The most delicious bottled water. Comparison of drinking water producers

Considering the great response to past publications, we decided to continue the series of articles, one way or another related to the topic of the market of drinking bottled water in Russian cities. In this information review, we will analyze the issue of the drinking water rating in the city of Moscow and the Moscow region, the largest market in Russia, and we will start with such a segment as water packaged in 19 liter bottles. As a rule, companies deliver it directly to apartments, offices, and this water can also be purchased in large chain stores such as Auchan, Metro, Globus and the like, often such products can be found at gas station stations.

We will not tire our followers detailed description of all our actions, as some journalists like graphomaniacs. Just know, in order to prepare the material, it took us about 6 months hard work and several dozen experiments. And so, to the point.

Below we give the official data of several non-profit organizations specializing in drinking water quality control. The figures were obtained by interviewing respondents, according to the results of anonymous questionnaires made by them on the basis of a detailed studied physicochemical analysis of samples in accordance with GOST. The voting also took into account the fact of the least treatment of consumers and complaints about the quality of a particular product in general.

The following organizations (non-profit *) were accepted in the quality survey:
- "Rospotrebnadzor";
- "NK Russian Control";
- OSPBV (branch of the Union of Manufacturers, Moscow);
- Union for the Protection of Consumers of Goods (Moscow);
- Rossminprom (JV RF).

Please note that the survey was conducted anonymously in order to exclude manipulation by manufacturers to extract commercial interests.
The analysis involved the most popular brands in Moscow and the Moscow region, with the name of the product falling under the classification “bottled water with a volume of 19 liters” (listing separated by commas, according to alphabetical order):

Water AVK, Aquaareal, Amelia, Aqualider, Abago, Arkhyzik, Aqua Donbay, Arkhyz, Aquaideal, Aquaflot, Alphabet of water, Aquaru, Aleksandrovsky key, Barskie Klyuchi, Butylkof, Biovita, Bourgeois, Magic water, Vera, Wave of Baikal, Water Online, Mountain peak, Dear Muscovites, Valley of Apple Trees, Darzakh, Erinskaya, Edinaya, Pearl of the Caucasus, Healthy water, Kara-Su, Kubai, Karachay, Royal water, Legend of the mountains, Bear land, Novoterskaya, Nestle, Our water, Real water, Oxy, Pilgrim, Pavlovsk springs, Senezhskaya, Holy spring, Senezhskaya, Sophia glacier, Santalovsky spring, Element of life, Holy spring, Staro-Mytishchi spring, Salkovskaya, Semerik, Slavnitsa (var), Make the world kinder, Colored well, Khvalovskaya, Uvinskaya pearl, Filimonovsky spring, Chernogolovskaya, Shishkin forest, Shkolnik, Aenea, Elbrusinka, Eden 19 liters.

After analyzing the data and comparing all the initial figures, we got a rating of bottled water for coolers, where the places were placed in turn, according to the aggregate quality criteria. The format of our article, physically, does not allow to lay out the list in full, so we decided to name only the top ten best samples.

1. Water "Santalovskiy source" 19 l.
2. Ulanskaya water 19 l.
3. Water "Arkhyz" 19 liters.
4. Water "Holy Spring" 19 l.
5. Water "Karachay" 19 liters.
6. Water "Senezhskaya" 19 liters.
7. Aleksinskaya water 19 l.
8. Semiruchye water 19 l.
9. Water "Barskiye Kluchi" 19 l.
10. Water "Mountain Elite" 19 l.

* You can see the full list and interpretation of analyzes by going to the portal of water suppliers for the cooler at the link: official delivery of Arkhyz water.

The names are different, but the source is the same. What are we overpaying for?

Also, during our small research, we received very curious side conclusions from the auditing organizations. The data obtained indicate that some brands drinking water completely identical to each other, that is, in fact, it is one and the same water under different names. For example, water "Aquaflot" 19 liters, "Edinaya", "Azbuka Vody", "Pavlovsky Springs", "Bourgeois", "AquaAreal", "Eneya", "Slavnitsa", and "AVK", with a probability of 99% , obtained from the same source, as they say, are poured from "one barrel", or rather a source that is located directly in Moscow.

A similar situation was found with other brands on the checked list. So, for example, water "Mountain Top" 19 liters and water "Legend of the Mountains" 19 liters completely coincide with each other both in composition and other organoleptic properties, being, in fact, one product under different names and water "Legend of the Mountains" differ from " Mountain peak "only with an additional margin of 20%.

Drinking water "Glavvoda 19 liters" is actually bottled in the Moscow region and is drinking water"Semerik" which was named in a new way, and unlike the Semerik water itself, the "GLAVVODA" water of 19 liters costs 15-20% more, it turns out that the overpayment goes simply for the label.

We will definitely return to this issue in our next publications and will try to highlight the problem of price manipulation by deliberately misleading buyers as much as possible.

But we received the most interesting conclusion on drinking water from the Nestle Pure Life company of 19 liters, after renaming it is called “Eden” 19 liters: all experts unanimously say that given water obtained from the central water supply system with subsequent conditioning according to the salt composition. This directly indicates the artificial origin of the composition of the water.

There is also positive news: with the help of these tests we managed to destroy and dispel the widespread myth that supposedly all the "Caucasian" water is bottled in the basements of the Moscow region, and not taken from the Caucasus. Now we have every reason to assert with 100% certainty that the beloved Arkhyz water of 19 liters is produced in the North Caucasus: mineral composition, physicochemical and organoleptic indicators correspond to the declared production region. All the same applies to other tested samples of mountain waters: "Sophia Glacier", "Mountain Peak" and water "Pilgrim" with their microchemical compositions completely coincide with the water that can be obtained exclusively in the region of the Teberda Biosphere Reserve.

For clarification of all the indicators, numbers and ratings, we decided to contact the representatives of the companies included in our rating and are among the leaders of the Moscow bottled water market: Vodokhleb LLC, Arkhyz LLC, Vodovoz LLC, Top Vater LLC ... These comments will be the topic for our next articles, research and investigations. In the near future, we will prepare new materials, from which you can learn how not to fall for the marketing tricks of drinking water producers, we will answer the questions which water is truly mountainous and which water is better to choose for constant use in everyday life, at home and in the office. ... All the best to you, follow our publications.

Water quality rating - drinking water from major manufacturers will help you draw conclusions about the quality of drinking liquid, which will preserve and improve your health. In addition, you will learn about the peculiarities of the production and composition of bottled water. Varieties of mineral and purified waters. How to distinguish a fake? Water quality rating - drinking water from major manufacturers will help you figure out which water is better to drink regularly and which bottled water is better not to buy.

About water and producers

Because of not High Quality drinking tap water residents of our country, taking care of their health, strive to use bottled or mineral water for regular drinking. At the same time, even those who are fortunate in the region with good tap water are increasingly abandoning its regular use due to the persistent decline in quality. Therefore, many residents of our country drink purified water from bottles and cook on it.

As for mineral water, its regular use will not only allow you to maintain health, but also significantly improve it, because the composition of such waters includes a wide range of mineral components necessary for our body. Today, drinking bottled and mineral water is produced not only by large trade concerns with a worldwide reputation, but also by small private companies.

In this regard, a lot of fakes have appeared. And to put it mildly, such water not only will not be useful, but can also harm our health. We hope our drinking water quality rating will help you choose the right and healthy water.

About the composition of drinking water from bottles

V Russian Federation a simplified classification scale for bottled water is used:

• Purified drinking water
• Natural mineral water
• Artificial mineral water

Water extracted from underground clean springs with a natural complex of dissolved minerals is called natural mineral. Moreover, in our country, such water is also divided into several subspecies:

• curative
• medical dining room
• dining room

The first two types are best used not regularly, but on the recommendation of a doctor. But table mineral water can be used as drinking water. The level of minerals in it must be at least 1 g / l. The main producers of such water in our country are Silver Dew and Sarova.

The amount of minerals in medicinal table water should be in the range of 1-10 hl. These waters include "Essentuki-4", "Borjomi" and "Narzan". The concentration of dissolved minerals in medicinal water should be 10-15 g / l. These are Essentuki-17 and Lysogorskaya waters.

Purified drinking water is plain water thoroughly cleaned from various impurities and harmful components. Such artificially purified water is packaged in bottles and can be used for regular drinking. The first type of such waters was released in 94 and was called the "Holy Spring". In the late 90s such famous brands like "Aqua Minerale" and Bon Aqua. Then came big number local producers.

Water quality rating

The number of varieties of waters and their producers is growing every year. So, at the beginning of the 90s there were about 200 types of drinking and mineral water in bottles, and in the mid-90s there were already 500 of them. To date, there are about 700 types of water registered, and a hundred of them are produced in the north of the Caucasus.

The most popular water, which accounts for about half of all sales, is Georgian waters. Among them are such well-known brands as Borjomi, Essentuki and Narzan. At the same time, Borjomi is clearly in the lead.

According to the results of analyzes of various studies, the following manufacturers are leading on the market of natural mineral and purified waters:

• "Holy spring"
• Borjomi
• "Narzan"
• "Aqua Minerale"
• "Bon Aqua"

• GG & MW Co. N.V. from the manufacturer Borjomi
• Nestle Waters from the manufacturer of Holy Spring
• "Kavminvody"

• Biba water
• "Mercury"
• "Avka"
• "Raifsky source"

Drinking water researchers do not exclude a large increase in the range of products on the market for natural mineral and purified waters. At the same time, there are a large number of counterfeit firms on the market. Such water is practically no different from ordinary tap water. But how can these manufacturers be distinguished?

How to distinguish poor quality water?

Of course, you cannot open and taste the water in the store, but some conclusions about the quality of drinking or mineral water can be drawn from it outward appearance:

1. Examine the bottle label carefully. Conscientious manufacturer indicates detailed information about the chemical components of the liquid, specifies the category of water, describes the source where the liquid was taken. Also, registration data must be present on the label.
2. Pay attention to the design of the bottle and label. Usually counterfeiters do not work on the market for a long time, so they do not worry too much about the appearance and design of containers and labels. The goods of trusted reliable manufacturers of high quality are usually packed in a beautiful container with logos, and the lid and label are beautifully designed.
3. To minimize the risk of buying a fake to a minimum, purchase goods in large retail outlets... Usually, the owners of such stores purchase goods only from trusted suppliers.

If you doubt the quality of drinking water from a bottle, you can always order a water analysis and check it for all indicators. You can order such an analysis in our laboratory. To do this, you need to contact the manager at the specified phone number. During a call, you can find out the cost of such a check, which depends on the number of analyzed indicators.

More and more people have recently been using bottled water for drinking and cooking. The reason is that in some regions the quality of water from the mains is poor, and in others people are worried about the dangers of chlorine and possible impurities. Bottled water is now widely available - it is supplied to Russian counters by about 700 manufacturers.

However, this great variety is also problematic. The risk of acquiring a fake, low quality product increases.

Drinking bottled water rating: how to understand

Before analyzing offers different manufacturers, it is necessary to understand that there are three main types of drinking water sold in bottles: simple purified, natural mineral and artificial.

Purified water is just fresh water. Free from any harmful impurities. It is used for regular use and cooking. Mineral water is subdivided into table, medical-table and medicinal.

Healing water is not intended for regular drinking. It is used as directed by a doctor in limited quantities. The most famous types of it in Russia are "Lysogorskaya", "Essentuki-17".

Medicinal table water differs from medicinal water by a lower concentration of minerals. The most famous brands are of Georgian origin: "Narzan", "Borjomi", "Essentuki-4". But it is also better not to abuse these waters.

Table mineral water can be drunk regularly, since the concentration of salts in it is very low. Its most famous brands are Sarova and Silver Dew.

Simple purified water is produced by many companies. The most common are "Holy Spring", "Bon Aqua", "Aqua Minerale".

Within each group, you can also form a rating of bottled water.

Best bottled drinking water: rating

Among all the producers of medicinal table mineral and purified waters, the Georgian ones are now in the lead. However, domestic firms also occupy a worthy place there.

1. "Holy spring"
2. Borjomi
3. "Narzan"
4. "Santalovskiy source"
5. Bon Aqua.

However, not all manufacturers that are not included in this five are not trustworthy. The following companies are in the middle of the bottled water rating:

• GG & MW Co. N.V (from Borjomi);
• Nestle Waters (from Holy Spring);
• "Kavminvody".
• JSC NPO ULANSKAYA

There are also the last on the list, which should hardly be preferred by those who really care about health:

• the Biba firm;
• Ulanskaya water
• "Mercury";
• "Avka";
• "Raifsky source".

Fake Bottled Water Rating

It is clear that dishonest manufacturers who have nothing to do with respectable firms often try to “cling to” leaders. A fake can be recognized if you shop carefully.

A sloppy bottle and label should raise suspicions. Reputable companies holding the first places in the ranking of drinking bottled water care about aesthetics.

You should also study the information on the label. If there is very little of it, this is a reason for suspicion, especially if it comes about mineral water.

Finally, it is better to buy water from large shopping centers... They make purchases in large quantities and deal only with trusted sellers.

Sometimes you can go to the laboratory for quality control.

If you use the available information on the rating of bottled water and observe simple rules protection against counterfeiting, you can not be afraid that water will do harm.

Despite the fact that the market for production and sales is large enough, today there are no objective scientific research, on the basis of which it would be possible to make a rating of the quality of bottled water. And although you can find certain ratings on various sites, most of them are based on data that cannot be verified. As a result, it is better not to blindly trust the compilers of these ratings, but to study the composition of water and other data for acceptance correct decision... However, no one bothers you to create your personal rating of bottled water based on your own preferences.

We all know from our school geography course that there is much more water on Earth than land. But the problem is that its base mass is salt water of the seas and oceans, suitable only for its indigenous inhabitants - fish, whales, dolphins, etc. A person needs fresh water for life. Until recently, we were sure that there is enough of it on our planet, and one can die of thirst only in the Sahara Desert. It was not for nothing that famous saying: "Just how to drink to give."

But the twentieth century, with its rapid development of technological progress, made its own disappointing adjustments, and now we hear more and more that ordinary water will very soon become for humanity not just a vital, but the most important strategic resource - much more needed than the notorious oil and gas , gold and diamonds. And this is quite understandable: a person has lived without oil and gas for thousands of years, gold and diamonds are also not so difficult to do without, but drinking water is in second place after air in the ranking of things necessary for life. Alas, thanks to the same unfortunate technological progress that people admired so much a hundred years ago - from the point of view of history, this period of time is negligible - its reserves have noticeably depleted, and the quality has become frighteningly low.

What kind of water do we drink?

To make sure of this once again, you don't have to go far, just open the water tap in your kitchen or bathroom. Very often, the liquid flowing from there in appearance and smell resembles anything, but not water, and we get scared at the thought that we will have to drink it or cook food from it. Of course, drinking water is purified in special facilities, but what is the cost of purification using the well-known chlorination? It is not necessary to have a degree in biology to realize that cheap and affordable chlorine is not the most useful substance for our internal organs: you just need to smell it. Getting rid of - as if - with its help from the immediate risk of catching an infection, we ruin our health in the future.

In addition, after being saturated with chlorine, the water goes to our apartments through the water supply system, which was often laid more than a dozen years ago, the condition of which leaves much to be desired - and this is putting it mildly. There she, among other things, is also saturated with rust, and rust is by no means the same iron that doctors have always told us about. Thus, the amount of maximum permissible concentration harmful substances it is on the verge of this very limit.

How effective are water filters?

Many of the city dwellers, trying to somehow remedy the situation, install water pipes household filters for water purification - in the last decade, this product has become extremely popular among residents of megalopolises, including Muscovites. Such filters are really capable of correcting the situation, but only slightly, and only for a while. Sometimes the degree of contamination of tap water is so great that it is simply impossible to achieve high-quality purification using conventional filtration: what can household filters do where industrial filters are powerless?

The cassettes of these filters fail very quickly, and they must be constantly changed, otherwise the reverse process will begin: the dirt from the overflowing filters will fall back into the water passing through them, making it even more dirty. In such a situation, there is only one way out: to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking. In the retail network, the choice of such water is now unusually rich, and in order to figure out which of the offered brands deserves the greatest consumer confidence, it is worth looking at the rating of drinking bottled water.

Selection of bottled water

First, let's try to figure out what kind of water is on the shelves of grocery supermarkets. All drinking water must fully comply with the requirements for it sanitary standards and state standards... Otherwise, it simply will not go on sale. In the sales areas there are two types of it: mineral and simple drinking. In addition, it is also carbonated and non-carbonated. Mineral water is also subdivided into a dining room, intended for drinking by healthy people, and a medicinal one, containing substances useful for certain ailments of internal organs. It can be natural, extracted from natural mineral springs, or artificially saturated in special installations with the elements of the periodic table necessary for the body.

If you are interested in a lot of drinking water, then you may be interested in buying.

If you choose drinking water, then it will be interesting for you to read an article about which water is most beneficial for your health for this.

And for the right choice better water for a cooler, you will be interested to read this one.

As expected, everything artificial is not at all what natural, and if we have a choice, we always give preference to the latter. But how to distinguish natural mineral water from synthetic? First of all, on the label: it must necessarily indicate the place of production, the number of the well and other data confirming it natural origin... Secondly, in terms of price: for a natural product, it is, of course, higher than for an artificial one: after all, extracting water from a well or from a water supply system - as they say, there are two big differences. Therefore, A.S. Pushkin in his fairy tale, the thought about the dangers of the pursuit of cheapness is also true in this case. When thinking about whether to buy something that is cheaper or something that is more expensive, it is worth remembering not only how your choice will affect your wallet, but also how it will affect your body.

Now - about drinking water. Of course, mineral water is also intended for drinking, but it is still not worth using it on a daily basis, for this purpose better fit ordinary table water. Yes, and to make tea, as well as prepare food, it is better for a simple fresh water... The fact that you should not try to cook borscht on soda, I think, is not necessary to say. Mineral substances to one degree or another are present in all types of water, just in mineral water their concentration is much higher, and use it in large quantities hardly reasonable.

In the end, the task of water is not only to saturate our cells with life-giving moisture, but also to dissolve and remove various toxins and excess salts from them. Plain water certainly does much better than mineral water. But what is ordinary water? In principle, just as in the case of the mineral one, options are possible: purified water supply, or extracted from artesian wells drilled deep into the earth.

Drinking water purification methods

To clean the first, two methods are used:

• Reverse osmosis, which consists in passing through several membranes with microscopic holes that can retain any impurities;
• Coagulation, in which special coagulants are added to the water, causing impurities to precipitate, which is then removed.

The first method, quite expensive, allows you to purify water almost one hundred percent. Everything would be fine, if not for one "but": together with harmful impurities, it leaves and useful material and it turns into distilled. Once in the body, such water begins to take these substances from it, saturating it to the required level, and then removes them. To avoid this effect, producers have to artificially saturate it after osmosis. the necessary salts and minerals, and such procedures are not the best way are reflected in its quality.

Coagulation is the simplest and cheapest cleaning method that manufacturers use in 70% of cases, as for its quality - history is silent about it, as they say.

After all that has been said, it becomes clear that, as in the case of mineral water, the natural option is, of course, preferable. It is such drinking water, extracted from artesian wells from great depths, that our company Cheremis supplies to its clients - residents of the metropolitan metropolis. In the rating of bottled water, it is at the top of the list, since it fully meets all the necessary requirements, does not need additional cleaning and can be used both for drinking and for cooking, as well as for use in coolers, which you can.

In those countries where the problem of drinking water is particularly severe, it is produced from sea water. This video shows the entire production process:

Terms of cooperation with our company

We deliver water to the home or office addresses of customers in the most suitable container for this - 5 gallon plastic bottles (or 19 liters, which is the same thing, but sounds much more familiar and understandable). Such a bottle lasts for a sufficiently long period, and its purchase is much more profitable in terms of cost than an equal amount of "polyshek" or five-liter bottles. And if a client enters into a contract with us for the systematic supply of drinking water, it costs him even cheaper. We are convinced that our 19L bottled water, whose rating is growing thanks to customer feedback, is well worth the deal. The ratio of quality and price of the water supplied by us is one of the best in the region, everyone who manages to taste it is convinced of this.

Our company offers two types of bottled water:

• « Mari source» — Natural water premium class with an excellent mineral composition, which is ideal for daily use;
• « Elite»- Purified drinking water. Hardness and mineral composition fully complies with national and international standards.

It is known that for proper metabolism and normal functioning of the body, an adult must drink 2 to 3 liters of water per day. Information about the quality of tap water completely discourages compliance with this recommendation, so more and more Russians prefer bottled water.

19 liters of health

Do right choice it is not so easy among the companies offering bottled water. Manufacturers compete fiercely with each other, so they often go for marketing gimmicks. A pretty label often hides the usual tap water, past the process deep cleaning... If there is no information about the origin of the water, then most likely the water is not natural, and the required content of trace elements and minerals is achieved by technologies using various physicochemical methods.

There are dozens of companies engaged in the production and sale of bottled water on the St. Petersburg market. Prices vary in a very wide range - from 150 rubles / bottle (drinking water "Sosnovskaya Tsaritsa") to 610 rubles / bottle (water "Key premium", Polyustrovo). It should be understood that cheap water, as a rule, is purified tap water. For example, artesian physiologically high-grade drinking water "Aqualine Natural Premium" in a high-quality polycarbonate container costs only 250 rubles per bottle. For an objective rating water in St. Petersburg in bottles, reliable data are required based on the results of independent examinations, which are carried out either at the request of the manufacturer or on complaints from consumers, therefore, for the majority trade marks such information is simply not available. However, on thematic forums and review sites, you can find a lot useful information, on the basis of which to form a consumer rating of water in bottles of 19 liters.

Considering the ratio of prices, service, label information and the number of reviews, the TOP-5 rating of drinking water in St. Petersburg is as follows *:

1. Artesian water Aqualine
2. Mineral water Arkhyz
3. Deep-purified drinking water Nestlé
4. Artesian water Spring Land
5. Water Rosinka Polyustrovo

The quality of water in 19 liter bottles is significantly influenced by the process of preparing and washing containers. No matter how clean the water from an artesian well is, poor-quality processing of returnable containers can cause serious microbiological contamination. And the key factor in this matter is the container itself, or rather the material from which it is made. The most common PET container due to its low cost (if the container is dark blue, then it is definitely PET). But the best option is a container made of polycarbonate (an artificial glass substitute). Polycarbonate containers are several times more expensive than PET, but they are absolutely safe and can withstand the most careful sanitization, unlike PET containers, which lose their consumer properties after just a few turns.