Oshoto ranchers gearing up to sell water rippler this fall

GILLETTE - The last several months have been a whirlwind for Crook County ranchers Shondah and Randall Otwell.

They have been putting the finishing touches on their product, the water rippler, which they hope will make life easier for ranchers all across the country when it hits the market this fall.

The water rippler solves a problem that has plagued the agricultural industry for generations. In the winter, water tanks freeze over and ranchers have to go out to each tank and break the ice however they can so their animals can get a drink.

"It's been an issue for generations," Shondah said. "It's like we were put here for the right time to find a solution."

The Otwells tried everything they could to find an alternative to electric stock tank heaters, which they found to not be economical, efficient or reliable. They tried things such as bubblers and fountains for fish tanks, but nothing seemed to work.

So they built their very first water rippler out of parts they had lying around their shop. It floats in a water tank and constantly circulates water, which keeps the water from freezing over.

And the water rippler can be used all year long. Not only does it keep water from freezing over in the winter, but in the warmer months, that constant rippling helps mitigate algae growth and prevents mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water.

They spent about four years playing around with the design until they considered bringing it to market. They saw the difference that it made in their lives, and they felt others in the agricultural industry could benefit as well.

This idea paid off for the Otwells. 

They were one of three winners in the 2023 Energy Capital Start-Up Challenge, which was put on by Impact 307, Wyoming's statewide incubator network, and Energy Capital Economic Development.

Since then, the Oshoto couple has been hard at work getting the water rippler ready to sell, from finding the right manufacturing process for the product to learning as much as they can about what it takes to run a business.

"I've actually enjoyed it," Shondah said. "There are times it's a huge challenge and it really pushes us."

They've worked with an engineer on some final redesign work to improve some things. They recently launched their website, water-rippler.com, and have begun documenting their journey on their Facebook page.

Now, the Otwells are participating in gBETA Wyoming, a statewide startup accelerator program hosted by the national venture capital firm gener8tor in partnership with Microsoft. They were one of five startups accepted out of more than 35 applicants.

Shondah described it as "really intense" so far. She's gone through weekly training sessions and learned from mentors and gotten connected with potential business partners and investors.

"At the end of the program we'll have shown our idea to a lot of different business professionals, so we're trying to get executive summaries nailed down," she said.

She's worked to boil down the entire business, "from problem to product," into a five-minute presentation.

At the end of this program, the Otwells and the four other startups will pitch their companies to investors, community partners and the public at a showcase event from 6-8 p.m. on Aug. 2 at Frontier Brewing in Casper.

From participating in this program, the Otwells have learned they're capable of more than they thought.

"It challenges you, pushes you and takes you beyond what you maybe feel you were ready for, but in a good way, gently nudging you forward," Shondah said.

Converging

The Otwells have worked on the family ranch in Oshoto for the last 15 years. Before that, Shondah ran her own network consulting company, and Randall worked as an electrical engineer, including for the city of Gillette.

Their two career paths seemingly converged with this water rippler, Shondah said.

"We've walked this journey most of our lives, me with my business experience and him and his electrical side of things," she said.

Randall said he's always excited to learn something new.

"I don't think a fellow should ever stop learning, it doesn't matter what your industry is," he said. "If you're not willing to learn new things and move forward, you're destined to fall behind."

'Hurry up and wait'

They went through four prototypes before they settled on the right one. They've found a manufacturer in Kansas that does reaction injection molding, which mixes two compounds together to create a chemical reaction and requires less pressure than regular injection molding.

"It's just been a big learning curve, and it seems like you make one change, wait three or four weeks for that to come in and you test it, just to find out that didn't work how you wanted," Randall said. "It's been kind of hurry up and wait, get real excited, then hurry up and wait, get real excited."

When the water rippler was first being developed, Randall could run out to his shop and "shave a little weight off here, move something around there, to get what I was wanting."

But now, working with a manufacturer to get it ready for sale, he can't just cut off or add on here and there. Everything has to be exact, from the weight to the diameter to the buoyancy.

They ordered their first product mold last week. It'll take eight weeks for the mold to be built, and once that's done, the water rippler can finally begin production, with the goal of being on the market this fall, Randall said.

Getting to market

They'll start out selling the water rippler online, but they will go to trade shows to market their product and get it on the shelves in agricultural stores around the country.

From the time when they applied for the Energy Capital Start-Up Challenge to when the product goes on sale, "we could be right at a year," Shondah said.

"That is an amazing thing," she added. "It seems it's lasted our whole lifetime sometimes."

While they've been working hard this year, the Otwells have kept kind of a low profile. They've turned down requests for interviews with national publications, choosing instead to focus on getting the product ready for market.

The anticipation that resulted from the startup challenge was just enough.

"We just didn't want to get too much excitement too early and have (people) lose interest," Shondah said.

From what they've seen, the initial excitement hasn't died down. When they're out in public, people will often ask them when the water rippler is going to hit the market, Randall said.

These next couple of months are going to fly by, Shondah said. For Randall, it'll be "the most nerve-racking" two months of the whole process.

"Up until I take somebody's money and send this out, it's just a product we developed here at the ranch," he said. "It's got to be absolutely perfect, or it won't go out the door. That will be my most vulnerable time."

And from September to March, the water rippler will be put to the test, and "we'll know whether or not this is a 100% failure or a 100% go," Randall said.

They'll take feedback and improve the product. And they're hopeful that the water rippler works and that the negative feedback "is very minor," Randall said.

"But you never know until you take that first step and put yourself out there," he said.