Water Bottled or Tap ?

This is a new resource for October 2007, and is a response to the decision of Claridge's to offer a WATER LIST as well as a WINE LIST.

Also some recent discussions over the morality of drinking bottled water (Feb 2008)

Makes a good case study for A2 Edexcel spec, and also new KS3 Units on theme of CONSUMPTION and SUSTAINABILITY.

Some of these bottles of water are more expensive than a fine wine. Not that I drink fine wine...

BERG WATER

There are few waters in the world sourced from icebergs. Berg is one. Originating from the ancient glaciers of western Greenland, it is not until massive pieces of ice break off into the ocean that it can be 'harvested'. Production can be limited due to extended winters and the harsh conditions, and harvesting icebergs is a dangerous task, which makes the possibility of drinking iceberg water an accomplishment in itself.

This sounds quite good actually !

420 VOLCANIC

The spring 420 is sourced from, Tai Tapu lies at the foothills of the South Island's Banks Peninsula, an extinct volcano. 420 is best described as 'volcanic artesian spring water'. It bubbles to the surface under its own pressure and in its own good time, filtering its way through age old volcanic rock to the surface from over 200 metres below.

Costs over £20 a bottle !

MAHALO Deep Sea Water

http://www.hawaiideepseawater.com/

The Deep Sea Water used for MaHaLo bottled drinking water is very old. It takes between 1,200 and 2,000 years for the water to travel from the North Atlantic Ocean through the freezing Arctic currents, under the vast glaciers of Greenland, where it gathers ancient minerals that leach down from the ice. Then it flows around and back down toward the deep channels of the Pacific Ocean. It is there, at the Water Rejuvenation Zone just off the coast of Kona, Hawaii, that the water is at its very purest. This is why Koyo USA placed its processing and bottling plants on the island of Hawaii.

BLING H2O

http://www.blingh2o.com/

Check out the bottle...

http://www.fijiwater.com/

Fiji Water from artesian source...

"Untouched by Man"

How far has it travelled to get to the UK ?

http://www.volvic.co.uk/

The Land of Volcanicity...

"Greetings puny humans !" - nice Flash based interactive site - check it out...

PERRIER...

From le source Perrier....

BELU

http://www.belu.org/

Has a compostable bottle made from corn. Is this something that other suppliers should use ?

FIJI

CLOUD JUICE

Rainwater

£9 a bottle.

ISKILDE

Has some links to various comments and snippets that can be watched from the program, which is also available on iPlayer of course. Issue is with the packaging and also the 'water miles' that are produced in transporting this.

But if you think about it - what is more important than water ? What do you think ?

Egypt has threatened military action if upstream countries touch the Nile. Already conflicts in Africa, and plans to charge farmers to take water from rivers: apparently intended to make farmers value water. World Bank idea apparently.

Farners have to pay a one-off payment and don't self-regulate as they can use as much as they want.