Santevia Water Systems, a Canadian company, manufactures and distributes mineralized and naturally alkaline water filtration products for home and on the go under the brand name Santevia, which means “healthy way”. All core Santevia products are built in the Santevia Canadian manufacturing facility in Delta, BC, and adhere to the Santevia brand promise to offer our clients products that are healthy, cost-effective, and eco-friendly. Santevia launched the first “Made in Canada” MINA Alkaline Pitcher with an innovative home recyclable filter. Santevia is 100 per cent Canadian owned led by Yvonne Anderson, co-founder and CEO of Santevia Water Systems.
Tell us about yourself?
Yvonne Anderson, CEO and Founder of Santevia Water Systems, has a passion for healthy families. A health crisis with her husband inspired Yvonne and her family to create a niche business in home water filtration. Santevia Water Systems, a family-owned business, launched in January 2008 and has grown steadily and now has sales in the U.S.A., Canada, U.K., and Europe.
Yvonne has an undergrad degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in leadership. She is a wife, mom, and athlete who enjoys an active, outdoor lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest. Balancing family, fitness, strong spiritual life, and a growing, vibrant business is the key to a healthy, happy life for Yvonne.
Yvonne is very involved in her local community of Delta, BC and has served on the Board and as Chair of the Delta Chamber of Commerce. She has also served on the City of Delta Mayors Investment Committee, is an accomplished Toastmaster, and is the incoming president of the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen (RCOT). Yvonne is currently leading an international water project in Uganda which is a collaboration with the Rotary Foundation, Santevia, and our local Rotary clubs. This water project will bring clean drinking water to thousands of villagers in rural Uganda.
Yvonne’s passion for helping others spawned “Santevia Gives Back”, her company’s philanthropy program, which provides clean drinking water to people in water poverty. Santevia Gives Back also supports orphanages in Thailand and a Women’s school in the slums of Bangladesh. Giving back is a core value at Santevia.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Trust yourself, trust your team, inspire everyone!
What problem does your business solve?
Santevia brings clean, mineralized, and naturally alkaline drinking water to people at an affordable price. Santevia inspires health by encouraging people to drink more water!
What is the inspiration behind your business?
A health crisis with her husband inspired Yvonne and her family to create a niche business in home water filtration. David had chronic acid reflux, and his doctor prescribed medication for life! My background in natural health made me say, NO – there has to be a better way. Research into the condition of acid reflux revealed that a change in diet and lifestyle could cure this disease without medication. Our journey, which changed diet, exercise, and what David drank (coffee and carbonated drinks to water), proved that medication (with side effects like cancer) was not the best solution. David no longer has chronic acid reflux and has not taken medication in over 15 years. The biggest problem for us was finding affordable mineralized and naturally alkaline water. Very few sustainable options were available, and the ones on the market were extremely expensive. Bottled water was environmentally unacceptable, and so we decided to initially import a clean, mineralized, and naturally alkaline water system. Now we manufacture the Santevia MINA pitcher in Delta, BC. Clean, mineralized, naturally alkaline and sustainable water that tastes great is affordable and made in Canada. Santevia inspires healthy living!
What is your magic sauce?
Santevia takes out the bad stuff from water, including chlorine and lead, but we put back in the good stuff, calcium, magnesium, and trace minerals that make the water mineralized and naturally alkaline. Santevia also has the first at-home recyclable filter on the market.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
The vision for Santevia is to move significantly into the U.S.A. and the U.K. over the next five years. We have a great Canadian product, and now it’s time to tell the world about Santevia!
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
One of the biggest challenges has been supply chain issues. Moving manufacturing to Canada has definitely helped – automation has allowed us to keep our prices competitive while enabling us to deliver a superior product that is made in Canada.
How can people get involved?
Check us out at Santevia.com or on Amazon! Or find us at your local natural health store. Santevia means “Healthy Way”. Discover a healthy way for your family simply by switching to healthy water.