Water refill walk-in branches reopen after panic buying spike

TOP WATER purification company H2O International has reopened its walk-in refill service in six branches in the province, after identifying alternative, non-municipal water sources.

Earlier this month, H2O International founder and chief executive Tony Marchesini suspended the company’s water refill service until alternative water sources could be secured. This followed a “panic water buying” spike at outlets.

“We decided to suspend the water refill service when Level 6b restrictions kicked in on February 1.

‘‘We had no idea that the weekend before that date there would be a run on our stores as panic water buying set in.

“As we do not condone stockpiling, we were horrified,” Marchesini said.

Now with the nationwide logistics of the collection and delivery of bottled water being finalised, six branches – Knysna, Mossel Bay, the Garden Route, Hermanus, Stellenbosch and Paarl – will be able to continue the service.

“All those utilising our water refill services at these branches can be guaranteed they are not putting pressure on municipal resources and are refilling responsibly,” Marchesini said.

In 2009, the walk-in water refill service was introduced to H2O International SA franchises.

“With the requisite permits in place, we began to run tap water through the H2O systems at our franchise outlets, filling and refilling our clients’ water containers. We charged a nominal filtration fee (R1 a litre),” Marchesini said.

The City has appealed to the public to keep all taps closed and store five to 10 litres of water for essential purposes during this time, but to not store an excessive amount of municipal water. Dam levels stand at 24.6%. According to the City’s water dashboard, Day Zero is marked as June 4.