How to choose your supplier
Before even considering Living-Water as your water at work supplier, you should first consider some of the below. You need to find out from your potential drinking water supplier:
- Are they a Member of an industry Association, such as the EIMBCA.
- Are they able to supply both bottled or POU mains plumbed in water cooler solutions.
- What sort of water are they supplying and where is it bottled – Is the bottling plant a member of EBWA or the BWCA, how many bottles per week are they bottling? Drinking water quality, choosing the best bottled water and determining if bottled water versus tap water is best is difficult to gauge and can sometimes come down to different tastes – we are all made differently (thank goodness) and while our water is low in calcium sediment, people used to London tap water might prefer a harder water.
- Ensure the water supplied is only bottled from one and not multiple sources and is as soft as possible. There are so many types of water treatment that you really want to know where your own water is sourced – unfortunately in the UK crazy labeling laws mean that the majority of suppliers are unable to tell consumers on the bottle where it has been bottled. This is a wonderful example of the law achieving the exact opposite of what it was designed to do.
- Does the drinking water company already have a strong market presence in your area resulting in quick lead times to resolve problems / provide servicing.
- How does the bottle price or rental compare to other suppliers?
- What sort of support/customer care centre does the supplier provide?
- What sort of bottles does the supplier use, eg. handled, non handled, PET or Poly carbon as they are all very different.
- The supplier should provide a choice of 5 references within your own industry or locality to check up on their service levels – can they provide water cooler dispenser reviews.
- In the conversations with the potential new supplier have they shown themselves to be both professional and friendly. Are you comfortable to buy water coolers and have them serviced and sanitized by them?
- It is always useful to ask about any company charity programs though as an organisation we prefer not to define an exact monetary value to every purchase – principally because this is tax inefficient and we believes Charity should be about “doingâ€.
Once you choose hopefully Living-Water as your supplier for your water for work you will need to check with your existing supplier when your contract terminates and what sort of notice is required. The last thing you want to do is upgrade your water cooler service only to have to keep paying for the old suppliers redundant water delivery service when you are not even using it.
