komintek.nn.ru — the website of the Nizhny Novgorod firm OOO "Komintek-NN" (Комintek-НН), which sold water filters and water purification systems and handled their design, installation, and maintenance. The company's office was located in Nizhny Novgorod at Prospekt Gagarina, 50, building 15 (postal code 603057), with a main phone number of +7 (831) 464-97-24[2][3]. The firm was already listed in the nn.ru catalog by September 2003[1], and the copyright notice on the last available version of the site read "© 2003-2021 Komintek-NN"[3]. The last snapshot of the home page in the web archive is dated 29 June 2022[4].

The 2011 catalog site

The snapshot from 17 October 2011 shows a classic corporate catalog site. The top menu consisted of the sections "Home," "About the company," "News," "Product catalog," "Projects," "Q&A," and "Contacts," with search split into "by catalog" and "by site." Above the menu ran the line "Did you know: water filters purify water from an ordinary tap by 99.9%," as the home page stated[2].

The product directory was divided into three parts: "Filters for home and office" (drinking and mainline filters, softeners, systems with heating and cooling, membrane units for offices, cafes, and restaurants), "Water purification systems for cottages and country houses," and "Industrial systems" — clarification, deironing, carbon purification, softening, and "MS" reverse osmosis systems. Separate sections were devoted to Honeywell products (backwash filters, pressure-reducing and check valves), ultraviolet lamps, dosing units, housings, cartridges and media, as well as copper pipes and fittings[2].

Visitors were offered a "Questionnaire" form, by which specialists would select water-treatment equipment for a cottage free of charge. About itself, the company wrote: "Our company has specialized in solving water purification issues for a wide range of clients for more than 15 years," as the home page stated. The news section was kept updated: on 14 June 2011 a batch of two Atoll AFR 1/2 CM mesh backwash filters with a pressure-reducing valve was announced, and on 8 October, a change in prices for Atoll, Pentek, and Honeywell products. The footer listed two phone numbers, +7 (831) 464-97-24 and +7 (831) 415-96-15, the addresses komintek@nn.ru and info@komintek.nn.ru, office 214, and a contractor's signature: "mallev.ru — website creation"[2].

The online store of the 2020s

By April 2022 the site had been rebuilt as an online store: a shopping cart ("Cart is empty!"), product comparison, and online checkout had appeared. The catalog had shrunk to seven sections — cartridges, mainline filters, water-treatment systems, under-sink systems, UV disinfection systems, parts and components, media and reagents; alongside these were "Service," "Delivery and payment," "Completed projects," "News," and "Contacts." The block of popular items listed prices: the Atoll PD-5 cartridge — 535 rubles, WP-1-BB — 1,252 rubles, WP-5-BB — 1,269 rubles, WP-10-BB20 — 4,173 rubles, with the note "Place your order online or call 8 (831) 464-97-24"[3].

By that time the assortment relied on the Atoll brand; lamps and power supplies for VIQUA ultraviolet sterilizers were kept in stock, while parts for Fleck, Clack, and Runxin control valves were brought in to order. Services were listed in a separate block: water analysis and equipment selection, installation of water-treatment systems, service maintenance under contract or one-off servicing, and installation and servicing of household filters. The company's stated age had been updated — "Our company has been in the market for more than 23 years." There were now three contact numbers: 8 (831) 464-97-24, 464-97-03, and the mobile 8 (908) 150-53-20; the office in the same building on Prospekt Gagarina had changed from 214 to 227, and business hours were given as "Mon-Sat, 8:00 to 19:00." The callback form was protected by a simple arithmetic check, "24 + 1 ="[3].

Place in the Nizhny Novgorod internet

In the nn.ru catalog, "Komintek-NN" was listed under "Firms (Enterprises) → Equipment — manufacture, sale, installation, service → Plumbing." The catalog description was broader than what the site itself offered: the firm undertook design and installation not only of water purification systems, but also of power supply, indoor plumbing and sewerage, heating, automatic garden irrigation, and landscape lighting[1].

Next to the name, the catalog showed the line "Rating: 6" with a link to the Counter.nn.ru counter under number 10783, whereas most neighbors in the same section in the 2003 snapshot showed "Rating: none"[1]. Besides the catalog listing, the firm also bought impressions in the portal's banner network: a square komintek banner rotated in the carousel on the nn.ru directory pages in the autumn of 2003[5]. This is a typical presence set for a small trading firm in the Nizhny Novgorod Internet of that era; comparison of such indicators between sites is discussed in the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating. The site does not appear in the results table of the 2004 Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day vote[6].

How it closed

The last snapshot of the home page in the web archive is dated 29 June 2022, and no later copies survive[4]. The "© 2003-2021" copyright notice in the footer of the last available version shows that by the time the site disappeared it had not been updated for at least since 2021[3]. There are no announcements of closure, relocation to another domain, or change of ownership on the surviving pages: in the last snapshot, komintek.nn.ru still looks like a functioning store, with prices, business hours, and three phone numbers[3].

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — nn.ru catalog, «Plumbing equipment» section, 2003 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Home page, 2011 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — Home page, 2022 (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — Home page, last snapshot, 2022 (archive)
  5. web.archive.org — Banner carousel on nn.ru catalog pages, 2003 (archive)
  6. web.archive.org — Results of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day vote, 2004 (archive)