Water Refill Station Break-Even: About $98K Monthly Revenue

Fixed costs $5.2K/mo Base monthly overhead

Contribution margin 85.5% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $6.1K/mo Revenue to cover fixed

Break-even timing Month 13 Launch-year breakeven

Break-even calculator

See how monthly sales, direct costs, and overhead line up against break-even.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Gross monthly sales that must cover direct costs and overhead. $ Low sales Busy month Variable expenses Direct costs that rise with each refill and sale. $ Low costs High costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $12,900 $15,000 revenue - $2,100 variable expenses

Margin ratio

86%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs Monthly overhead the station must cover even when traffic is light. $ Lean overhead Heavy overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which water refill station expenses are fixed, and which move with sales?

Cost classification

Break-even gets unreliable when per-gallon charges are treated like overhead, or fixed payroll is treated like sales-driven spend. Separate stable monthly commitments from revenue-linked costs before setting the Month 13 break-even target.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Station Manager Payroll	Fixed	Include the $50,000 annual salary in monthly overhead because the model holds 1.0 FTE from Month 1 through Month 60.	Spreading manager pay across gallons and overstating contribution margin.
Kiosk Maintenance Contract	Fixed	Add $300 per month to fixed overhead for the full operating period.	Leaving it out because it feels small; $300/month is $3,600 per year.
Business Insurance	Fixed	Add $80 per month to fixed overhead since it does not change with visitors, orders, or gallons in the model.	Treating insurance as optional in break-even math.
Water Supply Cost	Variable	Deduct it from revenue as a direct usage charge, starting at 2.0% of revenue in the first year and falling to 1.6% by the fifth year.	Using a flat monthly water bill and missing margin movement as volume grows.
Electricity for Purification	Variable	Deduct it as a revenue-linked operating charge, starting at 3.0% of revenue in the first year and falling to 2.6% by the fifth year.	Putting all power spend into fixed overhead instead of tying purification load to sales.
Payment Processing Fees	Variable	Deduct fees from each sale, starting at 1.5% of revenue in the first year and falling to 1.1% by the fifth year.	Calculating break-even on gross sales instead of net sales after card fees.
Host Location Revenue Share	Variable	Deduct the host share as a sales-linked charge, starting at 8.0% of revenue in the first year and falling to 7.0% by the fifth year.	Treating the host share like fixed rent; no rent line is provided, so any lease payment must be added to fixed overhead.
Maintenance Technician Payroll	Semi-fixed	Model it as a staffing step: 0.5 FTE in the first year, 0.8 FTE in the third year, and 1.0 FTE in the fourth year onward.	Assuming technician labor rises smoothly with every gallon sold instead of stepping up with scale.

How does break-even shift from a lean opening month to a base year and a full-scale year for a water refill station?

Scenario table

Break-even moves fast because each step adds more monthly volume and more fixed payroll. The lean case still sits below break-even, while the base and full cases build a wider cushion as revenue scales.

Scenario figures are planning assumptions, not guarantees, and revenue is approximate because EBITDA is rounded.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean opening case	$55K	$8K	$84K	85.5%	-$44K	Still about $43K below break-even.
Base Year 2 case	$224K	$31K	$102K	86.0%	$109K	About $106K above break-even.
Full-scale Year 3 case	$852K	$114K	$121K	86.6%	$740K	Strong cushion; break-even risk is low.

What breaks the break-even plan for a water refill station?

Stress test

The break-even plan is tight: slower traffic, higher electricity or filter costs, and a small fee jump can turn a clean month into a loss. The weak spots are visit volume, prepaid-gallon uptake, and maintenance-heavy months.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$98K	$0 cushion	No cushion at plan.
Revenue shortfall	Traffic runs 10% below plan.	$98K	$8K gap	A small visit miss pushes the station below break-even.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed costs rise by $500 a month.	$104K	$6K gap	Even a small overhead step-up eats the cushion.
Margin pressure	Variable expense pressure lowers contribution margin to 80.5%.	$104K	$6K gap	Higher electricity or filter use lifts the break-even bar.
Combined pressure	Traffic falls 20%, fixed costs rise by $500, and margin drops to 80.5%.	$104K	$26K gap	The model swings from break-even to a clear monthly loss.

What should you verify before you commit to the site and purification system?

Founder checklist

Don’t sign the lease or buy the purification system until you can prove traffic, conversion, repeat use, and margin on a live site. The model needs about $8.4K a month in fixed overhead before rent, and break-even is Month 13, so a slow launch pushes payback out.

1Foot Traffic30-45/day

Test that the site can draw 30 to 45 visitors a day in Year 1, because that is the demand base behind every other sales assumption.

2Buyer Conversion30%

Confirm at least a 30% visitor-to-buyer conversion, or the daily volume will not cover fixed cost fast enough.

3Repeat Demand70% / 2 mo

Check that 70% of new buyers return and buy about 2 times a month, since retention is what stretches customer value.

4Margin Math85.5% CM

Run the price mix at $0.50 per gallon refill, $12 for a five-gallon jug, and $9 for a three-gallon jug; after 14.5% variable cost, contribution margin is 85.5%.

5Staff Base2.0 FTE

Hold the Year 1 staffing plan to 2.0 full-time equivalents and keep fixed operating overhead near $8.4K a month before rent, or Month 13 break-even moves out.

6Cash Cushion$828K

Keep $828K of cash available and stage the $30K purifier, $15K kiosk, $5K tanks, and $25K vehicle so launch delays do not trap you before payback.