Joined: 13 Oct 2002 Posts: 5565 Location: Munich,Germany
Posted: Thu Mar 04 2004, 11:36 Post subject: Coca Cola sells tap water for 1.4€ / bottle
Article by the Sun: BOTTLED water sold by Coca-Cola is out of the TAP.
The drinks giant yesterday admitted its “super pure” Dasani water comes from the mains supply to its factory near Peckham.
Bottles sell for 95p — which would make TV’s Del Boy proud. A spokeswoman for the National Consumer Council scoffed: “It sounds like the episode from Only Fools And Horses when they sold tap water from what they called the Peckham Spring.”
Coca-Cola — slogan It’s The Real Thing — is spending £7million launching Dasani in the UK. It has become the second-biggest selling branded water in the US. Labels on the curvy blue 500ml bottles describe it as “pure, still water.”
Bosses yesterday insisted that although it is tap water it undergoes special filtering to remove impurities. That enraged Thames Water, which supplies Sidcup in Kent, where the factory is.
A spokesman said its tap water already passes 99.92 per cent of quality tests. The company’s Chris Shipway added: “If the water regulator thought any more treatment was needed they would ask us to do so.”
The revelation about Dasani’s source came as research out yesterday showed bottled water sales in the UK sales rose 16 per cent to almost £1.2billion last year. Consumers guzzled two billion litres.
Judith Snyder, brand PR manager for Dasani, confirmed that “municipal” supplies were used. She stressed: “We would never say tap water isn’t drinkable.
“It’s just that Dasani is as pure as water can get — there are different levels of purity.”
Coca-Cola boasts the water undergoes a “highly sophisticated purification process.” First chlorine is filtered out along with “particles and organic debris”.
Then comes a stage called reverse osmosis — a technique said to have been perfected by Nasa to purify fluids on spacecraft.
High pressure forces the water through a fine membrane, removing “bacteria, viruses, salts, minerals, sugars, proteins and toxin particles”. Finally calcium, magnesium and sodium bicarbonate are added for taste.
Water industry spokesman Barrie Clarke blasted: “We don’t think there are any impurities in tap water. People don’t need to buy this stuff to get excellent quality, healthy water.
“If they like the bottle, the convenience, the style then fine — but I don’t think that is the way they are marketing this product.”
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