How to Start a Water Bottling Business in South Africa
Now you can set up your own water bottling business quickly and easily with the Plug and Play Water Bar. The start-up unit can make 100 bottles of 5 liters or 1000 bottles of 500 ml during an 8-hour shift.
It is the perfect low-cost water bottling business that does not require a high capital outlay and can be easily set up anywhere. Purified water is drinking water (from a tap) that has been purified, removed various impurities, bottled, and resold.
Although purified water has various uses in industry and various manufacturing processes, I will analyze it from the point of view of the sale of water for human consumption.
Business model
There are several business models in the purified water industry that can be used alone or in combination for more revenue streams, including:
- Operate a “water bar” in a busy location where people can bring their empty bottles for refills. Or you can install water bars on behalf of others to be used for this purpose.
- Operate a series of water dispensing machines, also known as water coolers, rent them (and earn money by refilling them)
- Operate a dedicated water store where it sells and dispenses tap water.
- Operate a bottling plant that bottles water in 500 ml to 5-liter bottles in large quantities and resells it.
In the South African water industry, the most popular method of water purification is reverse osmosis which uses a semi-permeable membrane to remove ions, molecules, and larger particles from drinking water. When we take a closer look at the above strategies, we will assume that they all use this method.
Please note: Purified water should not be confused with spring water, which is water that comes from an underground source and may or may not has been treated and purified.
Although spring water sounds more appealing (as if it came fresh from a mountain) than purified water, it is not necessarily better, as some spring waters contain contaminants, while others claim to be “spring” water, but their origin is not. It is uncertain.
On the various strategies in the purified water business:
Starting with a water bar
This is most likely the most economical system for start-up, which includes a small reverse osmosis system and a glass dispensing tank with the faucet, usually built in a tabletop configuration (the reverse osmosis system is under the counter). In South Africa, you will see this in some Spar stores. The reverse osmosis system connects to the dispensing tank and is sold by the liter. These machines usually have a capacity of around 1500 liters per day, which you can sell for R1 per liter and also make money on a markup on empty plastic bottles (5 liters).
Business models for water bar
Installed in a store
The most popular configuration. It is sold in stores where people can pour their water and pay at the counter. It’s your choice if you want to sell empty bottles or if you just want people to bring their own.
The business model for the entrepreneur gets complicated here (if you don’t own the store). You can install it in multiple stores (or even offices) for a one-time fee, and then maintain the filtration system as needed. You can make it available on a “sale” profit-sharing system.
It can grow to be installed in several stores, but this depends on the honesty of the store manager to pay him since there is usually no way in the machine to see how much water has been dispensed.
If you have a water bar that is going a bit slow, you can try:
Water delivery
Although a water bar in a store is the most popular setup, business owners can use the water bar in a variety of ways. They can use it to purify, bottle, and deliver water to customers. This is not very common as the large tank is largely cosmetic and there are more efficient ways to purify for this purpose.
Promotional water bottles
This can create a low-volume niche custom-label water business (for promotional purposes) using a single filling machine.
How to Start a Water Bottling Business in South Africa
Operate water dispensing machines (water coolers)
This involves renting machines to various companies that make courtesy water available to staff or customers. All the dispensing machine does is chill the water, you make the purified water from your facility and deliver it in bottles that connect to the dispenser.
You can make extra money by supplying Styrofoam cups and making a small profit there too. As mentioned above, there’s no reason you can’t use a water stick for these purification purposes if that’s all you have, but its capacity will be limited. In addition, a water bar is also more for cosmetic purposes, so you will only need a purifying machine and a filling machine.
Operate a dedicated water store
This is an option that has become popular in recent years. Purification and sale of water (and related items) from a storefront. Here a little bit of everything is mainly done. Sale of water in bottles from 500 ml to 5 liters, operation of a water bar for people to bring and fill their bottles. Supply bottled refills to water dispensers (not necessarily owned by you). You can also do wholesale to other resellers.
Operate a bottling plant (bottle and sell purified water)
This is probably the most expensive to start but can grow to be the largest. Once the water has been purified, it is usually bottled in 500 ml, 1 liter, and 5-liter bottles, and then delivered to retail outlets for resale. Marketing, branding, and distribution are what make or break this business as there is a lot of competition out there. In addition to the bottling plant that the large capacity reverse osmosis machine requires, it also needs a filling machine. You need to produce labels that help you stand out. You need a distribution strategy to get to stores, which means you may need delivery vehicles.
The setup can produce custom-labeled bottles on a larger scale, for places like hotels and resorts or other resellers in what are known as “private label” deals.
The purified water business is interesting but with a lot of competition. Networking and building connections are crucial to reaching as many doors as possible.
There are different methods of dihydrogen monoxide purification depending on the amount to be purified and its use. The main objective of the H2O treatment is to remove all the components that are not wanted. There are several ways to purify water. They include:
- Boiling
- Filtration
- Distillation
- Chlorination
- Water purification systems
There are also several water purification systems such as:
- Reverse osmosis purification systems
- Reverse osmosis is the most efficient method of water purification.
- It is capable of removing 90% of all dissolved solids, 100% of all organics, and 100% of bacteria.
- ultraviolet system
- UV systems are another example of water filters in South Africa that remove contaminants.
It’s a two-part system: the water is prefiltered to remove dust, enters a second chamber to remove settled chlorine, and then passes through an ultraviolet germicidal lamb that destroys 99% of bacteria water softeners.
These softeners are other forms of water purifiers in South Africa.
- They vary in size depending on the amount to be purified.
- High- and low-pressure systems are available.
- Other H2O purification systems include:
- membranes
- Dosing systems
- Domestic
- Purifiers
How Do I Start a Water Bottling Business in South Africa?
- Market research. It is important to do market research for your bottled water business.
- Write a business plan.
- Register your bottled water business.
- Registration with health regulatory agencies.
- You need a place to operate.
- Get a supplier of bottles.
- What do you need to sell water in South Africa?
The label must contain the following: The name of the product, which will be “natural mineral water” or “natural spring water” or any appropriate name that indicates the natural condition of the water. The physical address and name of the source.
How to Start a Water Bottling Business in South Africa
