Description

Water Vending and Packaging Business Machines

Water being an essential commodity and a necessity for life means it must be consumed every day in every part of the world. However not all water is suitable for human consumption and this is both a challenge but also a good business opportunity. It therefore makes great sense to invest in a water vending and packaging business because the middle and upper classes prefer purified water over just treated water. In this post we will look at some of the required water vending and packaging business machines.

Why this is a good business idea

Although the national government and county governments have tried to make clean water accessible to as many people as possible, this is yet to be realized. Many people are also conscious of the quality of the clean water supplied to their homes. This is especially the case with middle class who are opting to consume purified water instead of water they draw from the tap inasmuch as it’s claimed to be safe for drinking.

While this might be the case, the water is still not highly purified because most of the time it’s just treated but during distribution it can and does sometimes get contaminated. Also the treatment at the water dam doesn’t remove the excess impurities like minerals, metals and all other total dissolved solids. This is why there’s need to further purify the water

Let us now look at the requirements for water vending and packaging business if you want to invest in such a venture.

Required Water Vending and Packaging Business Machines

Before we discuss each item required for this business, it’s important to note some of it is not a must depending with the business model you opt for.

Water vending ATM

This equipment is needed for a business that sells water for refilling to walk in clients. It might not be necessary for a water packaging business that doesn’t sell to walk in clients who come to refill their bottles. It comes with a PLC that is used to key in the amount of money the client has and it commands the pump to dispense water equivalent to that amount depending with the price set per litre. The PLC is also used for calibrating the prices say how much per litre which acts as the basis of determining other volumes depending with amount of money. It also keeps sales records and since it’s password protected you can do sales reconciliation accurately even if you have employed someone because the password prevents unauthorized persons from tampering with the sales records or prices.

Water station with taps

This is necessary regardless of the business model. You need a station for filling the bottles regardless of if you are selling to walk in clients or filling bottles for retail market in smaller sizes.

Water purifier

Even though this is also an optional requirement, if you want to make better returns in water vending and packaging business, we highly recommend that you invest in a water purifier. This will help you purify your own water as opposed to buying purified water which is a bit expensive because the supplier has to add a markup to cater for the cost of production and transport. You will be incurring minimal cost of production because the water is locally sourced from your borehole, dam, well or even what has been supplied by the municipal/county council.

This means in some cases you are only incurring cost of pumping and running the water purifier which is very minimal. In the long run you will recoup the money invested in acquiring the purifier and continue to enjoy the better profit margins.

In some instances acquiring a purifier is a must if there are no suppliers of purified water in your area and probably bringing from far is costly and time consuming. Additionally you are also assured that your water is purified to the right standards.

Storage tanks

Storage tanks are important for stocking both raw water and purified water. When you receive your water whether you bought already purified or unpurified water for purifying on your own you need to have storage so you can access it whenever needed.

Storage tanks are also needed to store water you purify on your own so you don’t have to run the pump that particular time you have clients waiting. You can run the purifier when it’s convenient and store the purified water.

The recommended water storage tanks are those made of stainless steel because they don’t get affected by staying in contact with water even over a long time unlike plastic. Over a long time plastic starts to affect taste and smell of the water. Stainless steel is also more durable and stronger so it can’t be easily damaged.

Bottle washing sink and rinsing jet

These are suitable for a business that sells water for refilling to walk-in clients. It’s a common and good customer care practice to wash the bottles for the clients. The rinsing jet produces a high pressure jet of water they you use for washing inside of the bottle while the sink is for washing outside of the bottle.

Packaging benches

After filling up the bottles, you need a place to cap, seal and stick the branding stickers on the body. This where the packaging benches come in. You can even use them as temporary shelves for the water already packaged awaiting dispatch to the market.

Hot air sealing machine

This is similar to the salon hair drier that produces hot hair for softening the seal so it sticks to the cap and neck of the bottle.

Empty bottles

Empty bottles are mostly for the business that packages water for the retail market like shops and supermarkets. You should buy different sizes at different quantities. For example the 500ml bottles should be more than than the 1 litre bottles and if you intend to sell 1.5 litres they should be less because the demand for water volumes decreases as volumes go up.

Branded labels and seals

If you are targeting the retail market, you need to have your water branded for the sake of recognition and marketing purposes. You need to find a graphic designer or design the stickers yourself if you have the skills and then have them printed and delivered for use when packaging the water.

Reliable source of water

Here you have two options. Either you source locally from your borehole, well or water connected to your premises. On the other hand you can opt to buy already purified water. Either way ensure its a reliable source considering that this can make or break or break your business.

Business operating permit and licenses

For any business to legally operate in Kenya, you need to register it and get the relevant business operating permits and licenses. Failure to do this you will find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

KRA sticker

In order to capture VAT for every bottle of water sold, each one of them must have a sticker with a scannable code. You should ensure your business is registered in the KRA system and you get a genuine sticker. Selling your water without the KRA ecxise duty stickers is a criminal offence with serious consequences that can lead to heavy fines, closing of the business or jail term.

Accessible business premises

Another very important aspect to get right is where your business location is situated. Find a location where you are accessible to both clients and suppliers of water especially if you are selling water for refilling dispenser bottles.

As for packaged water for retail market you don’t have to worry much about being accessible to clients because you are taking the water to the market on your own. You might only need to be accessible by suppliers who deliver the water or empty bottles.

Where to source high quality equipment for water vending and packaging business

For highiest quality water vending and packaging business equipment there are only two companies we can recommend. One is Saset Limited and the other one is Watertech. You can check their websites www.saset.co.ke and www.watertech.co.ke. Alternatively you can also look them up on Google search.

We hope that the above information will help you venture into water vending and packaging business with much clarity on what you need.