Frequently Asked Questions
Castalie commitments
Founded in 2011 by Thibault Lamarque, Castalie a French company that offers eco-designed water coolers and containers to provide businesses, cafes, hotels, and restaurants with high-quality microfiltered water.
This Dutch foundation facilitates access to drinking water in several countries, including Ethiopia. Castalie partnered with Made Blue finance drinking water access points in this country. The goal is to provide access to drinking water to more than 35,000 Ethiopians through 35 water points, managed locally by micro-entrepreneurs.
What is an ESAT?
An Establishment for Assistance through Work (ESAT) welcomes people with disabilities in order to contribute to their social and professional integration.
Why Castalie with ESAT Yvonne Wendling?
Castalie chosen to establish local roots and partner with community organizations in order to align its values of commitment with its actions.
Today, more than 15 workers with disabilities contribute in many ways to Castalie success Castalie
- the assembly of 100% of our filtration kits, essential systems for enjoying Castalie water
- the packaging of our bottle caps
- preparing Welcome Kits, which we give to our customers on the day their fountain is installed
Castalie a company that, since its creation in 2011, has been promoting the circular economy by offering a sustainable, high-quality alternative to bottled water. We are therefore fully part of the social and solidarity economy.
What is the SSE?
Castalie a social and solidarity economy (SSE) enterprise, like nearly 3,000 other companies in France.
What does this mean in practical terms?
The social and solidarity economy brings together organizations seeking to reconcile social utility, solidarity, economic performance, and shared governance, with the aim of creating jobs and developing greater social cohesion.
The Castalie Fountains
At Castalie, we have chosen to work with European and French partners whenever possible.
As such, 100% of the water coolers we design for businesses, restaurants, and hotels are assembled in France—near Lille—in Italy—near Ancona—or in Spain in Lucena.
The vast majority of the components in our fountains also come from neighboring countries.
Our filtration kits are assembled in an ESAT (establishment and service providing assistance through work) by 15 workers with disabilities. This establishment is located... 500 meters from our warehouse in Issy-les-Moulineaux!
Our furniture is also assembled in France—white stainless steel or oak furniture—or in Romania—pine furniture.
To understand in a few lines how a micro-filtered water fountain works, visit the dedicated page: how does a water filter fountain work?
Microfiltration is a membrane filtration process that removes particles from water that are around one micron in size (100 times finer than the thickness of a hair). At Castalie, the membrane mesh size is 0.5 microns, one of the finest microfiltration mesh sizes possible.
In addition to this membrane, Castalie activated carbon into its filters. The role of activated carbon is to remove chlorine from the mains water supply to stabilize the bacteriology. As a result, Castalie water Castalie completely neutral in taste. This carbon also plays an important role in adsorbing heavy metal residues, pesticides, pesticide metabolites, and PFAS, the infamous forever chemicals. Castalie microfiltration Castalie remove the minerals naturally present in water, in order to guarantee optimal sparkle.Castalie fountains Castalie still water at room temperature, chilled, or hot, as well as sparkling water, depending on your preferences and the model available.
In 2021, we collaborated with the international firm Quantis to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) comparing Castalie water Castalie plastic bottled water. This study was reviewed and validated by three independent experts.
This new Life Cycle Assessment covers our Pure CAS IoT water cooler, manufactured in northern France, and our "55" bottle, manufactured in Italy.
The results are very interesting: Castalie a much lower impact than plastic bottles across all 16 impact categories studied.
In terms of its contribution to climate change, Castalie water Castalie nine times less impact than water in plastic bottles.
- 50cL of Castalie water Castalie 12.5g CO2eq.
- 50cL plastic water bottle = 133g CO2eq
We offer a wide range of water dispensers that can be tailored to your specific needs, considering various factors such as the desired water type (still, sparkling, hot, or cold), available space, and the number of users.
As each project is unique, we invite you to contact us or discover here which fountain might be best suited to your needs.
In 2020, Castalie the world's first connected water fountain. Far from being just another connected gadget, this new generation of fountains enriches the customer experience and improves our service:
- Your connected customer interface allows you to monitor the status of your Castalie water coolers, your water consumption, and the plastic waste savings achieved in real time.
- Our teams can monitor the condition of the fountain in real time and make them increasingly reliable.
- Reduce breakdowns and interventions with predictive maintenance
In order to benefit from the Castalie solution Castalie enjoy microfiltered water, a few things need to be checked before installation. A project manager will visit you to confirm a few prerequisites, such as the presence of an electrical outlet, a water supply, and a drain.
A variety of configurations and volume capacities are available. To discuss the best placement of our water fountains for your establishment, please contact us. contact us
Castalie water coolers Castalie ready to use! The installation of your water cooler(s) is included in your contract, as is maintenance.
For restaurants & hotels
There are many ways to integrate Castalie solutions into your establishment, from traditional sales models to innovative concepts centered around water. Our teams will advise you based on your type of establishment (hotel or restaurant), positioning, and price range.
The fountain is directly connected to the water supply. The water passes through a sieve filter and a natural carbon filter, which reduce chlorine, rare particles, and residues. The water has a perfectly neutral taste and can be still or sparkling to suit all foods and beverages.
No more need for storage space or managing supplies: the fountain produces water on demand throughout the day. Avoid trips back and forth to your storage areas; the fountain can be placed on the bar or wherever you choose, saving you time thanks to pre-dosing.
For businesses
Castalie water coolers Castalie traditional mains-connected water coolers differ mainly in terms of design, technology, and functionality. Our approach is geared towards reducing plastic waste through high-quality water coolers that use advanced filtration systems to purify mains water, removing impurities and unwanted tastes and odors. Our water coolers are aesthetically pleasing and adapt to all professional environments. In short, we incorporate more advanced ecological, qualitative, and aesthetic considerations than mains-connected water coolers.
You can discover our different ranges of equipment for businesses by clicking here.
Drinking 1.5 liters of water per day is a public health recommendation: for many, it is a challenge to apply this to their daily routine. We spend most of our day at the office, so it is essential to provide good quality water to employees—in addition to studies proving that proper hydration improves cognitive abilities, concentration, etc.
Often integrated into a social space, we have observed that the Castalie water fountain Castalie a genuine water experience. The design of the equipment, the attractive personalized glass bottles or individual water bottles, and the much-appreciated neutral taste of the water all contribute to a "water moment" that employees enjoy, encouraging them to gather around the fountain and thus stay better hydrated!
When you choose Castalie, you replace your water coolers or networks, or your water bottles (plastic or glass) with water bottled on site:
Castalie water Castalie a local and sustainable water, unlike bottled waters, which travel an average of 900 kilometers between the bottling plant and the consumer, for 30 minutes of consumption.
This saving of resources strengthens your CSR approach in terms of the environment.
By providing good-quality water in the workplace, with well-maintained equipment that is as pleasant to use as it is to look at, you are encouraging your employees to drink more water. A great way to keep them healthy!
Fountain maintenance
The installation of fountains is managed by our technicians. It takes place in a few steps:
- Within 48 hours prior to installation, the fountain and CO2 cylinders will be delivered to your home.
- On the day of installation, our technician will visit your home and install:
– The filtration kit that connects your water supply to the Castalie fountain, removing chlorine and any impurities from the water supply
– The fountain and the water and CO2 circuits, ensuring proper ventilation of the fountain, which is equipped with a water cooling system
– The Castalie filter and the CO2 cylinder, so you can start enjoying microfiltered still or sparkling water. - We strongly recommend that you are present during installation so that you can discuss and receive training from our technician on how to use the Castalie water cooler Castalie CO2 cylinders.
To learn more about installing a water fountain, click here: how to install and maintain a water fountain.
The Castalie fountains Castalie serviced several times a year (according to the terms of the contract).
During this visit, our technician will review the operation of the water cooler with you. They will perform a series of tests on all services (still water, sparkling water, hot, room temperature, or cold water) and will also check that the pre-dosing function is working properly on your containers, if your equipment has this feature.
Who supplies the CO2 for sparkling water? How does it work?
Our Castalie water coolers Castalie CO2 to provide you with high-quality sparkling water.Don't panic, CO2 is a non-flammable gas stored in steel cylinders. These cylinders contain between 2 and 10 kg of CO2.
In the Paris region, we offer direct delivery of CO2 cylinders to your offices or restaurant, with a deposit system. This means that the cylinders are reused and have a lifespan of over 10 years.
If you are based in the region:
Ordering your 4kg CO2 cylinders couldn't be easier; simply contact your designated technician when your water cooler is installed or serviced.If your establishment is located in the Île-de-France region, we promise to respond within 24 hours, and within 48 hours anywhere else (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.).
When you report a water leak, your request is prioritized and is usually dealt with within 24 business hours.
Castalie containers
We offer our customers a range of reusable containers for drinking water from our Castalie fountains Castalie an environmentally responsible manner.
We offer several types of containers:
- Bottles in "Bistro," "Suite," or our flagship "77" formats, sourced from France or Italy. These elegant bottles are ideal for your restaurant or meeting rooms.
- Glasses for your dining areas and meeting rooms. They are 100% manufactured in Europe, with the majority produced in France.
- Individual containers for your employees: a stainless steel travel bottle or a glass bottle made in France and Italy.
For example, here are the production locations for our most popular models:
- Our Suite bottles are produced in Normandy.
- Our 33, 55, and 77 bottles come from northern Italy, in Veneto.
Yes, we can customize your Castalie bottles and containers Castalie a screen print of your logo.
A bottle of Castalie water Castalie stored for 24 hours at room temperature or 2 weeks in the refrigerator.