Large blue water tanks at an outdoor filtration plant.
T-101 Raw Water Storage Tank 10,000 L · food-grade PE · level switches
Illustrative photo
Equipment list

Everything the plant needs

17 line items in process order, each with its tag, specification, quantity, power and an indicative unit price.

Equipment list (CSV)
P-101
Intake

Submersible Borehole Pump

5 HP · 6 m³/h at 80 m head · SS304 body

Lifts raw water from the borehole into the raw-water tank under level control.

Qty
1
Power
3.7 kW
Unit price
$700–1,200
T-101
Intake

Raw Water Storage Tank

10,000 L · food-grade PE · level switches

Buffers borehole supply so the treatment train runs at a steady flow.

Qty
1
Power
—
Unit price
$800–1,500
F-101
Pre-treatment

Multi-Media Sand Filter

3 m³/h · FRP vessel · auto backwash valve

Removes suspended solids above 5 microns; backwashes automatically on a timer.

Qty
1
Power
0.75 kW
Unit price
$1,000–2,000
F-102
Pre-treatment

Activated Carbon Filter

3 m³/h · granular activated carbon · FRP vessel

Strips chlorine, taste and odour, protecting the RO membranes downstream.

Qty
1
Power
—
Unit price
$1,000–2,000
F-103
Pre-treatment

Ion-Exchange Water Softener

3 m³/h · twin-vessel · brine regeneration

Removes calcium and magnesium hardness so the membranes do not scale.

Qty
1
Power
—
Unit price
$1,200–2,500
RO-201
Purification

Two-Stage Reverse Osmosis System

2,000 L/h permeate · 5 µm cartridge pre-filter · SS304 skid

High-pressure membranes remove about 99 % of dissolved solids (TDS below 50 mg/L).

Qty
1
Power
7.5 kW
Unit price
$5,000–9,000
UV-201
Disinfection

UV Steriliser

40 mJ/cm² dose · 3 m³/h · SS316 chamber

Inactivates bacteria and viruses in the permeate without chemicals.

Qty
1
Power
0.2 kW
Unit price
$400–900
OZ-201
Disinfection

Ozone Generator & Mixing Tower

5 g/h O₃ · venturi injection · contact tower

Final disinfection that also extends shelf life of the bottled water.

Qty
1
Power
0.3 kW
Unit price
$1,000–2,200
T-201
Storage

Stainless Product Water Tank

10,000 L each · SS304 · sanitary fittings, CIP ball

Holds treated water ready for the filling line; cleaned in place weekly.

Qty
2
Power
—
Unit price
$3,000–5,000
BM-301
Bottle making

PET Stretch Blow Moulding Machine

2,000 bottles/h · 2 cavities · 0.2–2 L

Heats PET preforms and blows them into bottles in-house, cutting packaging cost.

Qty
1
Power
30 kW
Unit price
$8,000–15,000
AC-301
Utilities

High-Pressure Air Compressor & Dryer

30 bar · 1.2 m³/min · refrigerated dryer + receiver

Supplies clean, dry high-pressure air for blow moulding and line pneumatics.

Qty
1
Power
22 kW
Unit price
$5,000–9,000
RFC-301
Filling

Rinse-Fill-Cap Monobloc

24 rinse · 24 fill · 8 cap heads · 3,000 bottles/h

Rinses each bottle with ozonated water, gravity-fills and screw-caps it in one enclosure.

Qty
1
Power
4 kW
Unit price
$15,000–25,000
BF-302
Filling

20 L Barrel Wash-Fill-Cap Line

120 barrels/h · brush + detergent + rinse stations

Washes returnable 20 L barrels inside and out, then fills and caps them.

Qty
1
Power
5 kW
Unit price
$5,000–9,000
LB-401
Labelling

Shrink-Sleeve Labeller & Steam Tunnel

3,000 bottles/h · steam generator included

Places a printed PVC/PET sleeve on each bottle and shrinks it tight with steam.

Qty
1
Power
18 kW
Unit price
$4,000–8,000
IJ-401
Labelling

Inkjet Date & Batch Coder

Continuous inkjet · 2 lines of text · encoder-synced

Prints batch number and best-before date for traceability.

Qty
1
Power
0.2 kW
Unit price
$1,200–2,500
SW-401
Packing

Shrink-Wrap Packer

8–10 packs/min · PE film · heat tunnel

Groups bottles into 12- or 24-packs and shrink-wraps them for dispatch.

Qty
1
Power
15 kW
Unit price
$3,500–7,000
QC-501
Quality

Quality-Control Lab Kit

TDS, pH, turbidity meters · incubator · membrane filtration

Tests every batch for TDS, pH and turbidity and runs daily microbiology.

Qty
1
Power
1 kW
Unit price
$1,500–3,500
Line items17
Machines18
Connected load≈ 108 kW
Equipment budgetUS$60,300 – 110,300

Indicative ex-works prices (US$, 2026) for budgeting a sample project, not quotations. Photos are illustrative of each machine class.

Process flow diagram

From raw material to dispatch

10 unit operations in order, with the equipment that performs each and its control point.

Download PFD (SVG)
Process flow diagram of the Purified Water Bottling Plant: 1. Raw water intake, 2. Multi-media filtration, 3. Carbon & softening, 4. Reverse osmosis, 5. UV & ozone disinfection, 6. Product water storage, 7. Bottle blowing, 8. Rinse, fill & cap, 9. Label & code, 10. Pack & dispatch.
StepOperationEquipmentControl point
01 Raw water intakeBorehole water is pumped into the raw-water tank; a level switch stops the pump when full. P-101 Submersible Borehole PumpT-101 Raw Water Storage Tank Tank level · raw-water TDS weekly
02 Multi-media filtrationSand and anthracite beds remove suspended solids above 5 µm.Backwash → drain F-101 Multi-Media Sand Filter Differential pressure · backwash every 24 h
03 Carbon & softeningCarbon removes chlorine and odour; resin exchanges calcium and magnesium for sodium. F-102 Activated Carbon FilterF-103 Ion-Exchange Water Softener Free chlorine < 0.1 mg/L · hardness < 17 mg/L
04 Reverse osmosisA 5 µm cartridge guards the membranes; two RO stages reject about 99 % of dissolved solids.Reject → drain / reuse RO-201 Two-Stage Reverse Osmosis System Permeate TDS < 50 mg/L · recovery 70–75 %
05 UV & ozone disinfectionUV inactivates micro-organisms; ozone is dosed for residual protection. UV-201 UV SteriliserOZ-201 Ozone Generator & Mixing Tower UV intensity alarm · ozone 0.2–0.4 mg/L
06 Product water storageTreated water is held in stainless tanks feeding the filler. T-201 Stainless Product Water Tank Micro test daily · tank CIP weekly
07 Bottle blowingPET preforms are heated and stretch-blown into bottles with 30 bar air. BM-301 PET Stretch Blow Moulding MachineAC-301 High-Pressure Air Compressor & Dryer Wall thickness · top-load test per shift
08 Rinse, fill & capBottles are rinsed with ozonated water, gravity-filled and screw-capped. RFC-301 Rinse-Fill-Cap MonoblocBF-302 20 L Barrel Wash-Fill-Cap Line Fill volume ± 1 % · cap torque
09 Label & codeShrink sleeves are applied and shrunk; each bottle is batch- and date-coded. LB-401 Shrink-Sleeve Labeller & Steam TunnelIJ-401 Inkjet Date & Batch Coder Label position · code legibility
10 Pack & dispatchBottles are shrink-wrapped into packs, palletised and released after QC sign-off. SW-401 Shrink-Wrap PackerQC-501 Quality-Control Lab Kit Batch release by QC
Schematic

Plant layout

6 zones arranged for one-way material flow, with every item of equipment placed by tag.

Download layout (SVG)
Plant layout schematic of the Purified Water Bottling Plant: Raw water & pre-treatment, RO & disinfection room, Blow-moulding room, Filling hall (clean zone), Labelling & packing, QC lab & finished goods.
Features & capacities

Why this line works

Triple disinfection

RO, UV and ozone in series keep product water microbiologically safe.

In-house bottle making

Blowing your own PET bottles cuts packaging cost by 30–40 % against bought-in bottles.

Hygienic monobloc

Rinse, fill and cap happen in one enclosed machine, so no open bottles travel through the hall.

Water recovery

RO reject can be reused for floor washing and barrel pre-rinse.

Full traceability

Every bottle carries a batch and date code linked to its lab results.

Room to grow

The RO and filler are sized to double output with a third shift.

Capacities

Treated water
2,000 L/h · 32,000 L/day max
500 ml bottles
3,000/h
1 L bottles
2,000/h
5 L bottles
600/h
20 L barrels
120/h
Product TDS
< 50 mg/L (KEBS limit 500)

Utilities required

Electricity
≈ 110 kW connected · 415 V 3-phase · 60 kVA genset backup
Raw water
≈ 30 m³/day borehole yield
Compressed air
30 bar for blowing · 7 bar for pneumatics
Drainage
RO reject and backwash to soak pit or reuse tank
Process instructions

Standard operating procedures

The core routines operators follow, from start-up to batch release.

01Daily start-up

  1. Check raw-water and product-tank levels; confirm the borehole pump is on auto.
  2. Start pre-treatment and let the sand and carbon filters run to drain for 5 minutes.
  3. Start the RO; record feed pressure, permeate flow and permeate TDS before sending water to storage.
  4. Switch on UV and ozone and confirm intensity and ozone residual readings.
  5. Warm up the blow moulder ovens and run test bottles for wall-thickness checks.

02Production run

  1. Load preforms, caps and sleeves for the scheduled SKU; set the filler volume.
  2. Take a fill-volume and cap-torque sample every 30 minutes.
  3. Keep a batch sheet: start and end time, bottle count, codes printed, rejects.
  4. Quarantine each pallet until QC releases the batch.

03Cleaning & sanitation (CIP)

  1. Flush the filler and product lines with hot water at the end of each day.
  2. Weekly: circulate alkaline then acid detergent through tanks and filler, then rinse to neutral pH.
  3. Sanitise with peracetic acid or ozonated water and verify with a swab test.
  4. Backwash filters daily; regenerate the softener when hardness breaks through.

04Quality checks

  1. Every batch: TDS, pH and turbidity against the KEBS standard.
  2. Daily: E. coli and total coliforms by membrane filtration and incubation.
  3. Keep retention samples of every batch for 3 months.
Process documents

The full project document

11 sections: open any one to read it, or download the whole document.

PDF Word
01Executive Summary

Crystal Springs Water is a purified water bottling facility located in Athi River, Kenya, producing 20,000 liters of bottled water daily (500ml, 1L, 5L, and 20L formats). The plant uses multi-stage reverse osmosis, UV sterilization, and automated filling technology.

MetricValue
Daily Production Capacity20,000 liters
Annual Revenue (Year 1)KES 36,000,000 (~$280,000)
Initial InvestmentKES 15,000,000 (~$115,000)
Break-evenMonth 10
Employees18
02Production Process

Water Treatment Stages

StageProcessPurposeEquipment
1Raw Water IntakeBorehole extractionSubmersible pump (5HP)
2Pre-FiltrationRemove sediment >5 micronMulti-media sand filter
3Activated CarbonRemove chlorine, taste, odorGranular activated carbon vessel
4Water SofteningRemove calcium, magnesiumIon exchange resin vessel
5Reverse OsmosisRemove 99% of dissolved solids2-stage RO system (2,000 L/hr)
6UV SterilizationKill bacteria and virusesUV chamber (40mJ/cm2)
7OzonationFinal disinfection + shelf lifeOzone generator (5g/hr)
8StorageClean water holdingStainless steel tanks (10,000L x 2)

Bottling Line

  • Bottle Blowing: PET preform blowing machine (2,000 bottles/hour)
  • Washing: Automatic bottle rinser (air + ozonated water)
  • Filling: Gravity filler (24 heads, 3,000 bottles/hour)
  • Capping: Automatic screw capper
  • Labeling: Shrink sleeve applicator
  • Packaging: Shrink-wrap packaging machine
03Quality Standards & Compliance

Regulatory Requirements

CertificationAuthorityTimelineCost (KES)
KEBS Quality MarkKenya Bureau of Standards3-6 months150,000
NEMA LicenseNational Environment Authority2-3 months50,000
County Business PermitMachakos County1 month30,000
Public Health LicenseMinistry of Health2 months25,000
HACCP CertificationAccredited CB6-9 months200,000

Water Quality Testing

ParameterKEBS StandardOur TargetFrequency
TDS< 500 mg/L< 50 mg/LEvery batch
pH6.5 - 8.56.8 - 7.2Every batch
E. coli0 CFU/100ml0 CFU/100mlDaily
Total Coliforms0 CFU/100ml0 CFU/100mlDaily
Turbidity< 5 NTU< 0.5 NTUEvery batch
04Financial Projections

Capital Expenditure

ItemCost (KES)
RO water treatment system3,500,000
Bottling line (blower + filler + capper)4,200,000
Labeling & packaging machines1,200,000
Borehole drilling & pump800,000
Factory fit-out & plumbing1,500,000
Generator (50kVA backup)1,000,000
Delivery truck1,800,000
Working capital1,000,000
Total15,000,000

Monthly Operating Costs

ItemMonthly (KES)
Raw materials (PET preforms, caps, labels)800,000
Staff salaries (18 employees)450,000
Electricity & water120,000
Rent150,000
Transport & distribution200,000
Marketing100,000
Maintenance & consumables80,000
Total Monthly OPEX1,900,000
05Distribution Strategy
Channel% RevenueKey Accounts
Wholesale Distributors40%5 regional distributors covering Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru
Retail (Supermarkets)25%Naivas, Quickmart, Carrefour
Institutional (20L refill)20%Offices, schools, hospitals
Direct / Online15%Company website + delivery apps
06Market Analysis & Opportunity

Kenya's bottled water market reached KES 18 billion in 2025 and is growing at 11% CAGR, driven by urban water-quality concerns, rising disposable incomes and tourism rebound. East Africa's wider market is valued at KES 52 billion with Tanzania and Uganda growing fastest.

Market Sizing (TAM / SAM / SOM)

TierDefinitionValue (KES)
TAMTotal East African bottled water52 billion
SAMNairobi + Mombasa metro retail & institutional6.4 billion
SOM (Year 3)Crystal Springs share at 2% of SAM128 million

Competitive Landscape

BrandPositioningEst. ShareWeakness
DasaniPremium, supermarket-led22%High price, plastic-waste image
KeringetMineral water, mid-premium15%Limited 20L institutional reach
AquamistMass market, value10%Inconsistent quality reports
Local refillers20L dispenser fill-ups30% (fragmented)Trust + safety concerns

Crystal Springs differentiation: KEBS-certified premium quality at a 15% lower retail price than Dasani, with reliable institutional 20L refill service backed by GPS-tracked delivery.

07Marketing & Sales Strategy

Brand Positioning

Premium-affordable: KEBS Diamond Mark certified water at a price 12-18% below Dasani / Aquafina. Brand story emphasises the borehole source, multi-stage purification, and Kenyan ownership.

Go-to-Market Sequence

PhaseMonthsFocusTargets
1. Launch1-3Local retail + influencer reviews in Nairobi15 supermarket SKUs listed, 200 retailers
2. Scale4-9Distributor onboarding, institutional 20L5 distributors, 80 corporate accounts
3. Expand10-18Mombasa & Nakuru, online D2C2 regional depots, 25% online share

Customer Acquisition Cost

ChannelCAC (KES)LTV (KES)Payback
Institutional (20L)3,50072,0002 months
Retail Listingsper-SKU listing fees—3 months
D2C / Delivery Apps1802,4004 orders
08Staffing & Organization
RoleHeadcountMonthly Cost (KES)Reports To
Managing Director1180,000Board
Plant Manager190,000MD
QA / Lab Technician155,000Plant Manager
Production Operators622,000 eachPlant Manager
Warehouse & Loading320,000 eachPlant Manager
Sales & Distribution Lead175,000MD
Sales Representatives335,000 eachSales Lead
Drivers230,000 eachSales Lead
Accountant / Admin160,000MD
Total19~840,000—

Training: KEBS Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification for production team; HACCP food-safety induction for all new staff within 30 days of joining.

09Implementation Timeline
MonthMilestoneOwnerDependency
M1Land lease + borehole drilling permitMDWRA approval
M2Borehole drilling + flow testPlant ManagerDrilling contractor
M3Equipment procurement order (RO + bottling line)MDFinancing closed
M4-5Factory fit-out, electrical, plumbingPlant ManagerContractor
M6Equipment installation + commissioningPlant ManagerVendor engineers
M7KEBS + NEMA + Public Health inspectionsQA LeadTest results
M8Trial production + staff trainingPlant ManagerCertifications
M9Commercial launch, first 5 distributors signedSales LeadTrade marketing
M10-12Reach 70% capacity, expand to MombasaMDWorking capital
10Risk Analysis & Mitigation
RiskLikelihoodImpactMitigation
Borehole yield below 25 m³/dayMediumHighHydrogeological survey before drilling; backup municipal connection
KEBS certification delayMediumHighEngage KEBS-accredited consultant from M4; pre-submit dossiers
PET resin price volatilityHighMediumQuarterly forward contracts with 2 suppliers; passthrough clause in distributor contracts
Power outages (KPLC)HighMedium50 kVA standby generator (in CAPEX); inverter battery for control systems
Distributor non-paymentMediumMedium14-day credit limits, credit insurance on top 3 accounts
New entrant price warMediumMediumLock institutional 20L contracts at 12-month terms with volume rebates
11Funding Requirements

Total Ask: KES 15,000,000 (~$115,000) split as KES 10M asset-backed debt + KES 5M founder equity.

Use of Funds

CategoryAmount (KES)% of Total
Equipment (RO + bottling + packaging)8,900,00059%
Borehole + factory civil works2,300,00015%
Generator + utilities1,000,0007%
Delivery truck1,800,00012%
Working capital (3 months OPEX)1,000,0007%

Expected Return

MetricYear 1Year 2Year 3
EBITDA Margin14%22%28%
Debt Service Coverage1.3x1.9x2.6x

Exit: Investor IRR ~32% over 5 years via strategic acquisition by a regional beverage group.

Get the complete package

Equipment specifications, process flow diagrams, recipes and the business plan, bundled as one download.

Download Manufacturing Package Download Business Plan Package