Choosing the right supplier

The following considerations should be made before even considering Living-Water as your water at work supplier: Your drinking water provider should be able to answer these questions for you:

  • Does this person belong to a professional organisation like the EIMBCA?
  • Are they able to supply both bottled and POU water cooler solutions?
  • Does the bottling plant belong to the EBWA or the BWCA, and how many bottles per week does it produce?
  • What kind of water do they provide? Drinking water quality is difficult to judge and can sometimes come down to different tastes – we are all made differently (thank goodness), and while our water is low in calcium sediment, London tap water users might prefer a harder water. Choosing the best bottled water and determining if bottled water is better than tap water can be difficult to gauge and sometimes come down to different tastes.
  • Ensure that only one and not multiple sources of water are used to supply the water. In the United Kingdom, there are so many types of water treatment that you really want to know where your own water is sourced, but because of the country’s crazy labelling laws, most suppliers are unable to tell consumers on the bottle where it has been bottled. In this case, the law has done exactly the opposite of what it was intended to accomplish.
    Do they already have a strong market presence in your area, resulting in quick response times to resolve issues or provide service?
  • Compared to other bottle suppliers, what is the bottle price or rental rate like?
  • What kind of customer service and support can you expect from the vendor?
  • Is the bottler using handled or non-handled, PET or Polycarbon bottles? These are all very distinct types of bottles.
  • Ideally, the vendor should be able to provide you with five references from within your own industry or locality so that you can check up on their service levels.
  • The potential new supplier has shown themselves to be both professional and friendly in their interactions with us. No, I don’t want to buy water coolers and have them serviced by them.
    For the sake of tax efficiency and because we believe that charity should be about “doing” rather than “giving,” we prefer not to put an exact monetary value on every purchase.
  • You will need to check with your current water provider to see when your contract expires and what notice is required before you switch to Living-Water. The last thing you want to do is upgrade your water cooler service only to be forced to keep paying for the old supplier’s redundant water delivery service when you are not even using it yourself.