Get to Know the Water Treatment Experts at Culligan of Hopkinsville

Lacinda Rager joined Culligan of Cadiz (Ky.) in 2014 as a customer service representative and bottled water sales representative. She became office manager a year later and was promoted to general manager in 2018 of both the Cadiz branch and its satellite location in Hopkinsville, Ky., which sells products like bottled water and salt. We sat down with Lacinda to ask about the local water and why she loves her job so much.     

What are typical water problems in your service area, which includes western Kentucky and northern Tennessee? 

In those counties with more well water, we tend to see a lot of iron, sulfur, nitrates, and low pH. For city water, we see hardness, chlorine, and a lot of total dissolved solids. Chlorine, iron, sulfur, and hardness are our biggest complaints. Every now and then we come across chemicals called PFOAs.  

What are some concerns you hear from customers about those issues?  

Related to hardness, we get calls about faucets having soap scum on them or lime and scale buildup. Hard water is very bad for your appliances. Some people complain they have to buy a new coffee pot every year or every two years, and that’s because the hard water builds up. It can also damage water heaters, ice makers, and washing machines. We also get a lot of, “My hair’s dry and breaking and my skin’s dry.” 

From the well customers we’re getting, “It smells like rotten eggs because of the sulfur.” If someone has a high amount of iron in their water, the biggest complaint is washing white clothes. They’ll say, “So and so in my household went to wash a load of white clothes, and they’re all ruined because now they’re orange or red.”  

Can iron unexpectedly appear in well water?  

Wells can change at any given time, and there are lots of things that cause that. Someone can have a well for 10 years and not have an issue, and all of a sudden something changes in the geography around where they live. They could suddenly have iron, sediments, sulfur, or anything like that. 

Do people also complain about the taste of their well water or city water?   

Yes. We have lots of complaints about the taste. Most customers or potential customers will openly tell us they do not drink the water coming into their house. They either buy bottled water or they have some type of water filter pitcher or they use the water from their fridge.  

What solution do you commonly recommend? 

Any time someone mentions they do not drink their tap water, that is an opportunity for us to explain the benefits of our reverse osmosis (RO) drinking water system. We can provide great quality water right from your tap. If someone is concerned about nitrates or chlorine or PFOAs, the drinking water systems we provide can take care of them. Also, you don’t have to go to the store to buy the bottles or have the waste from the bottles.  

What do you like about working for Culligan?  

I love my job and the company I work for. I love helping people. We’re providing a great service to our customers by giving them great quality water and peace of mind. They have one less thing to worry about when they have a Culligan house.