The Water Rippler: Wyoming rancher invents device to mitigate ice in waterers
Necessity is the mother of all inventions.
Cold climate ranchers have fought frozen water since time immemorial, but it took one rancher from Oshoto, Wyoming to challenge the notion that it always had to be that way.
The Water Rippler, invented by Randall and Shondah Otwell, may transform year-round water access for livestock owners.
The Idea
“There’s got to be a better way,” Otwell thought to himself after a particularly frustrating morning.
“It was New Year’s Day in 2019,” he said. “I went out and chopped ice at this tank and I had an electric stock tank heater in it. And by the time I got that one open enough for the cows to drink, I moved to another one. And by the time I was halfway through chopping that one, the electric stock tank heater was completely encased in ice. There was nothing open, it was just sitting there running electricity out.”
“I took the axe and it went into the side wall of the barn and I said, ‘That’s it. I’m done. We’re either moving south so we don’t have to deal with this in the wintertime or sell the cows.'”
“But after I calmed down,” he laughed, “We started working on different ideas. I tried all kinds of things. After a lot of failed attempts of different products, different makes and models, I finally came up with something I liked.”
Otwell took inspiration from rivers, which, if moving fast enough, do not form thick layers of ice during cold winter months as lakes or ponds do.
His invention, the Water Rippler, constantly moves the surface of a water tank to prevent a hard freeze.
Otwells worked on their idea for four years – six months at a time – to be certain they had a product that would work in harsh Wyoming winters. Otwell used bits and pieces of ranch equipment and whatever he could buy at Home Depot or Menards to make his idea come to life.
“It was in the spring of 2022 when it was bitter cold that we knew it was really, truly a final product,” Otwell said. “We knew we had a device that would be beneficial to other livestock owners.”
Otwell does not guarantee there will never be ice in the stock tank. After all, even the fastest moving rivers accumulate ice in subzero temperatures. He said, “I’m not going to tell you at 22 below zero that it’s going to not have ice on the tank. I’m telling you the water’s going to continually be moving under a thin layer of ice.”
Even with frigid temperatures, the ice layer is thin and slushy, and cows are able to push through with their noses to drink.
Otwell’s wife, Shondah, knew he could market his invention and helped him found their business, Agricultural Innovations. They received a patent pending status for the Water Rippler in January, 2023, and have been in the manufacturing phase for over a year. The prototype creation and revising was a long process, but as of January, 2025, their patent has been approved and they are taking orders and shipping Water Ripplers.
“I could not believe how excited we were,” he said.
An Outside Perspective
Otwells were not always ranchers. Shondah said, “My great grandparents settled here in 1939, and then my folks came to the ranch back in the late 1980s and operated here.”
Meanwhile, Otwells started their family and careers in Gillette. Shondah worked as a network engineer and owned her own company for 25 years. Randall, originally from Louisiana, was a master electrician with a 20+ year career. “So, I have told people it truly is like we were being prepped for this,” she said. “I was building up business knowledge and he was building electrical knowledge, and we come back.”
Her father passed away in 2008 and Otwells returned to operate the ranch in 2010. “And so I brought a Louisiana boy with me to the Arctic of the north here in Oshoto because we have our own climate out here.
“And I think we needed all of that background because if you’re born and raised here, ice is just something you deal with. It’s like, you need to feed your cows in the winter. You need to chop ice in the winter. That’s just a part of what you do. And God said, ‘Nope, I’m going to put you guys right here.'”
Their outside perspective provided the insight needed to challenge the status quo.
Cost Analysis
With Randall’s background in electricity, he was able to see that water tank heaters were not only ineffective but costly.
According to the rate of Wyoming kWh charge of $10.86 in 2024, a water heater costs $3.91 per day to operate. The Water Rippler costs $0.13 per day.
Tank heaters are marketed as being good for up to 300 gallons. The Water Rippler is good for up to 500 gallons.
“So, for a thousand-gallon stock tank, you put two of [the Water Ripplers] in there, it’ll cost you 26 cents a day and it will keep the ice off better than now. If you did an electric heater and you did their 300 gallons that they say that it would take, you would need three to four of them in there at $3.91 a day [apiece] and they probably still wouldn’t keep up,” Otwell said.
Otwell described the further advantages of the Water Rippler.
“The water pump is an actual 12-volt DC water pump. So instead of having 110 volts AC on a stock tank heater going right in the water, we have a converter that converts AC to DC that you can put on a post.” The weatherproof converter can be outside the fence line, where it converts to 12 volts and runs the pump. “So we’re not dealing with near the possibility of shock hazards and stray voltage with our horses and our livestock,” he said.
Not Just for Northern Climates
The Water Rippler does not only provide open water in the wintertime, it also provides fresh water in warmer climates and seasons.
Constant water movement can keep water from becoming stagnant and act as a deterrent for mosquitos and algae.
Even in a Wyoming summer, Otwell said the cows love the moving water. “They hear the water running and they are drawn to the sound of running water. And you can have a thousand-gallon tank that they could be all around, and they are all trying to get right there where the ripples are.”
Their northern neighbors will perhaps be the most grateful to this new way of mitigating ice, especially in a brutally cold winter such as this.
“Ice is going to be absolutely minimal compared to our competitor. And the cost savings is tremendous when you have to live in Wyoming and you run one of those five months out of the year for ice at 13 cents a day,” Otwell said.
For more information or to order a Water Rippler, visit http://www.water-rippler.com or find them on Facebook.
