Basic Equipment and Materials for Bottle or Sachet Water Production in Nigeria
For every one with the intention to start a bottle or sachet water production factory, it is appropriate to know the facilities, equipment, accessories and sundry materials needed for the successful operation of a water production factory.
The factory should comply with NAFDAC regulatory standards as regards sectioning, directional flow of departments, operating procedures and other sundry requirements. The NAFDAC Guidelines for setting up a Packaged Water Factory and Food Manufacturing Factory gives a better outline of the registration process. The basic equipment and materials for bottle or sachet water production in Nigeria are outlined below.
GENERAL SAFETY:
- Fire Extinguishers
- Fire Blankets
- Sand Buckets
RAW WATER PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT:
This is your source of raw water for producing your packaged bottle or sachet water. The submersible pump is meant for factories that use boreholes instead of municipal or other water source. All the pumps must not be made from galvanized metal. Three (3) Storage Tanks are ideal. One tank for Raw Water storage, another for treatment process and the third tank for post-Treatment water Storage.
- PVC Water Tanks (Black Colour preferably)
- Submersible Water Pumping Machine (1HP or more)
- Surface Pumping Machine (1HP or more)
- Aeration faucets
- PVC Pipes and plumbing fittings
WATER TREATMENT EQUIPMENT AND REAGENTS:
There are completely automated combo units with RO Filter systems for water treatment, these are more expensive. The fibre filter plant is the next best filter module followed by the regular carbon and sand filter units. Dosing can be manually done, however, dosing pumps make for easy addition of chlorine and other chemicals during the treatment process.
- Reverse Osmosis (RO) Module
- Industrial Water Filtration Modules (Fibre Plants, Activated Carbon Bed & Sand Bed Filters)
- Ozone Generator
- Micro-Filter Cartridge Housing/Casing
- Micro-Filter Cartridges (0.5µ (Micron), 2µ and 5µ pore Size)
- Ultra-Violet (UV) Sterilizer
- Ultraviolet (UV) Lamps (Switches should be placed outside the rooms!)
- Dosing Pumps
- Liquid chlorine
- Calcium hypochlorite powder
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Isopropyl alcohol (IPA)
- Green sand, activated carbon/charcoal, ion exchange resins (cations & anions)
- Alkali (NaOH, KOH)
- Mineral acid (HCl, H2SO4, HNO3)
NOTE: Some of the chemicals listed above are for cleaning the RO membrane, others are for disinfection purpose in water treatment, or factory cleaning and sanitation.
PACKAGED BOTTLE & SACHET WATER PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT:
For Bottle Water production, the machines can be fully automated combo units or semi-automated units. Manual filling methods are not allowed by regulation for conventional plastic bottles sizes except for dispenser bottles.
- Fully Automated Bottle Water Production Line (Automatic washing, filling & capping combo unit)
- Semi-Automated Bottle Washing Machine
- Semi-Automated Bottle Filler
- Semi-Automated Bottle Capper/Corker
- Automatic or manual electric Batch coding machine
- Automatic labeling machine (labeling can be done manually)
- Shrink wrap machine (shrink wrapping can be done with > 500W electric shrink guns or gas lamps)
Update on the basic equipment and materials for bottle or sachet water production in Nigeria… as of the year 2019, NAFDAC requires fully automated bottle water production machine/line for new bottle water factory registration. Already existing bottle water factories with semi-automated machines, have been directed to upgrade their facilities to fully automated bottle water production line. We are not privy to given deadlines for compliance, but refusal to renew the NAFDAC registration number of products for defaulting factories is one possible penalty. Another possibility is outright sealing of defaulting facilities pending full compliance.
For Sachet Water production, an analogue or digital automatic sachet water filler machine is the standard. The read out screen and knobs is what differentiate analogue sachet water filler machines from digital ones.
- Automated Sachet Water Filler (Analogue or digital) with batch coding capacity.
- Batch Coding Stamp (For machines without automatic batch coder)
- Receiving Basin
- Short stools/chairs (plastic or stainless steel)
PACKAGING MATERIALS
- Bottle Mould (for branded bottles)
- Bottles (50 cl, 60 cl, 75 cl, 1 L, 1.5 L)
- Bottle Caps (28 mm, 30 mm )
- Labels
- polythene shrink wraps (for bottle packaging)
- Packaging Nylon (printed sachet rolls)
- Packaging bags (wraps for sachet water pieces)
- Hot Air Gun ( for fixing labels and cap seals)
PERSONNEL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT:
- Reusable or disposable Food Handling gloves (preferably powder-free polyethylene or latex), as well as heavy duty rubber gloves.
- Hygiene Face masks
- Head Net/Cap
- Laboratory Coat/Apron
- Rubber Boots/Clogs
- Hand sanitizers
QUALITY ASSURANCE EQUIPMENT (IN HOUSE):
Large scale facilities have a fully functional laboratory. However, for regular water production facilities, basic in-house quality assurance requires at least physical checking of water products for odour, colour, particles and taste. The measurement meters such as pH meters and conductivity meters are used to check the pH, conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids and a few other parameters that help indicate the quality of the treated, and produced water. Full Laboratory analyses for the water products are outsourced to IPAN registered laboratories.
- pH Meter (hand held or bench top)
- Conductivity/TDS Meter
- Weighing Balance (from 2kg Load capacity above)
- Glass Beakers (600ml/1000ml capacity)
- Glass Measuring Cylinder (500ml capacity)
- Water Testing Kit
- Plastic pallets. Technically a QC material with many preventive functions.
CLEANING & SANITATION
- Bottle Washer Brush
- Long-Handle Hard Brush (for cleaning the storage tanks)
- Food Grade Liquid Detergent
- Cleaning Mop
- Dust Brush/Sweeping Brush
- Cobweb Brush
- Disposable Wipes
- Waste Bin
- Pallets (Plastic)
Your Bottle or Sachet water production factory is expected to have a means of effective product distribution, production records and other necessities required for successful operation of your business.
Check out samples of cleaning and sanitation standard operating procedures (SOP) for sachet water production and packaging factories [Cleaning SOP].