Running out of drinking water is easy to avoid with bottled water delivery. A driver brings full 18.9 litre bottles to your home, office, school or site on a fixed route, takes the empties and leaves you with one less job. Smaller packs of still water are also delivered. Some suppliers deliver every week, others only when you phone, and prices differ by area. Send one request with your suburb and volume, and suppliers on your route quote you directly. It is free and there is no obligation.
How a delivery route works
Most suppliers run fixed days for each area, such as Tuesdays for one suburb and Thursdays for the next. You can usually pick a standing order of a set number of bottles or order only when you run low. Larger accounts may get a second drop in summer. Ask which day your area is served, how much notice a top-up needs and whether the driver can carry bottles to a kitchen on an upper floor. Many firms also supply the dispenser. See water dispensers if you need one.
Bottles, deposits and what is in them
The standard 18.9 litre bottle weighs about 19 kg when full. Most suppliers charge a refundable deposit per bottle, then swap empties for full ones at each delivery. Bottled water is regulated under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, and many producers belong to SANBWA, so ask who fills the water and whether they follow the regulations. Check that bottles are clean, sealed and not scuffed or yellowed. Spring, purified and mineral water are different products, so say which you want.
What to put in your request
Suppliers can only quote well if they know the basics:
- How many people drink at the site, and how many days a week
- Whether you need the dispenser, or just the bottles
- The delivery address, access times and any stairs
- Whether you want a standing order or on demand deliveries
The quote form works out roughly how many bottles a week that is. Offices of 20 people often use around eight to ten, which is a useful starting point.
Comparing delivery quotes
Look past the price per bottle. Compare the deposit, any delivery fee, the minimum order, the cut-off time for orders and what happens if a delivery is missed. Some suppliers waive delivery fees above a certain number of bottles, and some charge extra for upstairs drops. If you do not need delivery every week, compare against refilling your own bottles at a refill shop. For a bigger site, a rental package may bundle bottles, dispenser and servicing into one monthly fee.
What to include in your request
- How many people drink at the site
- Bottles a week, or on demand
- Whether you need a dispenser too
- Delivery address, stairs and access times
- The suburb, town or business park
Bottled Water Delivery for different sites
- Households: two or three bottles every fortnight, left at the kitchen door for the family dispenser
- Offices and business parks: a standing weekly drop of bottles, sized to staff numbers and swapped for empties
- Schools, crèches and colleges: pallets delivered before term, with a top-up each week for classrooms and the sports fields
- Clinics, practices and care homes: regular bottle drops to waiting rooms and wards, with a backup order for outages
- Lodges, hotels, restaurants and events: bottles for guest lounges and kitchens, delivered before the weekend and event bookings
- Factories, mines and building sites: a large weekly order for canteens and shop floors, with extra drops in hot months
- Shops, gyms and refill stations: a few bottles a week for staff and customers, delivered to the back door
- Farms, smallholdings and villages: a monthly delivery to a farm or lodge where the borehole water is not suitable to drink
Frequently asked questions
How much does bottled water delivery cost?
How often will the water be delivered?
Is bottled water safer than tap water?
Do you deliver the water yourselves?
Bottled Water Delivery by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg