People find it easy to believe that PET bottles somehow decompose and leak chemicals into bottled water and express surprise when I defend the fundamental integrity of the PET package, but just not for water…
Here’s a link to an article regarding the recall of c.570,000 bottles of Volvic mineral water earlier this week, found to contain the smell of paint in it, from part of the products imported and sold in Japan.
Two organic compounds included in paint, xylene and naphthalene, were detected in the gas in the bottles examined, with the explanation being given by the importer that “the paint components are likely to have penetrated into the poromeric bottles when the bottles were stored in containers and shipped to Japan.”
This is a perfect example of the leaching properties of plastic, where the oil based polymer has allowed another organic compound to simply pass through it’s walls and contaminate (by affecting the smell) the contents inside.
It’s a powerful example of why we chose the Tetra Pak carton material for Aquapax mineral water. The carton is a package of absolute integrity for water – similar to glass in that respect, but without the horrific carbon footprint incurred by producing and distributing such a heavy container as glass for a fundamentally portable beverage.
A customer of ours was off-shore sailing recently and had his Aquapax below deck in the storage area of his yacht. The bilge pump seals went allowing oily water into the storage areas, contaminating everything in them with an oily film. Our Aquapax water was safe and pure inside its container, proving the package perfectly.
Following on from this, we put some Aquapax units on a carbon soak test in a UKAS accredited laboratory (standing up-right in a tray of diesel) which is a pretty severe test for any product! I’m delighted to report that the water tested from these has proven safe and pure also, without contamination of any form.
The majority of folk still opt for a cheap, ecologically unsustainable and potentially contaminating package option (plastic), or a pretentious, expensive and ecologically damaging option (glass) compared with the guaranteed integrity, clear proven quality and superior ecological credentials of an Aquapax mineral water carton.
Independent truths like this (second link) recall coming out of Japan do keep me motivated though – our time is clearly drawing closer… 🙂
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