Dkr: the star of the Expo Water Houses

We are pleased to share the interview published in the magazine of theItalian Quality Water Association.

Today we present the protagonists of the Expo Water Houses: Dkr Drinkatering, a company that has been producing machines and systems for the distribution of cold drinks for more than 30 years, which has built more than 500 Water Houses in Italy and abroad, thanks also to prestigious collaborations with the most important Italian waterworks (Gruppo Cap, MM, Smat, IREN, PubliAcqua and many others).

We are with Matteo Dalle Fratte, Sales Manager at Dkr. Who is Dkr and what is your philosophy?
We have always worked in the pursuit of quality, real quality, the more you need quantity, the more you need quality, with innovation, competence, seriousness and professionalism. This is our bet and we continue to win it every day. We started when the Water Houses sector was still unknown, we believed in it and invested in it. Research and development have been our flagships; we started out as producers of machines for Ho.Re.Ca, it would have been easy to 'adapt' them, instead we studied ad hoc products for this new sector. In 1996 we installed the first Water House in Cremona, which is still fully functional after 20 years. We now collaborate with aqueducts, municipalities, private companies; anyone who has an interest in prioritising quality and providing an efficient and reliable service.

So, do you make plants or machines?
We differ precisely in this, we manage to do both, directly managing the entire supply chain. We design, manufacture, install, service, both Water Houses and machines for Ho.Re.Ca, we sell complete systems, machines or even just components. Can anything be improved? The path is very short, the maintainer here talks directly to the designer.

Over the years, we have established a number of collaborations in different regions, because in our opinion quality also depends on the constant presence of operators in the region, competent partners to whom we provide our know-how and experience, always open to new challenges.

Speaking of new challenges, Made in Italy expertise and quality have finally been rewarded. Regarding the Expo experience, how did it all start?
It all started in 2013 with a competition that favoured quality, not just price, as often happens lately. We like to say that we are one of the 'clear parts of Expo', we participated following our philosophy, taking the opportunity to show the world Italian excellence.

Expectations were very high and maximum reliability was required, just consider that the installed systems are capable of quenching the thirst of the expected 21 million visitors.

Being intended for a different use than the classic Water House, for Expo, we created an innovative project that combines efficiency, reliability and design. From an architectural point of view, we were inspired by the idea of the Well, which represents the House of Water by definition, a refreshment point recognisable to everyone because it can be found everywhere in the world.

Do you already have data on the Expo Houses that you can share?
We have developed a special remote control system that provides the situation updated in real time. Currently, the Water Houses deliver more than 1,100 litres of water per day; taking into account that the season is not yet very hot and most visitors will arrive around July, we expect to quadruple that. It will be like going back to the beginnings of the Water Houses, when our systems in the Milanese hinterland supplied between 4,000 and 5,000 litres of water per day; here, however, there are 32 Water Houses and they are all close to each other.

Given your participation in Expo, what plans do you have for the future?
Expo is a great opportunity not to be wasted to give visibility and new markets to excellent Italy, the healthy and solid one. We have already had the opportunity to introduce the Water Houses to Europe, we would like to bring them to the world.