serious question: should i start bottling spring water and selling it?

[Gato Moteado]

i've got 4 or 5 year round springs that spew out jillions of gallons of great, pure, delicious water. what we don't use or drink just goes happily down the stream, eventually to the ocean a few miles away.

does anyone here know much about bottling and selling spring water? is it worth considering bottling this stuff up and labeling it and exporting it to the states? what are the startup costs of this kind of an operation? is it a viable biz?

[RidinMyDonkey]

1. I wouldn't

It's a bad time to get into the bottled water business. I think, (or rather, I hope) Americans are trying to move away from bottled water because of the plastic issue. You could create an environmentalist friendly company by using another resource to bottle. You'd be the first of the kind, I think. :D

[tekisui]

2. You just have to build a big factory on you pristine property.

Bottling it for yourself and friends and neighbors would be a good idea.

But, to bottle and sell it, you would have to invest heavy and jump through a lot of hoops.

[Gato Moteado]

5. a factory?

couldn't we run a long hose (which we already have) from the spring to the road and fill up large trucks that take the water to a bottling plant?

[tekisui]

8. Maybe so, I hadn't thought of that.

[robinlynne]

3. Why couldn't people bring their own containers and you just sell the water?

I disagree with the people here. you have an amazing resource. Just figure out a way to not create plastic pollution.

[Gato Moteado]

6. well, i don't want to get into the retail biz.....

...and my property is remote and in the middle of central america. my target market would be yuppies and other afluent US consumers. i doubt they'd want to spend $600 or $700 on airfare and then drive along crappy roads for several hours just to fill up a plastic jug of spring water. people down here wouldn't pay for that stuff.

as for the plastic pollution, i'm with you. i guess we just can't guarantee that everyone recycles :(

[robinlynne]

9. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[Adsos Letter]

4. Insurance...

I would think some form of liability insurance would be necessary...just in case someone got sick in some way which could be traced back to your operation.

Might be worth the cost.

[deaniac21]

7. Buy up large quantities of bottled water and create a spring.