Who Owns Waterdrop?

Qingdao Ecopure spent its first four years, 2011 to 2014, as a filter cartridge manufacturer, building production capacity and earning NSF certification. In 2015 the company launched Waterdrop as its own consumer brand aimed at the North American market, backed by a dedicated factory that pushed annual filter capacity past 4 million units.

The brand's 2016 Amazon launch was the inflection point. Rather than fighting for physical shelf space against Brita and PUR, Waterdrop built its business on e-commerce, where reviews and price-to-performance drove growth. A US subsidiary opened in 2017 alongside expanded R&D.

Product scope widened steadily: replacement cartridges gave way to whole systems in 2018, then under-sink reverse osmosis units, countertop RO systems, gravity filters, whole-house products, and outdoor filtration. Filter capacity passed 10 million units per year in 2019 and 15 million by 2022, with revenue crossing RMB 1 billion in 2021.

Recent expansion pushed beyond core filtration. In 2024, Waterdrop launched a skincare face washer combining filtration with skincare positioning, signaling ambitions beyond the hardware category. The brand has won numerous international product design awards and holds NSF/ANSI certifications (standards 42, 53, and 372) across its product lines.