When Bill Lopez’s girlfriend called to tell him he’d won something, he had no idea what she was talking about. She had quietly nominated him for Collins’ All About Water Gives Back program — and he had been selected to receive a complete home water treatment system.
For Lopez, a retired electrician living in an area plagued by poor water quality, this gift represents far more than convenience. It’s a lifeline.
Forced Into Early Retirement
Lopez’s retirement didn’t come by choice. After contracting COVID-19 three times, his lungs sustained significant damage that made it so he was no longer able to continue his work as an electrician. Then came another blow: stomach cancer. Though the cancer is currently in remission and under monitoring, the combination of health challenges left him without the stamina to return to the field work he loves.
“I’d like to do electrical work. I’d like to go and be able to go to someone’s house and do work but I don’t have the stamina to do it anymore,” Lopez said.
The Water Problem
Living in an area with what Lopez bluntly describes as “garbage water,” he had been forced to rely entirely on bottled water for drinking. Every couple of weeks meant another exhausting trip to haul cases of water from store to car to home — a seemingly simple task that became increasingly difficult given his limited lung capacity.
“Clean water is a necessity of life,” Lopez said. “To have to go and get bottles and cases of water and drag them into the car, from the car to the house, it gets tiresome after a while.”
A Solution That Makes a Difference
Jeremy Powell from Collins All About Water explained that Lopez was nominated by another customer, Lopez’s girlfriend, who recognized both his contributions to the community over the years and his current struggles. The company installed a full water treatment package: a whole home water filtration system, a refiner and a reverse osmosis drinking water system.
The system isn’t just adequate — it’s top-of-the-line. Powell noted that he has the same model installed in his own home. “This is the best water treatment system that’s on the market right now. I can get pretty much anything I wanted and this is the one that I chose for my house,” he said.
The EcoWater treatment systems are designed to be environmentally conscious, using less salt and less water than most comparable systems while maintaining superior performance. “We’re always trying to improve and be good stewards of the resources that we have,” Powell added.
More Than Just Water
For installer Mandell Brown, projects like this give deeper meaning to his work. “It makes me feel good, knowing that it’s going to help someone health-wise in the long run. It’s pretty awesome,” he said.
Lopez’s reaction to receiving the system captured the profound impact of what might seem like a simple gift. “I was amazed. I was like, thank you. There is a God,” he recalled.
Now, instead of struggling with cases of bottled water, Lopez has access to clean, purified water throughout his home. For someone managing serious health conditions, the difference extends beyond convenience to actual quality of life.
The Collins All About Water Gives Back program demonstrates how targeted assistance — identifying real needs and providing meaningful solutions — can transform someone’s daily existence. For Bill Lopez, that transformation flows right from his tap.