BWT to invest up to EUR5 mln in purified water dispensers

KYIV. Sept 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Best Water Technology (BWT, Austria), a leading group of companies in the European water purification market, intends to invest, together with its member manufacturer of water filters Ecosoft (Irpin, Kyiv region), up to EUR5 million in the development of the infrastructure for bottling purified water in Ukraine.

BWT’s intentions to develop the BWT Aqua project in Ukraine, which is a network of public terminals for bottling purified water – aqua boxes, was announced by Andriy Mitchenko, the CEO and co-owner of Ecosoft, at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

He clarified that currently EUR1 million has been invested in the development of the aqua box infrastructure, and in the future it is planned to invest about EUR4 million more.

According to the CEO, the market for bottling purified water through electronic terminals has been developing in Ukraine for almost eight years, during which about 1,200 terminals were installed in the country, of which about a third (400 units) belong to BWT Aqua. Mitchenko noted that about 200 aqua boxes of the company are located in Kyiv and cover an audience of 25,000 regular users, selling 2 million liters of purified water monthly. In addition, the BWT Aqua infrastructure is represented in Odesa, Lviv, Kropyvnytsky, Poltava and a number of other large cities.

"Aqua box is a modern device designed to purify and dispense fresh water into a buyer’s bottle. Water enters the aqua box from a water main, after which it is purified using nine technologies, the most important of which are reverse osmosis technology, water enrichment with natural minerals and ultraviolet disinfection," Rostyslav Mudryk, the business developer of Ecosoft/BWT Ukraine, said.

According to him, BWT Aqua terminals are connected to the Internet, which allows operators to fix problems and change the technology of purification of the water supplied to them in real time.

"In addition to installing aqua boxes in supermarkets and near houses, we have an interesting project, when we install a device that makes water chilled and carbonated, we rethink the Soviet soda water machine and place it in parks and in the central streets of large cities," Mitchenko said about one of the company’s investment areas.

BWT/Ecosoft is also considering projects to create in small towns and settlements without centralized water supply "new generation pump rooms" for on-site water treatment, which will solve the problem of water shortages in a relatively cheap way.

Mitchenko also noted that the transition of users from bottled water to the consumption of water through the BWT Aqua infrastructure will reduce the annual volume of plastic waste produced by 5.25 kg per person, which will reduce the amount of waste produced in the country and have a positive impact on the environmental situation.

As reported, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on December 10 last year allowed BWT Aktiengesellschaft (Austria) to acquire a controlling stake in Ecosoft Holding.

Ecosoft is a manufacturer and distributor of water purification equipment for home and industrial use with production sites in Ukraine and Germany and a wide international presence.

BWT Aktiengesellschaft is the holding company of Best Water Technology, a leading European group in the field of water technologies with a turnover of about EUR670 million in 2017 and 3,600 employees. It offers systems for the purification of drinking water, water for pharmaceuticals and industrial processes, heating and cooling systems, air conditioning and swimming pools.

Ecosoft was founded in Ukraine in 1991. Since 2012, it has been actively supported by the EBRD through consulting and financing programs.

According to the company, its filters are sold in 50 countries of the world. The company has 8,000 square meters of production and storage facilities. Finished goods warehouses are located in four business regions – in Western and Eastern Europe, the United States and Russia.

The company’s capacity is 2.6 million filters per year.