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Creating a Voice for Europe’s Independent Water Industry

The EIMBCA is an Association of member companies working in the water industry.

Bringing individual companies together – be they involved in the manufacture, distribution or supply of mains or bottle water cooler systems – we can create a more cohesive, louder voice to look after the interests of independent members.

By signing up to the EIMBCA, members agree to the following undertakings:

The bottling plant

All our members adhere to strict guidelines and regulations as set out by the relevant Food and Health Authority and the EIMBCA. For example this covers the following areas:

  • Frequency of filter changes
  • Dress-wear within the plant (eg. face masks, overalls, shoewear)
  • Lighting
  • Plant automation
  • Cleaning processes, Bottles and equipment
  • Bottle storage
  • Forklift use
  • Racking systems
  • Warehousing of all bottles under cover

As well as a host of others.

Warehouse and Distribution

All our members adhere to strict guidelines and regulations as set out by the relevant Food and Health Authority and the EIMBCA. For example this covers the following areas:

  • Driver training in forklift driving
  • Wearing of hard toe capped shoes at all times
  • Fully working lights at all times
  • Signage in the warehouse
  • Handling of the water and water racking systems
  • FIFO (First in first out) stock rotation systems
  • Cooler cleaning – descaleing and sanitisation
  • Cooler repairs
  • Cooler disposal and the environment
  • Rotate warehouse stock on a minimum weekly basis ensuring speediest delivery from the source to the customer.

Protecting the Environment

All EIMBCA Members work hard to protect the environment in all aspects of their businesses. For example:

  • Supply wherever possible only the softest water (low in calcium) available as this water is less harmful to the water coolers and reduces the need to use harsh chemicals and descaleing
  • Use only high quality re-useable bottles with a minimum 36 month life expectancy.
  • Supply water coolers only that use ozone friendly gases
  • Where-ever possible provide direct chill water coolers which are more hygienic than traditional reservoir coolers and require less frequent use of harsh chemicals
  • Only supply pure and natural spring or mineral water in bottles with minimum plant treatment.
  • Only use diesel powered vehicles in distribution or gas powered forklift trucks while handling
  • Only supply recycle-able cups
  • Supply only water-coolers meeting strict power wattage requirements

All our Members undertake that if there is an environmentally better product or process, they will at all times seek to use/adopt that product or process.

POU (Mains) versus Bottled Coolers

The last five years have seen a move in the industry towards POU coolers away from bottled. There are many reasons for this including just some of the below:

  • Continuous delivery flow
  • Environmentally friendlier (no transport required)
  • Cost savings
  • Building of new buildings/redevolpments pre-plumbed for POU solutions

As a result the EIMBCA covers both types of cooler but encourages members:

  • Supply direct chill coolers wherever possible – These coolers are the future of the industry and do not use the older reservoir type cooling systems which allow bacterial build-up within the reservoir. As a result it is widely accepted these coolers need less frequent sanitisation than the reservoir type coolers. It is our belief these coolers though a more expensive technology, should only be used wherever possible.
  • Change POU filters on a minimum six monthly basis or more frequently as required. Sanitise all coolers on a 3 monthly basis
  • Only use 1 micron filters with POU filters
  • Use flow blocks on all POU installations to prevent flooding
  • Always fit a shut off valve on all POU installations
  • To provide 48 hour servicing to all coolers in the event of problems or emergency deliveries
  • All coolers must only use environmentally friendly gases.
  • At the end of their working life, all coolers must be disposed off and recycled as far as possible in accordance with strict European legislation.

How to Choose your Supplier

You need to find out from your supplier:

  • Are they a Member of an industry Association.
  • Are they able to supply both bottled or POU water-cooler solutions.
  • What sort of water are they supplying and where is it bottled?
  • Ensure the water supplied is only bottled from one and not multiple sources and is as soft as possible.
  • Does the supplier 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.
  • In the conversations with the potential new supplier have they shown themselves to be both professional and friendly.
  • It is always useful to ask about company charity programmes though as an organisation we prefer organisations that do not define an exact monetary value to every purchase – principally because this is tax inefficient and the EIMCA believes Charity should be about “doing”.

Become a Member of the EIMBCA

Membership of the EIMBCA is relatively simple and straight forward. Simply complete the membership application or email us on membership@eimbca.com for an application form.