Basically prospective customers want to check our ‘Green’ credentials before committing to us – in an effort to ensure that by buying their water from us they are not contributing to the UK’s carbon foot print.

As a company we pay a lot of extra money in rent to be located in Wimbledon – a location close to Central London which is where the bulk of our clients are based  – but this reflects our commitment to reduce our carbon foot print – we believe our water travels far less road miles than ALL of our competitors.

These are the criteria that we employed when choosing out water suppliers over the seven years we have been operating.

Originally we were buying our water from a Spring source in Kent, the purity of that water was beyond question. However, the carbon miles of transport was an issue we were concerned about and also cost was an important factor.

After a couple of years with this company, as an organisation, we made the decision to reduce our carbon foot print by transferring our water order to Berrington Water – based in Herefordshire – again offering Spring water of certifiable purity and quality . We are running a business and so, of course, price was an issue and we managed to negotiate a very competitive price from Berrington’s – but equally important, with their help, we were able to put in place a system of large night deliveries which drastically reduced the number of deliveries, kept the roads clearer during the day thereby reducing emissions in sitting traffic and radically reduced the number of carbon miles.

After three happy years with Berrington’s we assessed out water supplier once again and used the same two judgement factors – price and green credentials. Sadly for Berrington’s our final decision was that we move our water supplier to Fonthill – they were geographically closer to our offices – the quality and purity of their water is beyond question – they offered similar night time deliveries and – let me be perfectly honest about it – by a very slight margin, a lower price! We are a commercial organisation and we are fighting to survive during a recession – I would never criticise an organisation for applying the rules of economy into their business good practice!

So I can only register disappointment to hear that the powers that be at Wembley have awarded the high profile and lucrative contract for their bottled water to Icelandic Glacial – a water supplier based in Iceland, and company that has to transport their water from Iceland  1179 miles away.

The reasons cited in the Wembley press release for choosing Icelandic Glacial is their ‘internationally recognised (position) as one of the world’s purest and leading carbon-neutral certified natural mineral waters’ as quoted on the foodbev water news site.

As Henry Tomlin, the director of Berringtons Pure Spring Water Ltd says

“I am astonished that Wembley would stoop so low after the fiasco they already endured in the building process. I would welcome any member of the Wembley committee and indeed the Icelandic water company to prove that Berringtons Award winning Spring water is in any way less Pure than their own. Also on the other point  please tell me how a company over 1000 miles away can be using less carbon than one 120 miles away.  Unless of course they are using flying pigs!”

The question of a free market is, in my opinion, central to our mutual growth and prosperity and so I have no axe to grind about the contract being awarded to a non UK based company! My objection is the flimsy argument of the contract being awarded on the basis of ‘the recognised purity’ of the water – all UK based water companies are subject to the same rigorous test of purity as anywhere else in the world – so I discount that argument immediately. And secondly, the fact that ‘Icelandic Glacial is a carbon neutral company’ – I reject this argument on the basis that any company can offset their ‘carbon output’ with a carefully placed cheque or simple statistical sleight of hand. What demonstrates REAL commitment to carbon neutrality is the efforts put in place to avoid or minimise the carbon emission in the first place, and I fail to see how shipping tons of water 1179 miles from Iceland to London can possibly be included in a responsible policy by any organisation to reducing their carbon footprint. In the water industry the eternal controversy surrounding importing drinking water from Fiji to swanky London restaurants raises its head, whenever lazy journalists find themselves faced with a blank page and a deadline to fulfil – I look forward to the clamour when they finally spot this similarly emotive story and the backlash which will inevitably be released. Watch this space!

If you have any questions regarding The Water Delivery Company, feel free to leave a comment on this post, or ring us on 0845 006 3309.

In fact the legal definitions for Spring and Mineral water are  determined by governmental regulations updated in 1999 – “The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999″. This is common in many countries and therefore both mineral and spring water can vary greatly in different countries.

Spring water is collected directly from the a natural source – typically far underground in natural aquifers –  and must be bottled at the source. UK sources of spring water must meet certain hygiene standards, and may be further treated so they meet pollution regulations.

Importantly for bottlers of water it can be extracted from different wells/sources in the same area – therefore if one source becomes polluted then the bottler can continue supplying from the same aquifer but from a different well. For this reason most of the larger bottlers in the UK sell Spring Water as it allows for continuity of supply.

Mineral water emerges from under the ground, then flows over rocks before it’s collected. Unlike spring water, it can’t be treated except to remove grit and dirt. Mineral water again has to be bottled and source and historically it was often the case that people would travel to certain locations to drink mineral water that was said to have specific health benefits.

Different brands of spring and mineral waters have differing amounts of minerals depending on their source – details on the spring water that The Water Delivery company sells for water cooler customers is available in the water information section of our website. This is also mirrored on our supplier Fonthill’s website.

Details on the spring water we sell in  small pack bottles of sparkling and still water is also available through our website and on the website of Princes Gate.

We are often asked questions about the shelf life of our water and this blog should answer questions regarding the providence of our water – and give customers advice on how it should be stored.

Our Spring Water is extracted by our professional water bottler  - Fonthill . Fonthill is a high quality, pure English spring water from a historic protected source deep in the hills surrounding the 7,000-acre Fonthill Bishop Estate in Wiltshire. The water is naturally filtered through limestone rock before emerging from modern boreholes close to the historic Penning and Berwick wells. It has a light, refreshing taste and a balanced mineral composition.

The water is bottled the same day it is extracted from the aquifer. It is then left at the bottling plant for 48 hours while the water is tested and checked internally and at an external laboratory. The water is then transported to London by an articulated lorry which holds around 1200 19 litre bottles – we have a delivery like this every two days.

We deliver this water to customers within two days of delivery – thereby guaranteeing that any water delivered to our customers has been extracted from the ground within the last five days. 

What is a suitable shelf life for a water cooler bottle?

1. For correctly stored unopened bottles the shelf life can be any time between six months and a year. Although if you are keeping water for this long it may be that you don’t need to use a water cooler in your office or home.

2. Opened bottles put on a regularly sanitised water cooler (with a bayonet system, sealed reservoir, air filter) last up to three weeks.

3. Opened bottles not on a water cooler have a shelf-life of  just three days.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 0845 006 3309 or email contact@thewaterdeliverycompany.com.