Watermill Express

Watermill Express is a self-service drinking water and ice company that operates outdoor kiosks across several U.S. markets. The brand provides filtered, great-tasting water and ice at a low price point in simple drive-up or walk-up formats. Most kiosks sit in everyday shopping environments alongside grocery stores, fuel stations, and neighborhood retail, where customers can make quick stops as part of their regular routines.

The company was founded in 1984 in Brighton, Colorado, after co-founder Lani Dolif saw a need for clean, affordable water in local communities. What began as basic water vending has evolved into a network of engineered kiosks with on-site treatment and filtration systems. As the concept proved out in Colorado, Watermill Express scaled into Texas, with Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth emerging as important clusters that showed how the model could work across dense, neighborhood-based locations. By 2013, the company had drawn federal attention for expanding access to safe drinking water, including recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

As of June 2023, Watermill Express operates more than 1,300 water and ice kiosks across eight states, with a heavy concentration in Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona. The footprint is primarily suburban and urban, typically on visible pads and parking-field edges in shopping centers, grocery parking lots, and near convenience retail. Because each kiosk occupies a small portion of land and minimal building area, it can often be added to existing sites with limited disruption and little impact on parking ratios or circulation.

Over the past five years, the company has steadily expanded in its core Western and Sun Belt markets while pushing into adjacent states. Recent growth has focused on Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, along with selective infill in other western and southern markets. The format has remained consistent, but technology at the kiosk level has advanced, with ongoing investment in filtration systems, telemetry, and remote monitoring. This allows most locations to run with limited on-site staffing while maintaining quality and reliability.

Watermill Express is privately held and based in Brighton, Colorado. For property owners, it functions as a small-footprint, utility-style user that can activate leftover pads or underused corners, add a community service component, and generate repeat customer visits. The company’s long operating history, recognizable kiosk format, and continued expansion in high-growth residential trade areas make it a familiar and credible occupant for centers looking to monetize incremental space with a low operational burden.