Meet Our Team - Owner Bio

John L Rickert, our founder and visionary, was introduced to the water improvement industry in 1976 when, as a plumber, he purchased his first water treatment company. Since that time he has been firmly entrenched in searching out the very best products to represent. He spent time selling and installing several different brands of equipment before discovering Kinetico in 1987. After much research, in the fall of 1987 he started Lil’ John’s Water Treatment in the Vail Valley representing Kinetico. During the 15 years he ran the Company he was rewarded many times by Kinetico for achievement. He was also awarded by his peers of the Eagle Valley Chamber of Commerce the “2000 Business of the Year” Award. In addition, he earned the “2000 Business Person of the Year” Award. He sold his Company in 2002 and proceeded to accept a position with Kinetico as District Manager of Sales for the Northwestern US. He served Kinetico for 5 years and continually trained and raised the bar for over 30 Dealerships in this area.

Since 1987 John has been very active in both the Colorado Water Quality Association (CWQA) as well as the national Water Quality Association (WQA). He served on the Board of Directors of the WQA as well as on the Education Committee, the Plumbing Code Task Force and the Ozone Committee. During his Chairmanship of the Education Committee he led the rework of the Certified Water Specialist Certification Exam. This new version is still in use today to certify Water Specialists around the country.

In Colorado he was elected President of the CWQA in 1992 and has been active on the Board of Directors ever since. This year he was again elected President of the CWQA for a second time; the first person in Colorado to be elected President for a second time. During these tenures he has done many educational presentations for both associations and continues in his tireless dedication to the industry. Their 49th annual Convention will be held in Estes Park this September 19th, 20th and 21st.

In the fall of 2007 he opened Kinetico of Denver/Front Range to fill an open niche. Having been “on the road” for the past 5 years he was anxious to get home. He partnered with his daughter Michelle Arentzen who fills the role of Office Manager and IT specialist. He also hired within a few months, his second daughter Robyn Rickert into his sales department. He continues to hire and train specialists for Sales, Service and other roles within the Company while maintaining a Family Run Business.