Production of food stuffs, including water is all about control and risk aversion for the producer and the consumers. Regulations and standards set out specific requirements from the source water to the packaged water format, attempting to control each and every step of the process and thus create a predicable and consistent production environment and end result.

We are not going to cover the basics of the business such as accounting, marketing and sales etc but more specifically the less known regulations and product environment.

On this site, will be covering all subjects related to Plant management, Hygiene & Cleaning, Batch coding, Personnel choice & vetting, types of processing machinery and the requirements, microbial testing intervals and tests to be carried out and methods .

Video and written training will be available shortly and a membership option will be introduced where prospective or even current producers can get access to specialists in water treatment , hygiene, product formulations, equipment supply, piping installations and requirements for processing plants, and many other topics from experienced operators, all who have decades of experience in their specialities.

Please call Michael from Water & Beverage Services on 081 811 8051 for advice .
You will be speaking to a specialist with 18 years in Water & Beverage Production.

BOTTLED WATER SOURCE REQUIREMENTS

When prospective bottlers try and enter this business they attempt to use a "free resource" in order to maximise their profits. In reality, this does not exist if the standards are adhered to.

Borehole water is not free. If you have a private borehole you may not use it for commercial uses unless you apply to the Department of Water & forestry for a water use licence for commercial purposes. These water licences are not granted easily as private boreholes are meant to be used for domestic consumption only.

Commercial boreholes are drilled to protect spring or natural water sources from the environment which is one of the first steps in the production plan. These commercial boreholes also have to be registered with DWAF.

SPRING & NATURAL MINERAL WATER AS SOURCE

EXTERNAL ASPECTS OF BOTTLING WATER

Often the filtration allowed for Spring / Natural mineral water is so limited that the source water has to be almost pure before it can be used for bottling. The treatments for spring water include sediment and suspended solids removal, iron, manganese, sulphur or arsenic removal by filtration, without modifying the original mineral content of the water.

Bacterial management includes UV systems and or Ozonation and or Micro filtration using expensive absolute filters ,which are certified to remove bacteria at the 0.2 and 0.45 micron range. No single method alone is recommended or allowed.

A spring is NOT a stream or small river. It is a point in the ground where water flows naturally from an underground source and is collected at that point or from a borehole tapping. This misunderstanding often causes much pain and financial loss as all filtration is designed around water source definitions and the relevant SANAS certified SANS1657 Lab report.

Spring or Natural Mineral to be used as a water bottling source MUST pass the SANS1657 Water of Subterranean Origin laboratory test. This intensive battery of tests costs around R8 000 ex vat upwards and without which prospective bottlers cannot proceed.

Regular testing of the source water is required as quality of borehole water can and does change rapidly. More on this in the SANS1657 testing article

Spring / mineral water can be a very costly water source just from the testing aspect. No taste profile modifiers such as carbon may be used in the process. With rapid urbanisation and informal settlements, farming and agricultural pursuits inadvertently negatively affect the underground aquifers ,to such an extent that finding good spring or mineral source water is difficult even in the most rural of areas.

Please call Michael from Water & Beverage Services on 081 811 8051 for advice .
You will be speaking to a specialist with 18 years in Water & Beverage Production.

EXTRACTION of THE SOURCE WATER

VIP *** The maximum distance allowed for a processing plant to be established to handle the spring / natural water for processing and packaging is 1Km (One Kilometer).

The processing plant must be directly connected to the source with HDPE ( Polyethelene) piping.The piping must be trenched at least 0.5 m below the surface and covered .

A bottler MAY NOT transport the source water any other way or it immediately invalidates the ability to market and sell that water as a natural or spring water product.

Water handled this way then falls under Prepared Water category and Reverse Osmosis and Ozone becomes the requirement.

There are many other requirements for source extraction which we will cover in a separate article. These are some of the most misunderstood requirements listed here.

RIVER WATER AS SOURCE WATER

River water content cannot be controlled as a free running river contacts all its borders, river banks and is affected by all and everything around it. Be it a dead animal, fast moving water that stirs up debris, bird , human or animal defecation etc

It then falls into the classification of Prepared & Packaged Water and requires a range of pre-filtration, Reverse Osmosis and ozone. The same classification would apply to a natural dam or other man made storage facility.

Rain Water Harvesting also falls into the Prepared & Packaged water category mentioned above.

Please call Michael from Water & Beverage Services on 081 811 8051 for advice .
You will be speaking to a specialist with 18 years in Water & Beverage Production.