EverythingAboutWater will also feature a store front for Ion Exchange which will contain all their water treatment systems and consumables.

EverythingAboutWater is also in the process of striking a JV with a European company with whom the site plans to launch a multi-lingual portal on water for the European region, according to Mr Sunil Ghorawat, CEO, EverythingAboutWater.com (EAW.com).

As far as the tie up with Ion Exchange goes, EAW.com plans to leverage its home user segment to feature Ion Exchange's home products like drinking water purifiers etc. as well For the business consumers which comprise a large share of Ion Exchange's clientele, the Web distributorship would mean that the consumer can place his order on the site after which the nearest Ion Exchange stockist will be able to deliver to him through the logistics support provided by Gati Express and East India Transport with whom EAW has an arrangement for logistics support.

While Ion Exchange has stockists for its consumables throughout the country, the sector is otherwise dominated by several unorganised players who don't have stocksits. Taking this into account, EAW plans to start warehouses for products which don't have stockists. The site currently lists 400 products from about 40 companies, according to Mr Ghorawat.

The site also follows a CRM model wherein it has appointed distributors who function as `partners' in various cities.

Commenting on the export potential that the site could possibly channelise, Mr Ajay Popat, VP, Corporate Marketing, Ion Exchange says, "we may be the market leaders in India but we are not very well known overseas and this may provide a window to overseas buyers and since we hold an ISO 14000 for resin manufacturing, we can match the quality requirements of importers".

Ion Exchange also runs a water treatment training course which EAW plans to carry online.