1.1 Introduction

A water fountain is a machine that produces a small stream of water for drinking. There are 3 kinds of water fountains on the market:

The carboy water fountain,
The networked water fountain,
The atmospheric water fountain.

The number of drinking fountains in Europe has been steadily growing with a CAGR of 1.7% from 2010 to 2019, reaching 3.22 millions in 2019. The European water fountain market is expected to continue to expand and there is a significant opportunity for water filtering ad water cooler companies to innovate.

The French market has also been following this trend: even though the number of carboy fountains is decreasing, the networked fountains have been rising in the past years, as a more modern and technologically advanced solution for water filtration. The number of drinking fountains in France has reached 560 thousand in 2019.

The main players of the international market include Primo, Oasis, Clover, Aqua Clara, Champ, Waterlogic, Honeywell, Culligan. The market leaders in France are Culligan, Waterlogic, and Château d'eau, but the market is fragmented and a lot of new, specialized companies are entering the market.

1.2 The European market

In ****, the total installed base of water dispense units in Europe rose by *.*% in to *.** million units. Whilst the growth in **** was similar to ****, annual growth over the review period has been strong, posting a CAGR of *.**% for ****-**** in unit terms.

Nombre de fontaines à eau Europe, ****-****, en millions d'euros Source: ...

1.3 The French market

Drinking fountains are becoming increasingly popular in offices, workshops and factories in France. As a simple and practical way to comply with regulations so that all employees have access to potable water points, distributors are modernizing and now provide more than just cold water.

The graph below shows the decreasing number ...

1.4 Covid Impact

The Covid-** pandemic and the restrictions caused by it had very important consequences on the fountain market.

As the workplace became a potentially dangerous environment, and people started to work from home, the demand for water fountains, a device mainly used in offices and common working spaces, began to decline.

In ...

2.1 Characteristics of the demand

The French company of microfiltered water CASTALIE, has conducted a survey and questioned more than *,*** employees in order to better understand the practices related to the consumption of water in companies and in the workplace. This represents in fact a vital need, that is however still completely neglected or very little ...

2.2 Demand drivers

Attention to the work environment

The French clearly express the need and desire to have a water fountain in a dedicated relaxation area. In fact, the water fountain, like the coffee machine, represents a place of contact and discussion amd also conveys the image of cleanliness and hygiene in the workplace. ...

2.3 Hydration in the workplace

Les Français ne boivent pas assez d'eau, en effet, des études montrent que pour les **-** ans, à peine **% d'entre eux couvrent le besoin quotidien en eau.

Cela a un impact énorme sur la santé des salariés, tant sur le plan physique que psychologique. Des études montrent que lorsque le ...

2.4 The rental of water fountains

The preference for the rental option has been growing in the last years in the water fountain demand.

There are, in fact, two management modes when purchasing a water dispenser.

Rental, favored by companies, offers an attractive service provision (***). The contract includes insurance, upkeep, maintenance and repair. The purchase has the ...

3.1 Market structure

The activity of the water fountain is only present in France on the business market (***). The water cooler market is segmented into * categories:

The carboy fountain The network fountain The atmosphere fountain

These kinds of fountains are mainly adopted by enterprises, which take up **% of the pie, but public institutions and ...

3.2 Value chain

An overview of the value chain is synthesized below.

3.3 Main players

The main players of this industry are exemplified below by their revenue. These include large, B*B companies specialized in corporate service and minor players, which also offer direct consumer solutions.

Three players are the market leaders in water distribution in France: Culligan, Waterlogic and Château d'eau .

Culligan has established ...

3.4 The sources of water in France

The association AFIFAE (***) represents the main players in the industry of water fountains and represents over **** employees. Its mission consists in promoting, inform and represent its members.

The association provides data about this market and an overview of the main water sources used by its members. The map below shows the ...

4.1 Overview of the offer

Three types of water fountains are currently available on the market: the carboy fountain, the network fountain and the atmospheric fountain.

Fountain in carboy

This type of machine is easily recognizable. Indeed, these are the ones that have a big plastic tank on the top. This range of products is ideal ...

4.2 Prices

Price ranges of water dispensers by type of machine and associated costs

The different types of business water dispensers are now sold at affordable prices . But the associated costs always make the rental of water fountains particularly attractive financially.

Price of water distributors by type of technology used:

In addition to ...

4.3 Innovation

Standardization

The European and the domestic French associations have been implementing a series of regulations to improve standardization across Europe.

For example, the new size standard for *-gallon bottles was approved during the Rome Congress in ****. A reusable bottle must complete multiple functions during its life cycle:

Handling of empty ...

5.1 Regulation

The current legislation regulating water fountains and related objects is presented below.

In ****, the following laws were implemented in France.

December: article ** of law n ° ****-*** relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy, provides that:

" As of January *, ****, establishments open to the public are required to be ...

5.2 The ACS standard

The materials used for the storage and transport of water can have a negative impact on water quality: organic degradation, corrosion, the appearance of toxic elements.

This is why, since ****, the Certificate of Sanitary Conformity (***) is compulsory for all devices which come into contact with water intended for human consumption. It ...