SANBWA is a broad-based association and has several different types of membership options. The two main categories are bottler members and affiliate members. Affiliate members can include academic institutions, retailers and companies providing products and services to the bottled water industry.
Membership of SANBWA is open to all bottlers of all forms of packaged water according to R718 (bottler members), as well as those active in any industry associated to the bottled water industry (affiliate members).
Affiliate membership is open to those active in any industry associated to the bottled water industry upon payment of the annual fees as prescribed by the fee schedule. Affiliate members should uphold the vision, mission and values of the association as well as all relevant legislation, and can include suppliers, retail trade members, industry bodies and educational institutions.
While bottler membership is open to all bottlers of all forms of packaged water according to R718, there are a number of provisos governing bottler membership, including:
- A member must be a registered trading company.
- All production facilities bottling a SANBWA member brand are registered with SANBWA.
- Production and/or sales of a member’s products must be within the South African boundaries.
- Annual fees, based on total annual production volume and calculated using the schedule approved by SANBWA’s directors each year, must be paid by the due date.
- The member complies at all times with the prevailing SANBWA Bottled Water Standard.
- The member adheres to all legal requirements and SANBWA membership rules.
Bottler members therefore include bottlers of natural water and waters defined by origin, of prepared waters and of bulk water for office coolers.
Every year, SANBWA’s third-party auditor audits bottler members to ensure that their source, bottling facility, final product and every aspect of their bottling process adheres to SANBWA’s standards. ANBWA also randomly samples member bottler products from the shelves on a monthly basis and has them tested for microbiological contaminants.
All SANBWA member bottlers are obliged to carry the SANBWA logo on their bottles. The logo acts as a seal of safety and quality.
Enquire about purchasing the SANBWA Standard
Read more about criteria and rules for bottler membership here
The scope of the SANBWA Standard and membership does not include:
- Suppliers of bulk water distributed to rural areas. This type of water is deemed a public water supply and therefore does not fall within the scope of South Africa’s Packaged Water Legislation.
- Bottlers that refill into customer’s own containers. Because this type of water is not hermetically sealed and it is intended for home use it is deemed drinking water and a non-food, and therefore does not fall within the scope of South Africa’s Packaged Water Legislation as per section R718.
- SANBWA, in the consumer’s interest, also cannot offer membership to a brand where both drinking water and packaged water is produced under the same brand name.
