The door is always open at U-Fill Water Center

The self-serve U-Fill Water Center at 8 Queensway East in Simcoe is open for water jug refills 24/7, 365 days a year, with purified reverse osmosis and alkaline water.

Mike Christiaens started his U-Fill Water Center company in 2007, and in January 2025 he expanded into Simcoe with a new, always-open, self-serve store.

Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, U-Fill Water Center is located at 8 Queensway East in the Governor Simcoe Plaza near the Wendy’s at the corner of Queensway & Norfolk Street.

“Customers can come in any time they want, bring their jugs in and fill them up,” said Christiaens. “The front door is always open.”

There are four vending machines on site that dispense purified water, available in reverse osmosis and alkaline. The machines take debit and credit cards, or coins.

If you need to purchase a new water jug, those are available in a self-serve vending machine in three-gallon and five-gallon sizes.

“I have opened three self-serve stores in just over two years. The first opened in Paris in the fall of 2022,” said Christiaens, who had researched the self-serve format after seeing it operate in another area. “Started from scratch and it went well.”

In 2023, Christiaens bought a traditional store in Ingersoll, and opened a self-serve U-Fill store across the road with an established customer base.

“I was quite happy with how they were doing, then I ventured into Simcoe, got started with that process last fall, and started in January.”

The production process begins at each site with municipal water. The water is purified and stored in a holding tank, which is automatically accessed by the water vending machines for customers.

“I’ve been doing this for 17, almost 18 years now, and the biggest appeal to customers is the quality of water that they drink. Yes, tap water that is controlled by the municipality and comes into your home is safe to drink, but they are putting chlorine in it… that’s a big turnoff for people. There are other tastes, too, that people don’t like.

“They like to know they are getting purified water where there is essentially nothing but water. It’s a big thing. It’s just about a good quality product at a fair price.”

It is a lot more cost effective than buying cases of bottled water from stores, he said, and you are not consuming as much plastic.

“When you do the math on it, and you are spending $4 on a five-gallon refill, you are getting more water and you are paying less in the long run. And you are not generating all that extra plastic that could end up in landfills or out in the environment.”

The vending machines are very straight-forward to use. Instructions are posted on each machine.

“It’s something that is convenient, it’s available any time day or night. You don’t have to rush. Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, it doesn’t matter, the (Simcoe) store is always open. And the self-serve stores do business every day of the year. Sunday is my busiest day by far at my self-serve stores in Ingersoll and Paris, and I suspect it will be the same in Simcoe.”

Christiaens said he is open to further expansion for U-Fill, but it needs to be ‘the right location in the right town.’

“I am very picky about where I set these up,” he said, noting the need for good parking with easy, close access to the store.