Mineralization of bottled water. From the container in which the water is located and from the cleanliness of the cooler. Drinking water in individual packaging

1. Russian drinking water market

2. Extraction and bottling of water

3. Assessment of drinking water quality

4. Different markets for the same product

5. Types of bottled water

6. General overview of the bottled water consumption market

7. Drinking water packaging

7.1 "Home" water

7.2 "Office" water

8. Adulteration of drinking water

9. Market development forecasts

Conclusion

Bibliography

Abroad, and in our country as well, bottled water has received wide distribution and recognition. It is relatively inexpensive and pays off among soft drinks has no equal. For example, in Europe, soft drink consumption in 2000 was 200 liters per person, of which half was bottled drinking water.

But not everything is so clear in the desire of manufacturers and sellers to convince us that by buying bottled water we will solve all problems with water. According to some water treatment experts, bottled water and tap water are not much different from each other. Moreover, according to the National Association for Genetic Safety, the quality of bottled water is often worse than tap water. The consumer does not even realize what harmful effects can be caused by compounds formed in the process of water treatment and purification of already chlorinated water in order to disinfect it (ozonation, ultraviolet irradiation) during bottling.

As a result of chlorination of water, trihalomethanes are formed in it. These substances do not usually occur in nature. Excess chlorine, especially when boiled, reacts with organic substances, and as a result, organochlorine compounds are formed that can provoke cancer. The biggest concern is the extreme allowable amount trihalomethanes (60 μg/dm3), found as a result of a study in tap water in Moscow.

The market for drinking bottled water in Russia is growing every year. The total number of companies selling bottled water already reaches several thousand. In Russia, the high profitability of the "business" for the production and sale of counterfeit bottled water and gaps in the legislation have led to the dominance of surrogates masquerading as quality product. As a result, a person who bought water in the market, at a grocery kiosk or supermarket, may receive a compound that is unhealthy, sold as "crystal pure water extracted from an artesian well.

The development of the market in Russia is due not only to the fashion for healthy lifestyle life, but also the real fears of people to drink tap water. In the spring, many Russians begin to feel that tap water smells like bleach, as melt water required more thorough cleaning. This once again forces the consumer to buy bottled water. According to statistics, now, on average, one resident of our country buys about 20 liters of water per year. In 2008, manufacturers put on the shelves about 340 million decaliters of bottled water. Since the end of 2004, when the lists of mandatory documents for the production of drinking water were approved, Rospotrebnadzor has issued more than 2,000 permits for one or another type of product. Experts note growth rates Russian market bottled water by 12-15% per year.

With all the variety of goods presented on the shelves in stores, experts note that it is extremely difficult to find high-quality bottled water that would meet all the requirements of Sanpin in terms of quality. Often the information on the label is not true. Among Russian manufacturers there are only a few conscientious companies that honestly write that the bottle contains "highly purified tap water." Many companies limit themselves to rather vague definitions such as "water from a central source of water" or simply "mineral water". This also applies to foreign manufacturers. On the vast majority of their products, it is indicated that the water is taken from natural sources, for example, in the Alps. However, laboratory studies show that it has never come into contact with mountainous regions.

Bottled water should not only be safe for health, it should also be healthy; those. be saturated with useful micro- and macroelements - potassium, sodium, magnesium cations, sulfate anions, chlorides, etc. - about 50 indicators in total. These requirements in in full correspond only to units of products on the Russian market. As a rule, it is produced by new Russian brands that could find good source water and can release quality goods at low financial cost. So, bottled water from Lipetsk, Kostroma, Orel and other regions has proven itself well. But manufacturers of the most promoted products, as a rule, are not financially interested in saturating water. useful elements. As for imported water, according to experts, almost all of it is artificially mineralized. Due to the high cost of the process and the price for it is very high.

It is very important that the water used for drinking and cooking is as pure as possible. High-quality drinking water improves health and prevents the occurrence of many diseases. Nutrition experts strongly recommend that you use only environmentally friendly bottled drinking water to be sure of the quality of the water.

And finally, experts also advise trusting your own taste - only by trying you can understand which water suits you best.

In this work, mineral water refers to all the listed types of water packaged in containers and intended for free sale. But since the youngest market is of the greatest interest, further purified drinking water will be mainly considered.

There are a lot of foreign cars on the Russian drinking water market - these are relatively cheap Italian Vera, Bon Aqua (manufactured by Coca-Cola), Aqua Minerale (PepsiCo), more expensive French Perrier, Evian, Vittel, Thonon, Volvic, Pier Val and Belgian SPA and Valvert. All of them are natural (except Bop Aqua) and contain very little salt - no more than 1 gram per liter.

Perrier and Vittel are represented on the Russian market by Nestle. The Perrier bottle, made of light green glass, has a very peculiar design, which, apparently, protected this brand from fakes. True, it is not very profitable to fake an expensive Perrier - not many people can afford to buy it. For mineral pirates, Borjomi, beloved by Russians, is much more interesting in this sense.

Evian and Volvic are promoted to our market by Danone. Due to the relatively low salt content, both waters can be safely used for preparing children's and diet food. Their main advantage is purity: Evian and Volvic are mined in the Alps, and the rocks are known to be an excellent natural filter. At the same time, these waters almost do not differ in composition from those near Moscow.

But the Belgian SPA (producer - S. A. SPA Monopole MV) and Valvert (Perrier Vittel Belgilux) contain less sodium, magnesium and calcium ions than Moscow tap water. And also exceptionally clean.

Vera, supplied by SAMOS from Padua, is practically unknown in the West. She won Russia mainly thanks to a well-organized advertising campaign. The popularity of Vera has grown so much that in terms of the number of fakes, it is almost equal to Borjomi. Our market was flooded with highly carbonated fakes under Vera. They could be distinguished from the original by crooked labels and absolutely terrible taste. In addition, the lids on them are very tightly fitted - you can’t unscrew them right away. At the request of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, fakes are identified and destroyed. But still, it is better not to buy Vera in the wholesale markets.

Drinking water is also produced in Russia - more than 500 items. But only a few of them are known, since most of the waters do not leave the boundaries of their regional basin. More or less common Krainskaya (Tula), Laguna, Rameno and Palace (Laguna, Samara), Muscovy (Zelenograd water canal), Vami (Cherkizovsky Meat Processing Plant - Cherkizovo LLP - Kashira) and, of course, the Holy Spring (Kostroma region). The latter is really popular, which, perhaps not least, is explained by its name: you don’t feel sorry for the holiness of money.

The success of Sarov carbonated drinking water can be called corporate. It is difficult to find it on sale, but Sarov is bought by the presidential administration - it is drunk at government meetings. Sarov is issued by the Arzamas company Divine Springs of Sarov, organized by former nuclear physicists. They perfectly understood that the main thing in drinking water is a beautiful branded bottle.

In accordance with the "Hygienic requirements for the quality of water packaged in containers" (SanPiN 2.1.4.1116-02), there is a division into water from underground sources (artesian, spring / spring and ground) and from surface sources (river, lake and glacial).

After special water treatment, the consumer is unlikely to feel the difference in taste, but it so happened that artesian water is more trustworthy: it is believed that if a manufacturer has money to drill an expensive well, then most likely he will have money to organize quality control of production according to the entire technological chain.

Despite the fact that water from an artesian well with a depth of more than 300 meters, as a rule, is already usable, when passing through metal pipes, it can become clogged with rust particles and other impurities. Therefore, in any shop for bottling drinking water, a whole line for preparation, cleaning and disinfection is installed.

Water from an artesian well enters the water chlorination tank, where water is disinfected and some metals (iron, manganese, etc.) are oxidized, which become insoluble in water and are removed by subsequent filters. Further, the water passes through a sand filter, in which solid mechanical inclusions and particles settle.

After that follows carbon filter where, through adsorption, residual chlorine and other chemical compounds are removed from the water. This purification stage is one of the most important, and therefore, depending on the positioning of the brand, the manufacturer selects the appropriate grade of coal for this filter, ranging from domestic birch to imported from coconut shell(the degree of purification between them differs by an order of magnitude).

The residual suspension of coal is eliminated by fine filters, after which the water enters the storage bin, where it is stored for some time until bottling. Immediately before packaging in containers, water passes last stage cleaning - ultraviolet irradiation to destroy microorganisms that could get there during the filtration and storage of water.

A similar scheme of water preparation is typical for the vast majority of bottlers, pouring not only drinking water, but also other drinks. Exceptions to such a technological chain are either underground entrepreneurs (pouring water directly from water taps), or large brands that use additional silver filters, osmotic barriers, etc. in their production.

It is no secret that any water (both plain and carbonated) contains certain dissolved mineral salts and, in fact, all drinking water is a “mineral water”.

In Russia, in accordance with the classification adopted by balneology, water is divided into table water (salt content up to 1 g/l), medical table water (salts from 1 to 10 g/l) and medicinal water (with a mineralization of more than 10 g/l).

IN Lately Increasingly, the domestic classification of water is supplemented by another, "Western" standard - drinking purified water with a total mineralization level of not more than 0.5 g / l. In accordance with the requirements of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), such water must not contain artificial sweeteners or additives, and flavors, extracts and essences of natural origin can be added to bottled water in an amount not exceeding one weight percent.

According to experts, the situation with bottled water in Russia is much better than in the West. The fact is that almost all Western water (and Western brands present on the Russian market) is produced using reverse osmosis technology. Special membrane-osmotic filters "select" only water molecules, then such highly purified water is saturated with the necessary minerals, in accordance with sanitary standards. In this way, you can clean water from a puddle, and it will be clean, harmless to health water. But it will be "dead", mechanical water. "Living" water can be called natural water, only slightly purified from suspension and bacteria. Such water is taken from underground sources, and such water is available on the Russian market. In America, water from springs is not sold in 1.5 and 5-liter containers, moreover, it is not poured into bottles for coolers. It is sold in small - 0.2 liter - glass bottles for a lot of money.

Water production is not large-scale, but, according to the producers, it is also not a fast-paying business. In order to start making real money on water, at least five years must pass.

As a rule, water producers offer not only water, but also service and a number of additional services. Some firms sell water coolers and pumps, as well as repair and sanitize equipment.

In addition, some companies are ready to provide the client with other related products - disposable cups, etc. This additional service is in demand by 10% of customers who buy water for coolers.

To organize a small production of bottled water, two rooms are enough - in one the water is purified, in the other it is bottled and packaged. Usually, during the production process, water is first purified by several filters - coal and sand, at the next stage, water is passed through special filters that reduce mineralization or, conversely, saturate the water with certain minerals - silver, fluorine, etc. Then the water is disinfected by exposure to ultraviolet radiation, and then saturated with ozone for the same purpose. Ozone, as a strong oxidizing agent, is very reactive (like the same chlorine that disinfects tap water), has biological activity and has a destructive effect on the body at the molecular level. In principle, any disinfection is a violation of the structure of water. Most safe way– ionization of water with silver. According to the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, there are very few bottled waters disinfected with silver ions due to the high cost of silver ionizers.

After pre-training water is poured into bottles, which are also treated with a special solution, disinfected and rinsed with the same water that is poured into bottles - in order to create an environment in the container similar to poured water. The cork, which clogs the bottle, is also treated with ultraviolet light.

Almost the entire process of bottled water production is automated. If there is any failure, all production stops. The factories of large manufacturers have their own laboratories, in which the quality of the produced water is checked every hour. In addition, samples from each batch of produced water are sent for analysis to the laboratory of the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology. Every month, the water is handed over for bacteriological analysis, and every six months a detailed examination of the water is carried out.

The depth of the well, which is usually indicated by all manufacturers on the bottle, in principle, is not decisive for determining the quality of water. It is unlikely that water from a depth of 120 meters will be any better than water from the same well taken from a depth of 100 meters. It all depends on where the water comes from. But if the well is very shallow, then there is a danger that meltwater can penetrate into the underground source.

The quality of drinking water must comply with the requirements of GOST 2874-82 “Drinking water. Hygiene requirements and quality control” and be provided throughout the entire water supply network and do not depend on the type of water supply source. GOST requirements for the chemical composition of water include 20 indicators for substances found in natural waters or added to it during treatment at treatment facilities. In any case, the quality of water can only be assessed using chemical and microbiological analysis.

There are many GOSTs for assessing water quality. Here are some of them: GOST 3351-74. Drinking water. Methods for determining taste, smell, color and turbidity; GOST 18164-72. Drinking water. Method for determining the content of dry residue;

GOST R 52407-2005. Drinking water. Methods for determining stiffness; 4GOST R 5193-2000. Drinking water. Sample selection; GOST R 52029-2003. Water. Unit of stiffness; GOST R 51232-98. Drinking water. General requirements for the organization and methods of quality control.

Currently, bottled waters intended for human consumption are subject to mandatory confirmation of compliance with regulatory requirements: drinking (OKP code 01 3100), mineral table water (OKP codes 91 8541, 91 8542), mineral medicinal table and mineral medicinal water (OKP codes 91 8543, 91 854, 91 8547).

Containers with bottled water may be labeled as "bottled", or "drinking", or "artesian", or "mineralized", or "purified", or "key", or "well", or "carbonated". Bottled water is also divided into water for personal and household use; the latter, as a rule, non-carbonated water in PET bottles (3 or more liters)

But the main question in the production of bottled water is how this production meets all the necessary requirements and state standards.

Before issuing a permit for production, the sanitary services carry out a lot of measurements, studies, and analyzes. For all processes associated with production, there must be a sanitary and epidemiological conclusion. First, the well itself is examined - water from the well, layers, soil, the state of the environment. Further, the state of industrial premises is analyzed - hygiene, noise and vibration levels, conditions for maintaining production safety, that is, features of ventilation, disinfection of premises, garbage disposal, etc.

In addition, any equipment, reagents, containers must also have a sanitary and epidemiological certificate. Then it is taken for testing. finished product. A batch of water is brought to the laboratory, analyzes are carried out throughout the entire shelf life of the product. If any violation is detected - for example, the shelf life is six months, and already on the third the water begins to turn green - the manufacturer is notified about this and eliminates the violation; for example, reduces the declared shelf life.

The main problem with any production (this applies not only to water) is that SanPiN does not determine the production technology - only the quality of water. Now new documents and standards of quality, safety and production of water are being prepared.

Water must comply with SanPiN 2.1.4.1116-02 for bottled water. In accordance with these standards, water can be of the highest and first category. Both categories of water are safe to drink. The only difference is that the norms for the first category determine the maximum permissible concentration of trace elements, and the requirements for water of the highest category are more stringent - the optimal concentration of substances is established there. It does not matter much for the consumer, it is rather a matter of prestige for the manufacturer and such a corporate competition. The water of the highest category should have a certain content of iodine and fluorine, but since all the water of the European part of Russia suffers from a lack of these elements, and we deliberately do not saturate the water with minerals, our water belongs to the first category.

The National Consumer Protection Fund conducted an examination as part of the Clean Water for Russia program. For testing, the products of 16 enterprises were selected, providing 80% of the market with their supplies. As a result, it turned out that about 30% of the studied water does not meet the standards for microbiological composition, the same number does not meet the criteria for the safety of the chemical composition, the standards for the content of macro- and microelements are violated in 70% of water items, most often the percentage of silver content is exceeded.

It is possible to really determine whether the water of a manufacturer meets sanitary standards in only one way - laboratory examination. You can order such an examination yourself and then compare the analysis data with the requirements of SanPiN. Rely on labels and advertisements for water quality assessment. There may be competition among local bottled water producers. Therefore, each manufacturer will advertise only its product. At the same time, large producers of bottled water are arguing about the need to follow GOSTs, about the harm (benefit) of ozonation, silver, saturation of micro- and macroelements, accusing small producers of dumping prices - due to the fact that they “poll water from a spring or even from a tap ".

The following are some basic requirements for the production of bottled water:

Natural water, in accordance with the requirements of WHO international standards, must be bottled directly from the well. In this case, the bottle should have an inscription: water (carbonated, non-carbonated) from an artesian well.

Drinking water, artificially purified - this is water from a water source, purified by the addition of chemicals (some manufacturers practically desalinate water - this process is called desalination, reverse osmosis, and then add to the right amount salt, bringing the water to the required condition).

In world practice, standards for drinking water limit only the upper levels of total mineralization - 1000-1500 mg / l and the main salt components - chlorides and sulfates.

Today's research shows that high levels of total drinking water hardness ( high content Ca, (potassium) Mg, (magnesium) Fe (iron) ions in water can have a significant negative impact on the health of the population.

However, there are currently no generally accepted criteria for quantifying possible risk associated with increased hardness of drinking water.

In the information manuals of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, there is an indication that in Russia, in regions with increased water hardness, the population may develop such pathological effects as salt deposition ... changes in water-salt and protein-lipid metabolism.

People who have been drinking highly mineralized water with a total mineralization of 3000 mg/l for more than two years have a tendency to hypertensive conditions, the appearance of vascular reactivity, as well as changes in the water-salt balance.

Based on the available data, the lower limit of mineralization of drinking water should be considered as 300 mg/l, and the optimal one is from 300 to 500 mg/l. Mineral drinking water (in particular, medical-table and medicinal) is a product that provides therapeutic effect on the human body, so the use this product in the territory Russian Federation allowed only after conducting comprehensive studies in one of the institutes of balneology.

The only element whose standard is very strictly regulated in drinking water worldwide is fluorine, the recommended values ​​of which are determined by WHO.

Currently, manufacturers are violating the requirements for information for consumers established by Federal Law 29 “On Quality and Safety food products”, Law of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1992 No. 2300-1 “On Protection of Consumer Rights”.

Instead of data on the quality category, total mineralization, hardness, ionic composition (for drinking water packaged in containers) and data on the ionic composition and total mineralization (for mineral water) in a large number of cases, the information “environmentally clean water” is issued with reference to various environmental organizations.

Therefore, when buying water, pay attention to the label. It must contain information about the category of water quality, its hardness, total mineralization, ionic composition.

A very important water treatment parameter is the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), which is determined by the amount of dissolved oxygen required to decompose all biodegradable organic waste in water, BOD indicates water overload with organic pollutants. The standard test for such organic substances is the five-day BOD test. In this test, contaminated water is diluted with air-saturated distilled water to provide an excess of oxygen, and the amount of dissolved oxygen in the resulting solution is measured. Then the solution is kept for 5 days at 20°C, after which the amount of oxygen dissolved in it is again measured. The five-day BOD, referred to as BOD5, is calculated as the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed. A five-day BOD is usually about three-quarters of the total BOD of water. For normal drinking water, BOD5 does not exceed 1.5 ppm O2. sewer water up to pre-treatment usually has a BOD5 of 100 to 400 ppm O2. The microbiological composition of water depends on the aquatic flora and fauna and on many other reasons, not excluding cosmic factors. The pathogenicity of microbes increases sharply during the years of solar activity: previously almost harmless waters become dangerous.

Of great importance in characterizing the properties of water is the indicator of its purity. There are several important indicators of the quality of fresh natural water: pH acidity (or pH), hardness and organoleptic.

pH is related to the concentration of hydrogen ions in the medium, measured using a simple device"pH-meter" and gives us the concept of the acidic or alkaline properties of water as a solvent:

pH< 7 – кислая среда;

pH = 7 - neutral medium;

pH > 7 - alkaline environment.

pH is a very important indicator not only for water, but also for human body, the acid balance of which must be maintained within certain limits: allowed values The pH ranges from 7.38 to 7.42 and cannot deviate even 10% from this range. At pH = 7.05, a person falls into a pre-coma state, at pH = 7.00 coma occurs, and at pH = 6.80 death occurs. The pH of the human body is maintained by the so-called buffer solutions of physiological fluids (urine, blood, lymph and saliva), which include carbonate and phosphate buffers.

Hardness is the property of water, due to the content of calcium Ca2+ and magnesium Mg2+ ions in it. Hardness is determined according to a special method described in GOSTs for drinking water, its units of measurement are moles per cubic meter (mol / m3) or millimoles per liter (_ol / l).

There are several types of hardness - general, carbonate, non-carbonate, removable and irremovable; but most often they talk about the total hardness associated with the sum of the concentrations of calcium and magnesium ions.

In Moscow water, an excess of the norm in terms of hardness was observed. Therefore, consumers should be more careful about what water they drink and what water they cook food with. Water hardness is caused by the presence of calcium and magnesium in it. These elements are in any natural water, a person needs both calcium and magnesium. depends on calcium correct formation bone tissue, and blood clotting. Magnesium is important for nervous system and also helps lower blood cholesterol. But despite the fact that calcium is absorbed slightly from drinking water, only by 10-30%, an excess of this element is undesirable for the body, as it leads to cardiovascular pathology. Magnesium compounds give water a bitter taste and, at high concentrations, have a toxic effect on the body.

Mineralization is the sum of all substances dissolved in water. According to scientists, drinking water should have a mineralization of at least 100 mg/l and not more than 1000 mg/l.

sodium and potassium. Sodium in water is necessary to maintain the acid-base balance, takes an active part in water metabolism. K-alium is necessary for the normal functioning of the body, it is important for cardiovascular activity.

Fluorides. Fluorine takes an active part in the formation of teeth and bones, normalizes phosphorus-calcium metabolism. In some countries, in those regions where fluorine in water (and soil, and therefore in vegetable food) is small, water is fluoridated either centrally (many states in the US, northern countries Europe), or bottled water is produced with fluorine (but it costs more). It is important to take into account that the amount of fluorine in water should not exceed 1.5 mg / l, since an excess of this element leads to such a disease as fluorosis.

Iron. This is a hematopoietic element, with a lack of which anemia can develop in the body. But water from increased concentration iron - more than 0.3 mg / dm3 - is dangerous. It has an allergenic effect, increases the risk of getting liver pathology, myocardial infarction. Such water has Negative influence on the reproductive function of the body. In generally accepted EU standards, borderline marginal rate iron - 0.2 mg/dm3. Often, excessive iron content in water is observed due to the poor condition of water supply systems.

Chlorides. These are salts of hydrochloric acid, which are found in almost all natural waters. They have nothing to do with active chlorine. The presence of chlorides in water is explained by the presence in the rocks of the most common salt on Earth - sodium chloride. It is necessary to keep beneficial trace elements in the body, while it has mild antiseptic properties.

Under the organoleptic characteristics of water are understood its smell, taste, color and turbidity.

The smell of water is determined (earthy, chlorine, the smell of petroleum products, etc.) and estimating the intensity of the smell on a five-point scale (zero corresponds to the complete absence of smell):

1. very weak, almost imperceptible smell;

2. the smell is weak, noticeable only if you pay attention to it;

3. the smell is easily noticed and causes a disapproving review of the water;

4. the smell is distinct, attracts attention and makes you refrain from drinking;

5. The smell is so strong that it makes the water unfit for drinking.

The taste of water is characterized by definitions salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and all the rest taste sensations are called flavors. The taste is evaluated on the same five-point scale as the smell, with gradations: very weak, weak, noticeable, distinct, very strong.

The color of water is determined photometrically by comparing the test water with reference solutions that mimic the color of natural water. The color is evaluated according to a special color scale with gradations from zero to 14. Turbidity is examined in a similar way.

The properties of water are studied by methods of qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. Each impurity has its own MPC - the maximum permissible concentration, that is, one that does not harm our body. But there are substances, viruses and bacteria, for which the MPC is zero, that is, they should not be in the water at all.

Table 1. Hygienic requirements and quality control. GOST 2874–82, 1988

4. Different markets for the same product

In addition to distinguishing the category of drinking water from the entire group of mineral waters, there is another division of the drinking water market into three independent parts, with their own producers and consumers, laws and trends, differing in the volume of packaging and the nature of the target audience:

- "office" (or "cooler") water;

- "home" water for cooking;

Water in individual packaging.

Under the “office” water market, we mean the market for drinking water in 3 and 5 gallon (meaning 12 and 19 liter bottles, 1 gallon = 3.785 liters) polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles sold by manufacturers through their own distribution network and supplied mainly to the organization.

The domestic water market focuses on household consumption and therefore operates in PET and polyethylene (HDPE) canisters with a capacity of 5 to 10 liters.

Individually packaged water market introduced a wide range glass and PET bottles, as well as a small percentage of aluminum cans sold through the wholesale and retail network.

In the second half of the 1990s, the emerging drinking water market began to develop in all three directions at once: with a focus on personal, home and office consumption.

It so happened that producers of drinking water in "office" 5-gallon bottles were unable to offer households acceptable conditions and work patterns. It's not even about the relatively high cost of water, the cost of collateral for a bottle and the purchase of a cooler: after all, the first buyer, who cares about his health, was a fairly well-to-do "middle class".

The most serious obstacle turned out to be the impossibility of purchasing goods in the desired time frame - suppliers guarantee delivery time to within a few hours (besides, during working hours), which can potentially suit only people who have a lot of free time.

Since there is practically no competition in the water supplier market (since the bottlers themselves and their subsidiaries are mainly involved in the delivery), households should not expect positive changes in the near future.

Retail chains, which could partially solve this problem by giving the buyer the opportunity to choose the time and place of purchase, refuse to work with such bulky and troublesome returnable containers.

"Home" drinking water appeared as an analogue of "office" water, sold through a public and in many respects more convenient wholesale and retail network. Since retail is closest to the end consumer and, accordingly, is very sensitive to changes in demand, the growth rate of the “home” water market is much higher than that of “office” water. Obviously, the main target audience of the market for "home" drinking water, packaged in canisters from 5 to 10 liters, are households using water for cooking.

The market for drinking water in individual packaging has developed according to its own scenario - we can say that it is a distant descendant of the state monopoly network of vending machines for soda water for 1 kopeck.

In the early 90s, this market actually ceased to exist and was in a situation of stagnation for several years, while the producers of carbonated drinks waited for it to “ripen”.

During the production of sweet soda, water must go through all the same stages of extraction and processing, but with some additional phases (softening, deaeration, etc.). That's why great amount beer and non-alcoholic plants, if desired, was able to switch to the production of drinking water at any time, trends towards which have been observed recently.

In addition, many manufacturers of medicinal and table mineral waters, which until recently were slow to develop new markets, began to expand their product lines, offering "light" versions of their brands.

Consumers of drinking water in individual packaging - up to 2 liters - most often are individual individuals who purchase it to quench their thirst.

Despite the fact that all the aforementioned drinking water consumption markets practically do not intersect, all large quantity bottlers try to fully cover them with their assortment. Our survey last year showed that by 2002 the number of Russian water producers targeting all of the above markets exceeded 40 companies.

Bottled water and regular drinking water are not always the same compound. Many manufacturers of bottled drinking water extract clean water from artesian wells, as well as water from mineral springs, springs and pump rooms.

Bottled water can be carbonated or still; carbonated water is much more in demand than still water.

Deep artesian waters are better protected from various industrial and bacterial contamination. For drilling, special installations are used, then steel pipes are lowered into the well, a powerful pump is immersed, through which the pipeline is brought to the surface. There are two aquifers: the sandy one lies at a depth of 15-40 m and is separated from the upper soil layer by clay layers, which protect it from pollution, and at a depth of 30-230 m or more there are limestone aquifers, the so-called artesian.

The composition of artesian waters depends on the depth of their occurrence. Such water may have increased hardness and contain bacteria and organic matter. In addition, due to poor pipe connections in wells, contaminants from higher aquifers can seep into artesian water. Typically, this water must be filtered and purified, which is carried out using industrial and domestic purification systems.

A spring, or a key, denotes a small water stream that spouts directly from the bowels of the earth. Some Russian rivers and reservoirs are generated by such underground sources. Spring water is taken from the very place where it comes from under the ground. Water can be fresh or mineralized. In the first case, we are talking about springs and springs, and in the second - about the source of mineral waters.

The nature of spring water is the same as that of well or artesian water, since it comes from an underground aquifer or basin.

On the territory of Russia, the number of springs is incalculable, they differ in the quality and composition of the waters. Spring waters have medicinal properties they are fresh and tasty.

But springs, just like artesian wells and wells, are subject to pollution. Nowadays, it is impossible to guarantee the constant quality of spring water, since it depends not only on seasonal circumstances (rainstorms, floods, groundwater), but also on emissions from nearby industrial enterprises.

There are several springs in Moscow from which you can drink water: the spring "Sergiy Radonezhsky" in Teply Stan, "Saint" in Krylatsky, "The Swan Princess" in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo, "Tsaritsyno" in the floodplain of the Tsaritsynsky Pond. Some of the popular springs from ancient times were closed: in the water of the spring in Troparevsky Park, the MPC for chromium was exceeded, in the Filevsky spring - for aluminum, potassium, magnesium, in the key of the Life-Giving Trinity in Borisov - an excess of iron, in springs in Sviblov (in the floodplain of the Yauza) and " Kadochka (in Kolomenskoye) the excess of the MPC for heavy metals, and in Beket in Donskoy - for cadmium and chromium. The waters of these sources are hazardous to health.

The pump room (French Buvette, literally - a buffet, a drinking establishment) is a special structure arranged above or near a mineral spring for dispensing drinking mineral water in order to protect it from pollution and create the necessary amenities for use. Sometimes the pump room of cold mineral springs is arranged with a device for heating water. Often, a pump room is arranged in special galleries.

A typical example of pump room waters is the Lipetsk Mineral Waters, famous springs with more than two hundred years of history. For local residents healing properties waters have been known for a long time, the very first studies of the chemical composition of Lipetsk water were carried out under Emperor Peter I. As a result, it was found that the water contains a large amount of iron, sodium, magnesium and calcium salts.

Lipetsk mineral water is characterized as water of low salinity, chloride-sulfate-sodium slightly alkaline. Its mineralization is -4.1 g per liter, the water is slightly alkaline (pH - 7.6), the temperature at the spout is 12 ° C.

The main indication for internal use Lipetsk waters are gastritis, colitis, hepatitis, cholecystitis, peptic ulcer, metabolic disease. Water changes activity digestive system, gently stimulates the secretory and motor functions of the digestive system.

Bottled mineral and spring water is in great demand in big cities. Springs and wells from which this water is extracted should be located away from urban underground utilities, landfills and other sources of contamination, and chemical composition water should be regularly monitored by the sanitary service.

The quality of natural drinking water largely depends on the quality of the source of this water, the technology of purification and disinfection of drinking water. It should be remembered that spring water obtained from underground is also highly likely to be contaminated. If the water is clear and pleasant to the taste, this does not mean that it is suitable for drinking purposes and for cooking. According to the research results of the Military Medical Academy, only 4% of natural water sources in Russia comply with the drinking standards SanPin 2.1.4.1116 - 02 “Drinking water. Hygienic requirements for the quality of water packaged in containers. Quality control".

According to Palma Consulting, in 2001 the volume of bottled mineral water consumption in Russia amounted to a little over 1.6 billion liters, of which more than half - about 900 million liters - was drinking water. Import-export operations were carried out mainly in relation to medicinal and medicinal table waters.

Thus, in 2008, exports of mineral waters exceeded imports by a third (45 million liters against 33 million liters, respectively), and about 90% of imports were made by Georgia.

In 2012, consumption is expected to increase to 2.0-2.1 billion liters of mineral water, mainly due to drinking and table water. It is easy to calculate that in 2001 the average per capita consumption of bottled mineral water in Russia amounted to a little over 10 liters per person, which is 8-12 times less than the level of consumption in developed countries.

The market capacity growth in 2008 was estimated at 21-22%, in 2009 - 26-28%, and this year growth is forecasted to increase to 30% and more. The number of domestic producers of mineral water this year will exceed 450 companies (which is indicative, large national brands, such as Wimm-Bill-Dann and Baltika, are beginning to enter this market). More than half of the existing bottlers are located in the Central and Southern federal districts.

At the moment, the share of mineral water packaged in "office" bottles with a capacity of 12-19 liters is 11% of the market; canisters with a capacity of 5 liters or more - 15%; PET bottles with a capacity of less than 5 liters - 67%; glass bottles– 6%; aluminum cans and containers made of other materials - less than 1%.

The type of packaging, as a rule, determines the nature of its contents: non-carbonated drinking water is packed in PC and PET containers of large volumes (5 liters or more); in glass containers, mainly medicinal and medicinal table waters are poured; aluminum cans are still experimentally used only for carbonated drinking water.

The production of PET packaging in Russia began in 1996, and before that time it was delivered from abroad (Poland, Austria, etc.).

Moreover, since in the first half of the 90s bottlers did not yet have their own blowing equipment, already blown empty bottles were delivered by wagons from Europe.

Soon enough, having calculated their losses in the transportation of containers, water producers acquired their own blowing equipment and began to purchase much smaller blanks for bottles - preforms, however, again of imported origin.

And only since 1996 Russian entrepreneurs decided to invest in the production of PET preforms and compete with imported products in terms of price and quality.

Today there are a little more than 50 domestic manufacturers of PET preforms, and about 20 of them produce containers exclusively for their own needs - bottling drinks. The largest professional domestic manufacturers of PET preforms with a market share of more than 10% and a wide weight range of products are Evroplast, Itera PET and Retal. The share of imported PET packaging is estimated at 5-7%, and most of this container falls on finished products- water.

If before 2000 the growth of the PET container market capacity was more than 20%, then in 2012 the natural market growth of 14-16% is expected. In other words, the growth of the capacity of the entire PET container market is provided by half due to the growth of the drinking and mineral water markets, which occupy 22-24% in the total structure of consumption of PET containers.

The wide popularity of PET containers for mineral water is explained by many factors: these are good physical characteristics, ease of reuse of the bottle, but the main thing that plays a role when choosing bottles for bottlers is the low unit cost of packaging compared to aluminum and glass. Since the cost of a package is very often comparable in price to the contents of the bottle, for the consumer, the most important factor when choosing essentially the same product is the price.

However, there is a certain consumer audience for which the prestige of the consumed water is the only significant one. In theory, in order to create a “branded” product for such a target audience, the manufacturer must at least have a well-known trademark and packaging that is original in design or material. Therefore, in order to position drinking water in the “premium” category, some domestic bottlers begin brand promotion by using exclusive glass bottles.

Since the number of such bottlers is small (according to our estimates, a little more than 10 companies), competition in the market for prestigious water of domestic origin is very insignificant and is in its infancy. Although most of the exclusive and souvenir glass containers for water are still imported, domestic container manufacturers have also begun to pay more attention to expensive and, accordingly, more profitable packaging.

The general situation on the Russian glass container market is characterized by a chronic shortage. Despite the fact that in the second half of the 1990s, the flow of cash investments (including foreign ones) sharply increased in the glass container industry, on the basis of which more than 10 lines for the production of glass bottles were introduced, the situation has not changed so far.

The capacity of the glass container market only for the beer and non-alcoholic industry for last year is estimated at 9 billion bottles (in half-liter equivalent), with a production volume of glass bottles of 3 billion and imports of 1.5 billion pieces. At the same time, about half of the bottles consumed by the market fall on standard reusable containers - due to the shortage of glass containers, as well as because of the cheapness of recycled containers, bottles are sometimes used up to 30 times, which is an order of magnitude higher than the recommendations for nominal container turnover.

According to the forecasts of some analysts, the deficit situation will continue in the next 2-3 years, until new capacities are introduced, which are planned to be sold by foreign and domestic investors. In the near future, the possibility of installing equipment with a capacity of approximately 1 billion bottles per year is being considered, and several lines are planned to be installed at their own bottlers - the companies Baltika, Veda and others.

Aluminum cans in Russia are currently produced by only two companies - Rostar LLC, which is part of the Siberian Aluminum Group, and the large European company PLM, which is part of the international concern Rexam. In addition, in the near future, new players, such as St. Petersburg Baltic Aluminum and the Polish company Can-Pack, are planning to enter the market.

According to experts, the only manufacturer of drinking water in aluminum cans 0.33 liters. There was and still is Pepsi-Cola with the "Aqua minerale" brand. Judging by the volume of sales, this product is not promising or highly profitable for the company, but most likely serves the image purposes of the corporation, which is the only one of all market participants that presents its product in this product category.

Therefore, in our opinion, in the near future, new producers of drinking water in the most expensive and advertised packaging - an aluminum can, are unlikely to appear.

7.1 "Home" water

The “homemade” drinking water market originated somewhat later than the “individual” one - the time of its emergence can be called 1996-1997, when some bottlers, who decided to expand their product range and create a new market on their own, began to purchase special wide-mouth PET preforms in Western Europe (the most popular were Austrian and Spanish preforms).

In mid-1998, Europlast installed the first industrial line for the production of PET preforms for 5-liter canisters, and by 2008 there were already 6-7 manufacturers of "heavy" preforms on the packaging market. Despite the fact that the market is still at the initial stage of development, some packers are already considering it as promising - next year, the installation of new facilities for the production of such preforms is considered by two more well-known manufacturers of PET preforms: Retal and Master -groups.

Currently, the capacity of the Russian market of clean drinking water for "home" use is estimated at 4 million 5- and 8-liter PET canisters per month. With an annual drinking water consumption of about 240-250 million liters, it is predicted that by 2003 the market capacity will increase by more than a quarter and household water consumption will exceed 300 million liters.

In the near future, “homemade” water may significantly increase its market share due to the emergence of new consumer groups - last year, special adapter caps appeared on the market that adapt the shape of the neck of 5-liter canisters to a standard cooler. In other words, drinking water in PET canisters may partially replace large PC bottles in the office water market. Although such a proposal is likely to be of interest only to small offices and households, this market segment may be lost for a long time to producers of "office" water.

The 10-litre HDPE cans, which have recently appeared on the domestic drinking water market, still represent less than one percent of the total market. If we neglect a small proportion of the use of polyethylene low pressure in the production of containers for drinking water and the possibility of increasing this share (HDPE is not recommended for long-term storage food, as it has a high permeability to oxygen and various odors), the only material for the manufacture of drinking water packaging is PET.

Despite a fairly developed petrochemical industry, Russia has today is a net importer of food-grade polyethylene terephthalate - in 2008, more than 260 thousand tons of this polyester were imported into the country, mainly from Asia-Pacific countries. The Korean producers of raw materials are the most popular with us - their share is about 80% of total imports: Kohap, Tongkook, SK Chemical, Honam, Daehan and Saehan Chemical. The only manufacturer of this polymer in the CIS is the Belarusian company Belpak, but its products (by the way, are far from best quality) does not reach the free market - the entire volume of raw materials is consumed by the sister company Itera PET.

Nevertheless, positive developments are expected in Russia soon - the long-term epic with the construction of PET granulate production facilities is coming to an end. It is expected that next year the first two domestic plants will be launched - this is the Tver plant of OAO Sibur-neftekhim2 and the Bashkir polyester complex of OAO Polief, whose products should partially “dilute” imports by about a quarter.

Although only a small part of imported PET raw materials (about 4.6 thousand tons per year) is used for packaging "home" drinking water, this market is still being formed and is in the stage of active growth, and therefore, in the coming years, the need for raw materials for this the market can increase several times.

Thus, since the beginning of 2008, the number of bottlers pouring water into PET canisters has doubled and will reach 100 companies this year. Most well-known manufacturers"Home" drinking water can be called the companies "Mercury", "Ost-Aqua", "Polyustrovo", "Silver Spring" and others. In the near future, several more large national brands will announce their entry into the home water market.

7.2 "Office" water

"Office" water entered the market in 1993, when 5-gallon bottles of PC were supplied from Poland and Turkey, which continued literally until recent years. In 1999, Zhivaya Voda (drinking water manufacturer) launched Russia's first line for the production of 3 and 5 gallon polycarbonate bottles, mainly for its own needs. Following it, in 2000, the well-known packaging concern Huhtamaki Van Leer, the world leader in the production of metal drums and PC bottles, opened its production in Russia. In less than three years, these two packaging manufacturers were able to eliminate almost all imports from the market and satisfy the demand of bottlers for 5-gallon containers.

At the beginning of 2008, the market shares of containers for “office” water were distributed in the following ratio: “Van Leer2 ~ 65%, “Zhivaya Voda” ~ 25%, imports (mainly “Greiner”, Austria) ~ 10%. Such a confident entry into the packaging market for domestic manufacturers is natural - local production has reduced transportation costs by about 50 times, and the customs duty on raw materials is set 4 times less than on finished products.

Zhivaya Voda uses a single-stage injection machine in its production, the principle of which is as follows: heated plastic is injected into a special mold under pressure, resulting in an “intermediate product” of the production cycle - a preform. At the second stage, by hot blowing, a finished product is obtained from the preform - a bottle for drinking water.

Van Leer, which has production experience in many countries around the world, has chosen extrusion molding technology for itself. A hollow “sleeve” of heated plastic is placed in the bottle mold, where it is blown out in one technological cycle.

In the opinion of container consumers, both technologies have their advantages and disadvantages: a bottle made by extrusion can have a monolithic handle, which greatly increases the consumer qualities of the final product. On the other hand, such containers look less attractive due to the presence of clumps of plastic in the places where the "sleeve" sticks together, which are absent in preform bottles. In any case, the presence of a range of packaging allows the bottler to make the most convenient choice for him.

Although the market for polycarbonate bottles is currently saturated (the total capacity utilization rate of container manufacturers does not exceed 75%), both companies are considering installing additional bottle production lines in the near future. But, despite the fact that the two main players are now quite crowded, in 2011 another 2-3 manufacturers with foreign capital are planning to appear on the market.

One of the contenders for its market share, in addition to the listed manufacturers of PC containers, is Balitekh, which entered the market in 2001. The company specializes in the supply of plastic processing equipment from Chinese manufacturers and 19-liter PET bottles own production. Although at the moment the share of this market participant is very small (less than 1%), the company plans to strongly oust the two "pillars" using the well-known Chinese dumping tactics. In addition, the cost of a bottle produced by blow molding from a PET preform is almost a third lower than that of a polycarbonate bottle. However, neither Van Leer nor Zhivaya Voda take their new competitor seriously - in their opinion, PET will never compete with polycarbonate in this market.

The question of choosing transparent plastic for containers has arisen in the world for a long time - usually polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate or polystyrene are used to "fake" glass. Of the two contenders for the role of the material for the 5-gallon bottle, polycarbonate is undoubtedly the leader in Russia.

According to PC container manufacturers, domestic bottlers are completely satisfied with the current situation on the market and they are not interested in price cuts if it entails a decrease in the quality of containers. Despite the relatively high cost of a PC bottle, its service life (number of container rotations) is 2.5 times longer than that of PET. Also, to strengths polycarbonate can be attributed high temperature softening (240 °C versus 120 °C for PET), which facilitates the sterilization procedure hot water, and greater resistance to mechanical damage and scratches. One of the main arguments against possible competition from PET containers, "Van Leer" and "Zhivaya Voda" called a certain normative document of sanitary and epidemiological supervision, which prohibits the use of PET for returnable packaging.

As in the case of PET, food-grade polycarbonate is not produced in Russia, but is imported from the Asia-Pacific countries, the USA and Western Europe, and the volume of imports from Germany is 2.5 times higher than the volume of supplies of this polymer from all other countries of the world combined. According to the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation, in 2001 Russia imported about 500 tons of PC raw materials. The most famous world manufacturers of food grade polycarbonate are Bayer (Germany), General Electric (USA), DOW Chemical (USA), Sam Yang Plastics (Korea) and Teijin (Japan).

Since polycarbonate bottles have a nominal turnover of 50 times, the market capacity for empty bottles is much less than the market capacity for water in these bottles. In 2008, about 9 million 5-gallon bottles of "office" water and more than 0.8 million 3-gallon bottles were drunk in Russia. At the same time, the capacity of the market for empty PC bottles is estimated at only 550-600 thousand bottles, and the growth in the capacity of this market is 18-20%. Consumption of 3-gallon bottles in 2001 was about 20-30 thousand pieces (less than 5% of the total market) due to the narrow focus of this product on the underdeveloped household market. The Ural region can be called an exception, where manufacturers managed to negotiate with retail chains (gas stations) and increase the share of sales of 3-gallon bottles to 40% of all "office" water in the region.

The main consumers of "office" drinking water are still large industrial cities with environmental problems. Over the past 2-3 years, there has been a strong shift to the east in the geographical structure of drinking water consumption, and if earlier more than half of the bottled water was drunk by the “two capitals”, now their share of consumption is decreasing due to the vigorous growth of the Volga and Ural markets (more than 20%).

The "Big Three", which have a wide network of regional offices, are the three largest producers of well-known brands of drinking water: "Holy Spring", "Royal Water" and "Clear Water".

As in many food markets, due to the seasonality of demand changes, in summer the consumption of "office" drinking water drops by about 20% (especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg) due to the outflow of the urban population on holidays. The peak of consumption of drinking "office" water falls on the middle of spring and the end of summer.

Despite the significant consumption of "office" water, the market is in the stage of "early growth" and by now, according to packaging manufacturers, is actually saturated only by 1.0-1.5%. The consumption of "office" drinking water in Russia in 2001 amounted to 170-180 million liters, the increase in water consumption compared to 2000 was about 20-22%, and the total number of bottlers using 5-gallon bottles increased by 1.5 times (about 80 companies). Marketers estimate that the idea of ​​“office” water consumption by households by 2010-2012 should reach its apogee, and then the annual growth of the market capacity will increase several times.

7.3 Drinking water in individual packaging

The market for “individual” drinking water originated in the first half of the 1990s during the mass deliveries of imported food and beverages to Russia. Since the prices for well-known European brands of mineral waters were quite high, and the culture of consumption of mineral water with reduced content Since there were no salts in principle, the demand from the domestic consumer, who was accustomed to more “strong” medicinal table waters, was insignificant.

A noticeable development of the drinking water market began in 1994-95 with the emergence and confident promotion of the well-known Russian brand "Holy Spring".

From that moment, local brands of drinking water (usually carbonated) began to appear throughout the country, and by 2000, two well-known global "whales" paid attention to this market - The Coca-Cola Company(branded as Bon Aqua) and Pepsi-Cola (with Aqua Minerale).

After acquisition by Nestle in July of this year trademark Svyatoy Istochnik, these three multinational companies now control just over half of the Russian market for individually packaged drinking water.

The total number of producers of mineral water in individual packaging is currently estimated at about 400 companies, and their annual production is about 120 million decalitres.

Despite the fact that sales of soda water are growing noticeably slower than plain water, soda is still 3 times more popular than still water. In 2008, the market capacity of still water in individual packaging reached 120 million liters, and the annual consumption growth was 40%. This year, the growth of the market capacity of all drinking water in individual packaging is predicted to be around 33-35% - this market segment demonstrates the highest development dynamics against the background of other types of mineral water.

As already noted, glass bottles are mainly used for medicinal and medicinal table waters, and the share of drinking water does not exceed 5% of the total volume of mineral water in glass.

The diagram shows the division of the market of all types of mineral water by the amount of consumed "individual" packaging. At the same time, more than two thirds of the total volume of mineral water is bottled in one and a half liter PET containers.

When buying bottled water, there is a considerable chance of acquiring a fake. According to experts, the share of fake bottled water in the domestic market is about 10-15% of the presented products. Spotting a counterfeit product is very difficult, but there are a few things buyers should pay attention to.

Firstly, the bottle label must contain information about the category of water (drinking, table, medical-table, medicinal), its source (water supply, well number), manufacturer, indicating the address, chemical composition and registration data.

Secondly, manufacturers of fake bottled water appear on the market for a short time, so they do not pay attention to appearance products. If the pictures and inscriptions are clearly printed on the packaging, and the lid and bottle are additionally decorated, then most likely the product is real.

Thirdly, it is better to try to buy bottled water in large retail outlets, where the likelihood of a fake is the least.

Bottled drinking water can be poisonous, ”the employees of the National Consumer Protection Fund made such a frightening statement the other day. Fund employees periodically raid retail outlets, checking the quality of goods.

The conclusions are gloomy - even Bon Aqua and Aqua Minerale are undesirable to drink, and the Arkhyz, Holy Spring, Krokha and Bereginya brands have an unsafe chemical composition. In Arkhyz, for example, there is not enough iodine, but silver, on the contrary, is five times higher than the norm.

The chief sanitary doctor of Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, was informed about the results of this raid. After that, he issued an order to strengthen control over the production of water.

The Nestle Waters company, which owns the Holy Spring plant, ordered its study just in case. Moreover, in the same laboratory in which water was studied by order of consumer advocates. However, the fund does not assure that they tested the factory water: “We took bottles of water from retail chains and took them to licensed laboratories,” says Alexander Kalinin, president of the National Consumer Protection Fund, “it could have been counterfeit.”

The mineral water market is today one of the most dynamically developing in Food Industry. Such an intensive growth in bottled water consumption is explained, in our opinion, by the coincidence of several positive trends of a cultural and economic nature. First, since the default, the end consumer has managed to recover from the financial crisis. Secondly, an increasing number of mineral water producers are beginning to invest in brand promotion and product advertising, and, as you know, the domestic consumer is easily amenable to advertising.

In addition, since ordinary consumers associate mineral water with a healthy lifestyle, there has recently been a trend towards an increase in the share of mineral water consumption due to a decrease in the share of sugary carbonated drinks.

The most surprising thing for many bottlers was not so much the rapid growth of the mineral water market as its high profitability. In fact, any mineral water is positioned in a fairly high price category, since the target audience consists mainly of wealthy segments of the population - the rest, who are not ready to pay for drinking water, will continue to drink from the tap. Thus, the situation is now sweet soda cheaper than purified drinking water.

Most likely, quite large investments will be made in this sector of the food industry in the coming years, the number of market participants will continue to grow, and new national brands will appear. It is expected that the market for bottled water will continue to differentiate by type of product: for infants and nursing mothers - a certain chemical composition; for sports activities - in bottles of a convenient shape with a special cap; for aesthetes - in expensive glass, and for teenagers - in acid-bright plastic bottles with pictures on the cover, etc. According to our calculations, by 2006 a fundamental change in the minds of the consumer will take place in Russia, and clean water will be massively used not only to quench thirst, but also for cooking, which in turn will cause a rapid growth in the market for "office" water for households.

In the end, the development of the market and the intensification of competition will be in the hands of a simple buyer - manufacturers will be forced to fight for the client by improving the quality of the product and, hopefully, by lowering prices.

The Union of Producers of Bottled Waters of Russia (SPBV) was registered in February 2005. Leading Russian companies - manufacturers of bottled drinking and mineral water, related equipment (bottles, coolers, corks, etc.) took part in the creation of the Union. The goals and objectives of the SPWV Russia are to provide all possible assistance to domestic manufacturers of bottled drinking water and equipment, to assist in achieving and maintaining the highest quality standards throughout the industry, regarding both the delivery of drinking water and requirements for coolers, lobbying the interests of the Union members in executive and legislative authorities of the Russian Federation and its regions. One of the main tasks of the Union is the development of a system of voluntary certification of plants for the production of drinking bottled water. This will help to provide significant assistance to manufacturing companies at the stage of creation modern production, which meets stringent requirements for drinking water quality and production safety.

SPBV represents Russian producers of bottled drinking and mineral water, as well as equipment suppliers for the industry at the International and European levels as a single national structure. SPBW is a member of the European Cooler Water Association EBWA and the International Council of the ICBWA Bottled Water Association. This allows its members to have access to European and international achievements in the drinking water industry.

In Russia, there is still a low culture of drinking water consumption, as Russians for a long time drinking water from the tap. Therefore, the decline in quality tap water is one of the main factors in the consumption of drinking water, experts state. In addition, many cheap filters are sold in the country that promise to purify tap water at home. The development of the drinking water market is hindered by the limited budget of the bulk of the population. Few can afford to constantly buy bottled water.

One of them characteristic features of this market is locality. The positions of local players are strong in the regions. They work steadily in the lower price segment. In turn, federal players are forced to enter the more expensive segment, since their transport component is quite large.

In the drinking water market, the share of Private Label in retail chains is growing. The opinions of market participants and experts are not unanimous about the quality of such drinking water. “This trend is more alarming than positive, because cheap things are never good,” says Valery Geryugov, General Director of VISMA, “Private Label water costs 4 rubles. per litre. But this is practically the cost price with a small marginal income. I don't think there are opportunities here to build serious water quality systems."

President of the Union of Producers of Bottled Waters of Russia Alena Kondratyeva, on the contrary, argues that "serious companies with a serious share of production produce drinking water under a foreign brand (trade network)". Since the costs of distribution, logistics, marketing, advertising form the price of any product.

As for the prospects for the development of the bottled drinking water market, according to experts, the domestic bottled drinking water market will grow by 16% in volume terms this year, and its average annual growth rate for the next three years will be at least 12%.

One of the non-traditional, but promising goods for Russia is clean drinking water. Probably, many residents of large cities have repeatedly wondered - in fact, why pay money for ordinary spring water, when the body has long been accustomed to the taste of tap water with delicate aroma chlorine?

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the urban population still adheres to this point of view, which is not so easy to change. Neither producers of water, nor its sellers, nor even the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation are going to promote the idea of ​​clean water for healthy eating, and, as you know, without "outside help" the entry of goods to the market is delayed for many years.

Nevertheless, positive trends are evident - it is enough to consider the short history of the development of the Russian drinking water market.

Foreign companies that opened their representative offices in Russia in the early 90s faced the problem of a complete lack of bottled environmentally friendly water, and since 1993, "spoiled foreigners" began to supply drinking water for themselves in large plastic bottles from Western Europe (you can count that such water cost several dollars per liter).

Fortunately, our country is rich in clean water reserves, and just a couple of years later, the first domestic producers appeared who managed to organize the bottling and sale of drinking water in plastic containers.

Abroad, and in our country as well, bottled water has received wide distribution and recognition. Bottled water is relatively inexpensive and unrivaled in terms of purchase among soft drinks. For example, in Europe, the consumption of non-alcoholic thirst-quenching water reached about 200 liters per person in 2000, of which about 100 liters are bottled drinking water.

Among various kinds packaging, the leader is polyethylene (PET) - a bottle. In the world, the number of sales of bottled water in this container is increasing from year to year. Glass, despite its turnover, is losing ground, since a PET bottle is much cheaper than a glass one. Among non-carbonated bottled water, a large share in terms of sales volume is occupied by sales of bottled water for household consumption (PET packages of 3 liters or more).

But not everything is so clear and unambiguous in the desire of manufacturers to convince us that bottled water is the solution to all modern problems with water. There is an opinion among some specialists in water treatment and product expertise that bottled water and tap water are not much different from each other; even if bottled water is additionally saturated with carbon dioxide - carbonated water - it will fully correspond to the water from the siphon.

Producers of bottled water are waiting for global inspections. According to the National Genetic Safety Association, bottled water is often the worst quality than tap water. In addition, until now, water sold by private firms and in stores has not been tested for a mutagenic effect, since such standards do not yet exist in Russia. Therefore, no one can guarantee the safety of drinking such water.

According to the product code indicated on all bottles, all these bottled waters are classified as drinking tap water and comply with the requirements of the unified GOST and unified SanPiN ( sanitary regulations and norms), which equally corresponds to ordinary tap water. Both in composition and in safety, they are not much different from each other.

Therefore, according to scientists, the consumer does not even realize what harmful and carcinogenic effects can be caused by compounds formed in the process of water treatment and purification of already chlorinated water in order to disinfect it (ozonation, ultraviolet irradiation) during bottling.

Trihalomethanes appear as a result of water chlorination. These substances are not usually found in natural waters. Excess chlorine, especially when boiled, reacts with organic substances, and as a result, organochlorine compounds are formed that can provoke cancer. Of greatest concern is the maximum allowable amount of trihalomethanes (60 μg/dm3) found as a result of a study in tap water in Moscow.

When re-treating already treated water, the components necessary for the human body are removed, the increased content of which is more physiological for the body than their deficiency.

organism healthy person according to the Russian scientist Aksemushkin, he himself is able to cope with the problem of the danger of tap water at the expense of internal reserves. Active advertising of this type of product at the subconscious level sets consumers loyal to bottled water in general.

The market for drinking bottled water in Russia is growing every year. The total number of companies selling bottled water already reaches several thousand. Domestic producers are increasingly thinking about exporting water to Europe. However, there are many unresolved problems in the bottled water industry. Often, buyers receive false information about the origin, chemical composition and degree of purification of bottled water, and sometimes they even come across fakes.

In Russia, the high profitability of the "business" for the production and sale of counterfeit bottled water and gaps in the legislation have led to the dominance of surrogates masquerading as a quality product. As a result, a person who buys water in the market, at a grocery kiosk or supermarket, can receive a compound that is unhealthy, sold as “crystal clear water extracted from an artesian well.

The development of the market in Russia is due not only to the fashion for a healthy lifestyle, but also to the real fears of people to drink water from the tap. And this is despite the fact that, according to the director of the Main Testing Center for Drinking Water, Yuri Gonchar, the quality of tap water in Moscow and St. Petersburg is 99% compliant with all sanitary rules and regulations.

However, in the spring, many Russians begin to feel that the tap water smells like bleach, as the melt water that got into the springs required more thorough cleaning. This once again forces the consumer to buy bottled water. According to statistics cited by Vadim Altaev, vice-president of the Union of Producers of Bottled Waters of Russia, now, on average, one resident of our country buys about 20 liters of water per year. In 2007, manufacturers put on the shelves about 340 million decaliters of bottled water. Since the end of 2004, when the lists of mandatory documents for the production of drinking water were approved, Rospotrebnadzor has issued more than 2,000 permits for one or another type of product. Experts note the growth rate of the Russian bottled water market by 12-15% per year.

drinking water market quality

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Water is an important element in the life of any living organism, therefore it is not surprising that it is the basis of many products and preparations, however, the need for its pure use does not decrease even with an optimally formulated diet. Based on this factor, the distribution and sale of bottled water is growing and does not lose demand. Meanwhile, there are several aspects that you need to know to right choice product.

Types of bottled water

On the shelves of stores you can find three main types of bottled water, the main difference of which lies in the quantitative content minerals. Based on this, it is worth noting the main features of each of the species.

• Table water is the most common and used in human life. You can drink it indefinitely (within reasonable limits, of course), since the mineral content in it does not exceed 1 g / l. You can take a bottle of this liquid with you to a fitness club or a picnic, on a trip, or give your child to school.
• Therapeutic table water contains from 1 to 10 g/l of minerals. This amount is enough to make such a product useful for the prevention of many diseases. gastrointestinal tract, joint problems and many other ailments. As a rule, the intake of such a liquid is limited to two or three glasses per day.
• Medicinal water is the type of bottled product, the intake of which should be regulated by the diagnosis and advice of the attending physician, since the mineral content here exceeds the amount of 10 g / l. In such a liquid, the percentage of the presence of individual chemical elements can be increased.

Composition features

Despite the opinion of many perfectionists, water can only be crystal clear on the outside, as fully filtered and disinfected water loses almost all of its minerals and other useful components which essentially makes it "dead". When drinking such water, you can even harm your body, as the necessary microelements are washed out, which contribute to the strengthening of all organs and systems. Even the purest natural water has a number of impurities that make it so useful and tasty.

To know what you are buying, read the label carefully. Together with an indication of the total volume of mineral substances, the chemical composition of all water can be presented there. Let's talk about some substances in more detail.

Depending on what you're looking for in a bottled liquid, you can choose a product that is high in magnesium, sodium, or calcium. The first mineral helps to improve the functioning of the cardiovascular and nervous system, improving general state in general, however, with serious problems with the stomach, it is better to refuse such water. Sodium is an active assistant in the matter of relaxation and relieving fatigue, but hypertensive patients should not get involved in it because of the ability of this substance to retain moisture in the body. And calcium will be a great friend in maintaining the beauty of hair, nails and teeth.

Such a component as bicarbonates acts as a regulator of the acid-base balance in the body, positively affecting the work of the muscle frame and maintaining its tone.

Together with sulfates, water will become excellent source life-giving force for the gallbladder and liver, as well as an assistant to people suffering from diabetes and obesity. In combination with chlorides, which will improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and biliary tract, such a product becomes a truly dietary and effective in the fight against overweight and regulation of metabolic processes.

Differences and quality categories

The main difference between the types of bottled water may be the way they are mineralized: natural and artificial. It is very rare that producers admit to the second option, however, their fear is more justified by the excitement for distrust of this method consumers. In all other respects, such water is not much different from that which was mineralized in a natural way. If the type of enrichment is not indicated on the package, you can easily determine it using the indicators of the main substances that make up the product. Approximate indicators speak of natural mineralization, but the exact data indicate artificial.

Let's not forget about the documents adopted by law that regulate the quality of bottled water. Based on it, two main product categories can be distinguished.

The first includes tap water and water from surface sources, which undergoes additional purification. It has good taste, however, does not carry any significant benefits for the body. This category implies the relative cheapness of the product and its availability in stores of various formats, however, information about the source of water should be indicated on the package.

To the second - water from natural proven sources. The requirements for it are the highest, since such a product must meet not only all aspects of safety, but also carry significant benefit when used. Particular attention is paid to bottled water intended for baby food, which also belongs to this category. The price of such a product may be higher than average, as it has a direct preventive and therapeutic effect.

Shelf life of bottled water

Most people are not used to talking about the expiration date of water, as it is drunk quickly and is constantly available, used in everyday life, and so on, however, this product also has its own ideal conditions and duration of storage.

The first thing to consider is that water goes bad just like food. IN normal conditions, being in an open container, it will become cloudy and acquire bad smell after 10 days, in plastic it will take up to a year and a half, and in glass - up to two. However, regardless of the acceptable shelf life, after a certain time, all useful material, which are part of the liquid, begin to lose their strength and disappear.

The best bottled water is sold in glass container, is absolutely transparent and has no impurities, tastes and odors. Arouse suspicion should be too cheap and options packed in low-quality containers.

It is best if the product is stored in the refrigerator, as it is there that its brightest colors are stored. taste qualities. And this despite the fact that optimal temperature for thirst quenching is 15-30oC.