Starting a Water Refilling Station Business

It's easy to start with this kind of business, here's the procedures how:
1. Look for a supplier or seller of water refilling equipments and ask for the price list of different equipments that you can choose, if possible, ask for the feasibility study too to know how much the cost or total investment needed to put-up this type of business.

2. After studying the quotations and the total cost which you think is enough for your budget or capital, then you can start negotiating with the supplier. Ask for discounts and know the after-sales support you can get from them like maintenance and warranty. Don't go for cheap equipments as this will not be worth in the long run. Always compare and check carefully what you can see on the photos they give against the actual equipment.

3. After choosing the right equipment to purchase, look for a good place to put your refilling station. Some local municipals require a minimum of 25 sqm. total area for this type of business, but oftentimes 20 sqm is enough. If you don't want to rent a place, you can use your own house. Sales will not be a problem even you're inside a subdivision.

4. If you already found the location for you refilling station, you can now contact your preferred equipment supplier for your final negotiations. Ask for a typical layout of a water station from them that you can copy for your own water station. Some suppliers will check and evaluate the place for the best design and layout.

5. Oftentimes, the supplier will ask for a down payment before starting to prepare your equipments. The lead time for complete assembly is 2 to 3 weeks. Ask for a receipt or letter when paying for a down payment.

6. After closing the deal with the supplier, you can now start the construction of your water station that will take 3 to 4 weeks to finish. Start also making the deep well if this will be your preferred water source. Let the supplier check your water station during the construction to so that the lay-out will be strictly followed. It is very important that the carpenter follows the lay-out carefully especially on the washing area, pipings and drainage layout. While the construction is on-going, you can apply for a business permit to save time.

7. Go to the nearest DTI in your area and bring your residence certificate and barangay clearance. It's advisable to list 5 to 10 names you choose to name your business to avoid delay when your preferred name was already taken.

8. After getting the registered business name from DTI, go to your local municipal office and apply for a Mayor's business permit. The process takes 2 to 3 weeks depending on the area. Some municipal office will require you to submit (a) water analysis of potability (physical, chemical and bacteriological test) from your raw or source of water. (b) Engineering drawings (building and electrical plan) signed by a sanitary engineer at other common legal requirement when applying for a building permit.

9. After getting the business permit and operation permit from municipal office, go to BIR and fill-up form 0506 and pay at the counter. After processing at BIR, you're now ready to make and print your receipts from the printing press. Some printing press will require you to show the approved form 0506 issued by BIR before printing your receipts.

10. It's now time to buy other supplies you will need like water containers, seals, heat gun, sanitizer soap, etc. You can also start doing your store's signage and sticker labels for your products.

11. Once the construction of your water station is finished and the water source is ready, you can now schedule the installation of the equipments (it's better to do it at night not too many people are roaming around). Complete installation takes 1 to 2 days only.

12. Allow the machine and equipments from 1 to 3 days to dry-run before selling the product, or get a sample for a water analysis. Go to the nearest DOH office and ask the procedures on how to test the water.

Tip: it's better to get a water sample after a month of operation to make sure that the result of water analysis is good.

13. Wait for the result of water testing. If it passed, then good luck and welcome to the club! If it failed the test, call immediately the one who installed your equipments and let them check and analyze why.

Other Frequently Ask Questions

Q: What are the different types of water you can sell?
A: There are four types of water that can be produced from the available equipments in the market today.

1. Mineral Water = Less investment but the disadvantage is shorter shelf life.
2. Purified Water = Equipments are more expensive that Mineral process with the use of "Reversed Osmosis system", the water will last up to 6 months.
3. Alkaline Water = Current fad because of positive write-ups about health benefits for people, but like mineral water, the shelf life is short.
4. PI Water = Started from Japan, known to have good effects in people's health but it's still quite expensive and not that popular in the Philippines. The customers are mostly Chinese. The selling price is about P200 to P250 per container (5gal.)

Q: What is the best source of water, Nawasa or deep well?
A: Either of the two is fine, but deep well will give you a long term savings compared to Nawasa's costly monthly charge for commercial use.

Q: How many personnel is required to run a water station?
A: At first, 3 is enough, 1 driver, 1 helper and 1 refiller/washer. The number of personnel is relative to the demand of your products.

Q: What are the consumable items with this type of business?
Answer:

• Sediment Filter = replace every month or depending on the quality of the water source.
• GAC or Carbon Filter = usually 6 to 8 months average but if the water source is not good maybe 4 months only
• Carbon fillings = 8 moths to 1.5 years average lifespan, or will be replaced if broken or the water starts to smell
• Daily use of seals
• Stickers

Q: How true that this business is profitable and fast ROI?
A: All business is not instant magic, the potential is good simply because water is a necessity. But this type of business, as with other business requires hard-work, patience, and ability to sell your product.

Basic Feasibility Study

A. Capital Investment

1. Water Refilling Machine - P 250,000.00
2. Renovation or new store at least 20sqm size - 75,000.00
3. Delivery vehicle (motorcycle with carrier or multi-cab) - 75,000.00
4. Business permit & other legal docs (DTI, Mayor's permit, Water testing, etc.) - 10,000.00
5. Initial Supplies /miscellaneous - 31,750.00
   • a) 150 Bottles slim - 18,750.00
   • b) 50 Bottles round - 7,500.00
   • c) heat gun- 2,500.00
   • d) Stickers - 3,000.00
6. Others - 8,250.00

• Total = P 450,000.00

Note: Actual investment may increased or decreased depends on your actual resources, example:

• a.) less amount for the delivery vehicle if you already have existing or you can buy 2nd unit.
• b.) less amount for the store building if you have existing.
• c.) increase or decrease amount on refilling equipment, depends on what type of water product you wants to sell ( e.g. Mineral is only P150,000.00 etc.)

B. Sales Income
Check market price per 5 gal. container. Price may vary depends on the area what type of water product you want to sell:

• Mineral Water - P20 ~ P25 per container
• Purified Water - P30 ~ P35 per container
• Alkaline Water - P45 ~ P50 per container
• PI Water - P200 ~ P250 per container

B1. Monthly Sales - P39,000.00

• 1ST 2 Months: Target is at least 50 containers /day (50 containers x P30.00 selling price x 26days)

B2. Monthly Expenses - P15,600.00

1. Manpower/salaries - P 500/ day or P 9,100.00 /mo.
   • 1 driver - P200 /day
   • 1 re-filler - P150 /day
2. Electric bill - P3,500.00
3. Phone bill - 500.00
4. Transportation / gas allowance - 1,500.00
5. Consumables and others - 1,000.00

B3. Net Profit- P23,400.00 (Gross Sales - Gross expenses = Net Profit)
Note: You cannot compute your monthly sales based from your machine capacity (GPD Gallon Per Day) like other vendor's computation, simply because you cannot sold 200 bottles a day in the first 2 months operation of your business unless you're already operating for a year and you already established your customers in your area.

Guide to Starting a Water Refilling Station

Water Refilling Station: an alternative source of drinking water supply in the Philippines by B. B. Magtibay

The demand at the water refilling stations - water stores that sell purified water - is now increasing. The quality of purified water conforms with the national standards for drinking water and is even better than the quality of water produced by traditional water supply systems in terms of removed impurities. Over the years, as the demand for cleaner water becomes higher, the price of household water purifiers and bottled water has become prohibitive. Water refilling stations managed by private entrepreneurs offer a cheaper and more convenient solution to the public's drinking water needs than bottled water or the use of household filters.

At present, about 3,000 water refilling stations have proliferated nationwide. They sell purified water of comparable quality with bottled water at a lower price. For example, the current price per gallon of refilled purified water in Metro Manila ranges from P 50 to P 120 per 5-gallon container or about P 2.50 to P 6.00 per liter while the bottled water is sold at P 12.00 to P 25.00 per liter. Household filters, on the other hand, cost P 5,000 to P 25,000 per unit ( 1 US $ = P 56 in 2004). In Metro Manila, most of the water refilling stations are connected to the pipes of two concessionaires: Maynilad Water Company or Manila Water Company for their source of raw water while in other areas they opt to use private deep wells. The "potable water" supplied by the providers is then further purified by utilizing a combination of water treatment equipment, such as sediment filters, carbon filters, water softeners, reverse osmosis membranes, ultra-violet lamps, and ozone generators.

Typical water refilling stations can produce 3,000 to 12,000 litres of purified water per day. In previous years, most of the people were bringing a container to a water refilling station to buy purified water. Nowadays, because of convenience on the part of the consumers, purified water in 5-gallon (22.7 litres) containers are delivered by the station directly to the people's home. Aqua Sure, a water refilling station in Metro Manila, can deliver 5,500 gallons (25,000 litres) a day to its 8,000 household clients. Features of a water refilling station Structurally, water refilling station can be operated with a minimum area of at least 20-25 square metres. It comprises the following sections: refilling and selling room, enclosed water purification room, container washing and sanitizing room, storage room for empty and refilled containers, source water storage facility, toilet and an office. To operate the water store, about five employees are needed. 

• 1 - Manager - Overseas store operations at least 4 hours a day
• 1 - Accountant/Bookkeepper - Makes financial statement of business operations
• 1 - Administrative assistant - Logs and handles cash sales and purchases
• 1 - Front Liner - Accepts and refills containers of customers
• 1 - Technical Asst. - Maintains and runs the machine
• 1 - Driver/Delivery Man - Transport refilled containers to customer's home

The main processes in a water refilling station is dictated by raw water quality. The typical steps are filtration (several stages), softening, and disinfection. The machines that could be installed for such processes are the following: 

• Multi-media sediment filter - removes sediments such as rust, sand and particles that are invisible to the naked eye; employs a total of 5 filters.
• Ion exchanger - replaces hard minerals with soft minerals.
• Activated carbon filter - removes all organic chemicals, herbicide, pesticide, offensive odor and bad taste.
• Reverse osmosis membrane - the heart of the system and the most expensive unit; removes inorganic minerals, bacteria and viruses while retaining its oxygen content. Since the filter size is very small at less than 0.05 micrometre, the product water could have a total dissolved solids (TDS) of less than 10 ppm. The filtration process rejects about 50 percent of raw water volume.
• Post-carbon filter - improves the taste of water.
• Ultraviolet lamp - ensures that the water is free from disease-causing micro-organisms.
• Ozone generator - inhibits the growth of bacteria in the product tank and prolongs the shelf life of water.

The efficiency of water purification system in removing impurities is high. The 10 water quality parameters measured by Magtibay (2001) showed an average of 80 percent efficiency. Institutions and policies The agencies directly involved in the establishment operation of water refilling stations are as follows: 

• The Department of Health (DOH). DOH is the main agency responsible for protecting the health of the people. The Sanitation Code of the Philippines mandates DOH in protecting drinking water quality. Consequently, DOH issues implementing rules and regulations prescribing sanitary standards for water supply systems, including water refilling stations.
• The Center for Health Development (CHD) is the regional branch of DOH. Its main function is to provide technical assistance to local government units and to monitor DOH programme implementation which includes water quality and sanitation standards. For water refilling stations, CHD is mandated to issue initial and operational permits.
• The Local Government Units (LGUs) are mandated by Presidential Decree (PD 856) to issue sanitary permit, sanitary clearance, health certificates, certificate of potability, drinking water site clearance and closure order (if necessary) and to conduct sanitary inspection of WRS.
• The Water Quality Association of the Philippines Inc. (WQAP) is an organization of private firms who are engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of water refilling station equipment and supplies, as well as water treatment and purification equipment and technology for household, institutional, commercial and industrial applications. About 85 percent of its 250 members operates water refilling stations.
• Association of Water Refilling Entrepreneurs (AWARE) concentrates on resolving business management issues of its members.

Presidential Decree No. 856 (PD 856) or the Sanitation Code of the Philippines is the main law requiring all establishments to comply with existing sanitary standards to protect public health. Guidelines for operating a water refilling station are indicated in the Supplemental Implementing Rules and Regulations on Water Supply of PD 856 issued in 1999. Water quality monitoring Source water and product water are subject to regular monitoring by the local health office. The national standards for drinking water contains 54 parameters that must be complied with. Only DOH-accredited laboratories are allowed to conduct water testing and analysis. The frequency of monitoring is as follows: 

• Bacteriological quality - at least monthly
• Physical quality - at least every six (6) months
• Chemical quality - at least every six (6) months
• Biological quality - at least once a year
• Monitoring of radioactive contaminants shall be done only if there is significant input of radiation from the surrounding environment.

Conclusions Water refilling stations can be a good source of safe drinking water in the Philippines. Purified water can meet the aesthetic standards easily detectable by the people in terms of taste, odor and color. The efficient water purification processes can make the quality of water superior to the traditional water systems. However, the risk of contamination is possible if the handling practices are not closely monitored.  

Water Refilling Station Business

Water Refilling Station Business Guide

One of the fast expanding business in Manila, and in most Metro cities nationwide, is the water refilling station. It's mushrooming on every street corner, because a lot of people in urban areas prefer to get their drinking water from these water stations, it's simply clean and safe to drink. Over the years, as the demand for cleaner water becomes higher, the price of household water purifiers and bottled water has become prohibitive. Water refilling stations managed by private entrepreneurs offer a cheaper and more convenient solution to the public's drinking water needs than bottled water or the use of household filters.