Eau de Vie - Saving the environment one litre at a time

South Africa is a beautiful country with abundant natural resources, but, worryingly, recent studies indicate that by 2030 and assuming similar water consumption patterns, there will be a 17 percent gap between water supply and water demand. It’s wise to assume that water is one of the most precious commodities in our country and the SME business sector can make a significant difference in the preservation of water. Let’s just take the restaurant trade for example.

As a restaurant owner, you have a few options for supplying patrons with drinkable water; either from the tap or pre-bottled. A recent alternative option is to filter and bottle your own water directly on-site. To safeguard your empire and satisfy savvy consumers, tap water is most probably not advisable, which leaves the option of purchasing bottled water or a filtration system.

Eau de Vie’s water filtration systems produce fresh filtered, still or sparkling drinking water on-demand directly from any local mains supply, with no transportation cost, no bottle recycling and no disruptive deliveries or bulky container storage.

South Africa generated 108 million tonnes of waste in 2011. 59 Million tonnes of that was general waste and only 65 percent of waste generated in South Africa is recyclable. PET bottles are recyclable, but the plastic water bottles are shielded from sunlight in landfills and can take thousands of years to decompose.

Eau De Vie cuts down on recycling by supplying reusable, stylish glass bottles to all of its customers. This ‘green’ initiative helps to reduce the carbon footprint of its many business and government clients. Restaurants, hotels, educational establishments and high profile public spaces can also benefit from premium quality still or sparkling drinking water, on tap, 24/7.

Take Bocca in trendy Bree Street, Cape Town; Neil Grant’s successor to his award-winning Burrata restaurant. At Bocca they serve authentic Italian food and great wine to an eclectic, demanding customer. As the Chairman of the South African Sommeliers Association, Neil knows all about perfection — and that’s what he demands from all his resources.

“We have an Eau De Vie table top unit at Bocca,” says Neil. “We sell a lot of water and our new age customers want an alternative to tap water. Not only does Eau De Vie tick the ‘green’ box for us, it has also proven to be massively cost-effective. Our cost per litre of water, still or sparkling, ranges between 0.35c and R1.75 per litre, depending on whether we use the system to full capacity or not; a massive difference to the cost of prepared bottled water of around R2.30 and upwards per litre.  So the more we up-sell, the better the return for us. The attractive glass bottles also add more elegance than plastic, especially when catering to an upmarket clientele.”

Eau de Vie supplies a range of units designed for different needs and a variety of locations. Like the Eau de Vie bottles, the system’s dispensers are attractive and look good front of house or behind the bar.

A direct translation of Eau De Vie means Water of Life. To ensure a sustainable life for future generations, we need to ensure a steady water supply. Choose wisely, if not from an environmentally conscious point-of-view, then simply from a cost saving perspective.

About Eau De Vie

At the heart of the Eau de Vie package is a special filter system called SilverSix which removes the impurities that adversely affect mains water flavour and smell. The filtered water is then chilled and dispensed through a tap which delivers still and sparkling variants.

Eau de Vie has ensured that this is a very simple system to manage: from the water filtering to the handling of the reusable bottles, everything is streamlined to assist ease of operation. Even installation is designed to minimise disruption: Eau de Vie offers a choice including free-standing units, table top models and remote, giving owners and designers a flexible system that can easily be integrated into the site.

Depending on the model chosen, an Eau de Vie system can filter and chill from 50 to unlimited litres of water per hour.

For more information about Eau De Vie contact Winterhalter SA on +27 11 888 7932 or visit www.eaudevie.com