tap water also contains bromodichloromethane, hexavalent chromium, chloroform, dichloroacetic acid, dibromochloromethane, and other contaminants, with 11 contaminants total exceeding EWG’s health guidelines.
To be clear, contaminant levels in Tacoma are all well under the federal guidelines, so according to the federal government, local tap water is completely safe.
At the same time, these legal limits for contaminants in tap water have not been updated in almost 20 years, and health guidelines and goals often recommend lower levels than those accepted by federal guidelines.
“I never thought water was that big of a deal, the taste of it or anything, until I bought the store,” Bell said. Now she is very knowledgeable on the topic.
When she tells people that she sells water for a living, people are often “astounded or amazed” because it doesn’t make sense to them, but when you think about the fact that more than half of the human body is composed of water, “it’s one of the most important things we can put in our body,” Bell said.
The store offers a 12-step filtration system and three different types of water: purified, alkaline, or ozone.
Customers can fill up their own bottles in the store or sign up for water delivery, and the store offers discounts for frequent users.
Purified water is just what it sounds like: It is water that has had everything taken out of it.
Alkaline water is also known as mineral water or pH water and has additional calcium and magnesium added to it, which increases the alkalinity.
This water has been “gaining in popularity more and more as more nutritionists and doctors are recommending it,” Bell said, but she encourages people to do their own research because she doesn’t make a habit of making any particular health claims about the water she sells.
Ozone water is another option. It is highly ionized water that actually contains extra oxygen for about the first hour and a half after it is poured. Even after that extra oxygen is gone, the water still has some special properties and is popular for hospitals and other situations where there could be some type of residue that could benefit from being cleaned, such as a V tank or other water dispenser, Bell said.
When the water is dispensed, Bell said, it “kind of smells like lightning, like when you have lightning or thunder and you smell the ions in the air. . . . So I really like the smell of it.”
Bell said she bought the business in 2019 for two main reasons, one being her passion for the environment and the natural world.
“I’m big into conservation, so just limiting single-bottle use is kind of near and dear to my heart,” Bell said.
She also supports local environmental causes through her business and through personal donations, as well as by volunteering.
“I donate monthly to probably 10 different organizations every month. . . . I volunteer at the Nisqually Nature Center and at the Wildlife Rehab Center up by Marysville. . . . It’s just something that’s always been super important to me, especially under this administration,” Bell said.
She also appreciates the stability of the business because water is not cheap to ship, meaning there is a steady local customer base.
Since taking ownership, she has increased the company’s local delivery service. While the company doesn’t cross the bridge into Gig Harbor, it delivers anywhere within about a 15-mile radius in the greater Tacoma area.
Being a small business also means the company can work with customers more easily to meet any needs that come up, and it can offer discounts in a variety of ways.
This includes its membership program, where frequent customers can prepay and receive different levels of discounts for 100, 50, and 20 gallons.
Some customers prefer not to have their personal information in any computer systems, Bell said, so the company offers memberships with physical cards as well.
Along with the water itself, the store also sells water treatment options and dispensers, including showerhead filters and colorful water carafes.
This article paid for by the Hosmer Business Association.
