The germ of this idea was sown while I was rodinhooding 🙂 i.e. reading discussions posted by others on The Rodinhoods. You can find the relevant post here
Today we consume lot of drinking water, when we travel in the form of packaged water in PET bottles
. By doing so not only we pay too much to buy these bottles but also increase the chemical waste of empty water bottles. When we buy a bottled water the only intention we have is to get fresh, purified water for consumption and we really don’t bother how we get it. What I mean to say by this is we are not concerned about how do we get the fresh and purified water once we are assured about the quality and purity of the water. This prompted me to think about the business model which is not something very complex or complicated (In fact many big and important things our life are simple and easy)
Considering the fact that what we actually need is authentic source of pure and fresh water.
- The idea is to set up Automated Water Vending Machines at all the public places such as Bus Stands, Railway Stations, Multiplexes, Malls, Airports, Motels in short at all such places where we normally buy water whenever we travel.
- The Automated Water Vending Machine will be designed in such a way that it will accept only specific type of bottle in it having various packing sizes such as 2000 ml, 1000 ml and 500 ml
- The neck and caps of these bottles will be of unified size. These durable and reusable water containers or bottles would be sold separately and these containers would be made of Poly Carbonate (PC) material which is highly durable, food grade and aesthetically attractive.
- Consumers will buy this type of water container only once and will carry the same wherever they go and purified and chilled water would be made available to them through a network of Water Vending Machines at all the public places.
- People just need to purchase specially made coin coupons in advance to refill their water container with required quantity.
Following are the benefits of this type of Water Vending System:
- Consumers don’t have to buy a new Packaged Drinking Bottle every time they travel. They will just buy one permanent durable water pitcher or container and can get refills wherever they go.
- This will reduce the money spent on buying water by each consumer as the cost of a refill will be at approximately 30 % to 40 % lower than buying new bottle.
- Quality of the water would be maintained as one company would be servicing the entire stock of water to be distributed to all the Automated Vending Machines.
- A huge relief to environment as the consumption of PET bottles will reduce because of this reusable water pitcher.
- Government Agencies can offer subsidies, loans and concessions in taxes and strategic locations to install Water Refill Machines ( Such as Bus Stands, Railway Stations, Airports, Malls and Multiplexes) to this business as it is saving environment from the plastic pollution.
- Business can earn money from selling Water Pitchers, Automated Water Vending Machines and Refills to the Vending Machines.
- Franchisee to operate these machines can be given to Shops, STD Booths, Pan Shops, Small Restaurants, who will invest in the machines and get commission on every refill bought by the end customer.
As I suggested earlier this is just a raw business idea however can be perfected if supported by capital and entrepreneurial spirit. There are definitely many challenges in implementing this in reality but looking at the kind of pollution we are spreading around by using Plastic bottles, this is definitely a worth idea to try !!!
I am waiting for your comments on how this idea can be perfected.
Originally published at my personal blog www.mandarjoshi.com/blog
Manav Shankar
Dear Mandar, work on it. It certainly takes away the big cost of distribution along with reducing the plastic use and giving clean water to drink. I am sure a great value add to society and consumer both.
Eureka Forbes, tried this concept in Gujarat, I have used similar vending machines in Baroda, Surat, Navsari, Vapi etc…But it didnt took off. Finding why, may help in weeding out the problems before hand.
Also check this ; https://www.livemint.com/Companies/jKhGvoLJacLokTkxAhKYjJ/Indian-railways-plans-3000-watervending-machines.html
Regards / Manav Shankar 9619520560
ameybawkar
Hi Mandar,
I have used such vending machine in vile-parle. It was I guess Rs 2/glass of water.
https://www.waterstationindia.com/
Manav Shankar
The problem is that if you reduce the the price, it becomes cheap.
I wish if its perceived as inexpensive and not cheap.
What would a normal guy give it to his child…? Rs 2 / glass or Rs 15 per bottle. Actually the company, Aqua is making it more premium and surprisingly its selling at Rs 45/l some are going still further….at 60/l , not to reach major marketshare….though.
Amar Shah
Well Mandar, you are cutting out the cost of distribution and packaging. Which is substantial in the packaged water business.
You will need to address the following
Secure connection to good quality of water or else decent water supply which will need to be treated on site. In few of the target areas place will be an issue if you looking at onsite treatment. Also look into security of the machine / water connection.
Darshan Bhambiru
More Cons than Pros for this mechanism !!
Have tried this some time back, needs a lot of Investment had to trash it due to High Maintenance, plus a Lot of Security Issues and Initial Investment and Mobility costs in maintaining the “Moulds” for the containers and Dispensers etc
High Dedicated team of Sales and Marketing adds to cost, Safety and Plagiarism, Pilferage adds to the Disturbances, Goodwill affected even if things are streamlined with all efforts invested in maintaining the Flow, Damaging the hard work takes very less time when the access is Just One Station where the Dispensers are provided without any Security
The Custom Tokens usually become a Liability in the long run, running out of token and “Have” to use them becomes a nuisance too with Time, this is near the Proprietary control which becomes a Difficulty than EASE of use for the general Public, Managing a Nationwide and then State wise provisional control for the Water Dispensers with Transport for the same has to be Done by a Single Vendor – Makes a Difficult proposition to manage, giving scope for Sub contracting effectively costing the Quality, also loopholes in the LONG chain of Delivery and maintenance mechanism gives more opportunities for Damage than Profit.
Given a scenario – I have a Watch with a Custom built Strap for it, now since the Strap is Broken I am unable to find a replacement for it in the OPEN market 🙂 Can’t find the original company anymore since its been some time the Watch was Bought, The Model also has now become OLD, not sure if it would still be in Production yet. Imagine the same with a Custom PET Refill bottle owner struggling with the Bottle at any of the Dispensers fr a Replacement, or for any other issues similar ways in the Long run, there would definitely be more people responding with their views on this as well.
There is also a Way to Dispense RO water in “Plastic – PolyEthylene refills” Used in Gujarat currently which makes cost effective Modifications and does away with the Refill stations and maintenance, though the Quality becomes a Question in such cases, but it works too!!
Need to have OWN RO Plant as a Start, Initial costs for the setup are flabbergasting and Then there are various Licenses and Checks which add to the Monitoring and costs, a Lengthy process plus
There are Other Brands already in the Industry who would JUST need to Change a Few things on their end to COPY the same and Get the Installations from their end to Give You Enough Competition to Close down the Venture even before its Started 🙂
Worth a TRY??? Sure!!
Mandar Joshi
Thanks Manav !!! thanks for your appreciation and suggestion. Let me honestly make it clear that it was just a raw thought passed by and I never had any serious intention of pursuing it as a business 🙁 As you know as an Entrepreneur we keep on bumping on many ideas however without focus and persistence you can’t succeed in any business venture and therefore you need to choose the best idea as per one’s capabilities. I am working in the field of Technology Enabled Education ( E Learning) since past seven years and I am working on something in the same domain. I shared this idea for the benefit of the forum. I have made it clear as well if anyone wants to pursue this I am willing to support. Once again thanks for your comments and appreciation 🙂
Mandar Joshi
Thanks for the info !!! I guess what I wanted to do already exists 🙂
Mandar Joshi
Yes Manav I agree with you on this. Now a days we have started valuing products and services on their price points as well. We feel things must be pure and good if they are priced high and they are cheap if they are priced low 🙂
Mandar Joshi
Thanks Amar yes you are right I am cutting the distribution and packaging cost and yes it is substantial in this business.
The Automated Water Vending Machines will have a Bank of Water Bottles of 20 Lit Each. Approximately 20 to 30 such bottles would be arranged on the top of the machine ( The bottles would be arranged in reversed direction their top facing ground so that flow can easily pass by gravitation) circular flowing arrangement would be made so that after one bottle runs out of water the next bottle would start feeding the system. There would be sensors detecting the level of water and after certain threshold is reached an SMS would be sent to the nearest water purification centre. The centre will have water refills ready on the trucks or tempos which would be constantly on the move. After receiving the message from a particular location the message would be relayed to the nearest Refill Vans and the Refills would be loaded.
This arrangement will ensure clean & pure supply of water on demand. The Automated Water Dispensing Machines would be kept in the care of the Tea Vendors, Pan Stalls, News Paper vendors and they would sell the recharge tokens and receive commission. This will take care of the vandalism issues.
I hope this clarifies your queries 🙂
Mandar Joshi
Oh my God Darshan it seems you have been there and done that 🙂
as mentioned earlier it was just a passing thought and as my hands were full and hence thought of sharing the same with The Rodinhooders 🙂
I have predicted the obstacles you mentioned while I thought of this as a business and you are bang on target when you mentioned these challenge. In fact the idea is to create a POC and threat to the packaged water manufacturers and exit through M & A with at least 10 X returns 🙂
I may be wrong but as you said worth to try !!
Mandar Joshi
Hey thanks for these wonderful suggestions 🙂 please find my inline reply to your queries/ suggestions
Would people find it convenient to carry the special coin coupons with them, and how would they recharge those coupons? Where would they get new coupons if they lost the old ones?
The Coin Coupons would be made available near the retail shop where the Automated Water Vending machine would be kept so that consumer can get the special coins to refill the pitcher.
What size/ sizes of bottles would be available for purchase?
The ideal size would be 500 ml, 1000 ml and in rare cases there would be buyers for even 2000 ml bottle ( Especially in the case of long train journeys ) I guess these three sizes would suffice the need of largely all the consumers.
And more importantly, what size of bottle would people find most comfortable to carry around?
You are right 500 ml and 1000 ml would be most preferred choices.
Are people actually going to tag your special bottle along, everytime they go out? [It would be amazing if people, me included, became that particular about drinking water at regular intervals, but does it happen in reality?] Or would it make sense to perhaps keep sterile plastic cups or something at the vending machines, charge Rs.x/ glass of water, Rs.y per plastic cup [people buy plastic cups for their evening tipple at Rs.0.5-1 a piece]
If you remember when there were no bottled drinking water we use to carry water bottles or water bags with us whenever we use to travel so carrying bottles is not something new may be we have been spoilt by these so called mineral water bottle companies ( Its actually packaged drinking water) so my guess is yes at least those who value environment and a bit more disciplined can become the early adopters and they will help us to get early majority 🙂
However your idea of keeping sterile plastic cups is also excellent 🙂 yes we should keep these plastic cups with the shops nearby so that they can be purchased when needed by the consumer.
Also, what if someone had an empty bottle of a different cap size with them. When I used to travel on marketing trips [Pune-Nashik-Aurangabad, etc.), I’d have 1-2 1 litre bottles, a 2 litre bottle, and a 5 litre bottle of water in my car. What if I ran out of water and needed a refill? Would I be put through the whole process of finding/ getting a coin coupon, then buying your bottle, and then getting a drink of water? Or would you make it convenient by letting me fill up whatever bottle I’ve got with me, so that I can drink and be on my merry way? Because if I’d have to go through the entire process, don’t you think I’d rather pay a bit more and just pick a Bisleri or something? What would you do?
Well the idea of using standard neck bottle ( In varying sizes ) is to keep the process of refill tamperproof and hygienic. My Vending machine can recognise the specific neck and therefore will create a temporary airtight lock around the bottle to maintain the purity of the water ( To keep it germ free ) allowing other neck sizes would require modification the refilling mechanism and that would be tricky because there are many neck sizes out there and it would be difficult to fit them all into the mechanism.
Well you will have 500 ml, 1000 ml and 2000 ml or even 5000 ml water pitchers manufactured by my company in your car 🙂 thats a one time investment to save the environment you will have to make 🙂 As I suggested in the beginning the early adopters of this idea would be people like you who are willing to go an extra mile to save the nature. I can try to keep the prices of these water pitchers very low ( Just the production cost ) because my real revenue and profit is going to come through refills 🙂
Kindly let me know if you have any other queries 🙂 I would be happy to address them and I must once again appreciate your suggestions have a rocking day ahead !!!!!
Amar Shah
Sure thing Mandar, but with the design in mind where is the place ? When you plan to stock 20-30 20lit jars you talking about 400-600 lit of water. Check on the space requirement for that storage at the proposed locations. Also the net weight of this alone will be 500Kgs + Machine weight.
Most of the target locations are on the main road either there legally or illegally. Space is a major constraint for them.
Mandar Joshi
I agree !!! these 20 Lit water bottles would be stored in racks above the machine so if one rack can hold 9 bottles 3 X 3 there would be two racks holding 18 Bottles i.e. Storage of 360 Lit of water which means the machine can give 380 Refills.
As far as the Machine design is concerned yes we would need some engineering innovation 🙂 to fit this at one place and finding this place in the busy corners of Bus & Railway station is definitely a challenge but I believe things can be worked out
Amar Shah
Yes the weight of the water alone will be 360Kgs + machine weight. Say approx 500-600 Kgs net ! Size will be an area of concern for sure.
Just a thought i know its far fledged but having a pipe line dedicated for this is a cheaper and more viable option.
One option would be to develop such a machine and talk to builders making townships so they can incorporate this at the initial stage. This will help kick-start the idea.
Mandar Joshi
WOW this is getting interesting 🙂 yes its a very good suggestion. There could be a separate tank and a pipeline connecting to the tank however it could pose the contamination issues. Pipeline over a period can become buggy and contaminate the water inside however definitely worth considering as an option. Please send me your contact coordinates Dhaval on my mail me@mandarjoshi.com. I would love to connect with you.
Amar Shah
amards14@gmail.com !
There are options i guess for pipe lines.. all cities i guess get drinking water via pipeline itself. The machine at the last mile can re-purify the water before it gets dispensed
Bharat Agrawal
Nice Thought…But way to many hurdles to cross regarding the licenses. I remember a company which started in Tirupati with the same idea. they had patented a dispensing machines which recognize their own 20lt bottle and dispense 200ml or so water only in any glass or bottle. A vendor take care of machine and orders the 20lt bottle from the inventor. It wont dispense from any other bottle so the people can be sure of quality. I dont remember the name of the company or the inventor right now.