We can all be guilty of sometimes grabbing a bottle of water when we’re out and about when we should’ve taken our refillable bottle from home. If this happens, have you ever stopped to think about the origin of the water you're about to drink? It’s not sold as standard tap water, but it has to come from somewhere. So, where does bottled water come from?

Where does bottled water come from?

Bottled water begins with inspecting natural springs, aquifers, and other pristine water sources. These natural reservoirs, hidden deep underground, untouched and unaffected by human pollution, are the starting point for the bottled pure spring water you can buy. But how does it get out of the ground?

The process kicks off with the careful extraction of water from these natural sources. But long before you see any products on shop shelves, bottled water companies must go through plenty of legal processes to sell them. These can often include the following:

• Applying for a water abstraction licence that allows them to take water from the spring
• Registering as a food business in the area local to the spring
• Carrying out extensive tests on the water to ensure compliance with chemical, microbiological and radioactive limits 
• Knowing and following the rules of using the natural spring
• Understanding which treatments can be used if required

Using advanced techniques, only then can water companies tap into the hidden depths to collect water that has filtered through rock layers, gaining its unique mineral composition. This natural process ensures a product that’s not only hydrating but also has a distinctly refreshing taste and quality.

The bottling process

Once extracted, the natural spring water will often only need a little, if any, additional treatment. Such is the purity and cleanliness of the water, it’s often bottled at source. However, again, there’s plenty of legislation in place to allow this, including:

• Ensuring that any equipment used to collect the water doesn’t change its properties
• The source is protected from pollution
• Meeting hygiene standards when bottling
• Using caps or lids on water bottles to avoid contamination

The bottling process is where the water is carefully bottled to preserve its freshness and purity. State-of-the-art machinery ensures an effective seal, safeguarding it from contaminants and environmental factors before being labelled and transported to shops. So, the next time you unscrew the cap of your bottled water, remember the journey it took from a natural spring or aquifer to your hands. 

The Thirsty Work spring

Much of the above applies to how Thirsty Work produces the tasty spring water we use for our bottled water coolers. With our own spring, 60m underground in Shropshire, beside the Wenlock Edge in a  protected Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), our water has naturally filtered through layers of limestone rock created 400 million years ago.

Bottled on-site using the latest tech into our 18.9 Litre Bottles and 13 Litre Bottles, our natural spring water has a delicately sweet and super-refreshing taste that’s unmistakably ‘Thirsty Work’. Discover more about where our bottled water comes from.

Pure, natural spring water from Thirsty Work

When the time is right to experience the sweet taste of our pure-filtered, natural spring water in your office, home, or public spaces, call Thirsty Work today. We can help you get a free quote on our bottled water coolers or even start you off on your 10-day free trial so you can taste it for yourself. Call the team on 01392 877 172, email hello@thirstywork.com, or message us today.