What to ask before installing a dispenser in your gym
A badly installed dispenser only shows itself in month three: the filter not changed, the machine off at peak hour, nobody answering the phone. The questions below are asked before signing, because afterwards you negotiate from a weaker position.
Installation
1. Who makes the connection, and who answers if something goes wrong with the plumbing? The answer must be a person or a company, not "we'll take care of it".
2. What pressure and what connection does the machine require? If you are not told specifics, no technical site visit has taken place.
3. Where will it go, and why there? A mains-connected dispenser has a fixed position. The choice of location — flow of people, distance from the changing rooms, access for maintenance — is made once.
4. What happens to the drainage? Every serving point produces water that has to go somewhere. If the answer is vague, you will find out on your own.
Maintenance
5. At what interval are the filters changed, and who changes them?
6. Who keeps the record of changes, and can I see it? A record you cannot consult is not a record.
7. How is the serving point sanitised, and how often?
8. How quickly do you respond to a breakdown? Ask for an interval, not a promise. And ask what happens if it is not met.
Costs
9. What do I pay at installation, and what do I pay monthly?
10. What is NOT included? This question brings out more than the list of what is included.
11. What happens at the end of the contract — who removes the machine, and at whose expense?
12. Can the price be changed unilaterally? Under what conditions?
Data and compliance
13. What data does the machine and the app collect, and who sees it? If the system works on subscription, someone is processing personal data. Ask who the controller is and where the privacy policy is.
14. Which health claim do you use in your commercial materials? This is the question that quickly separates a serious supplier from one taking risks. In the European Union there is one authorised claim for water, with its condition of 2 litres a day from all sources. For molecular hydrogen there is none.
If the answer contains promises about health effects, the problem is not only the supplier's: the material ends up displayed in your gym. The details are in the guide to checking claims.
An administrative detail many people miss
A water serving point in a public space falls within the scope of sanitary-veterinary registration. Ask the supplier whether the machine installed at your site is registered, and in whose name. The answer should be a document, not a verbal assurance.
At Unikat Flow, each dispenser has its own serial number and appears on the list registered in the operator's name — the serials are published on each location page.
Key points
- Questions about what is NOT included tell you more than the list of services.
- Ask for response intervals, not promises.
- The maintenance record must be one you can consult.
- The supplier's commercial materials end up on your walls — check their compliance.
- Sanitary-veterinary registration is proven with a document.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 — EUR-Lex, CELEX 32006R1924
- Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 — EUR-Lex, CELEX 32012R0432
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 — EUR-Lex, CELEX 32011R1169
