Marriage and work
Kathryn and her first husband Clifford C. Hach met as students at Iowa State University, and married in 1943. "I knew right away that this guy was going to build a chemical company," she says. "He didn't care how big Dow was or how big DuPont was, he was going to build his own company."[6]
Clifford did not receive his bachelor's degree until 1947, because he and other students were co-opted to work on war-time projects at the university.[7][8] It was difficult to find jobs after graduation. Eventually, Clifford was hired part-time by a filtration company in Ames, Iowa to analyze water. Seeing how the water-treatment plant worked gave Clifford the idea for a process and a product: a simplified method of analysis that would enable workers to treat water with powdered formulas rather than heavy chemical solutions.[2]
He raised startup money by selling the rights to another invention. The Walter Kidde fire extinguisher company had approached the University of Iowa for ideas for generating carbon dioxide to fight fires. Clifford came up with a patentable idea, and sold it to the fire company for $15,000.[2] With the money the Hachs co-founded Hach Chemical Company in 1947.[6] They bought an acre of land in Ames, Iowa, and built a cement block building which became their plant. They lived with their three children in a small apartment at the plant.[2][6]
Clifford Hach was in charge of research and development while Kitty handled management and marketing.[7][8] Their first successful product was a simplified titration method for measuring hardness in drinking water, which they packaged in easy-to-use testing kits. As municipal standards for drinking water were developed, Kitty recognized both the importance of water plant operators as a market, and the need to work closely with them to develop standards and provide long-term customer service.[8] She developed a direct mail marketing campaign, and earned the nickname "Kitty" Hach by flying her plane across the United States, sometimes landing on rural dirt airstrips in bad weather, delivering water quality testing kits to municipalities of all sizes.[2][5] She became a member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots, and accumulated over 7,000 hours flying time. She was rated for multi-engine and instrument flying.
Kathryn Hach became the first woman director of the American Water Works Association, an international non-profit, scientific and educational association founded to improve water quality and supply throughout the world.[9] She later served on numerous AWWA committees, including the President's Advisory Council.
