Yes,
you can drink the water...
by Matt Bokor
With no taste, no color and no smell, water is so boring that
it’s sometimes called the neglected nutrient. But it’s anything
but neglected during the elaborate process that converts it from its raw form
straight out of the ground and into safe, clean and refreshing bottled water.
Since 1936, Guatemala’s first bottled water company, Agua Pura Salvavidas,
has been providing bottled water to a thirsty multitude.
Today the bottles with the refreshing waterfall label are standard issue for
a jungle trekker’s backpack, an athlete’s tote bag and households,
schools, offices and restaurants in every corner of Guatemala.
It all starts about 4 kilometers from the sprawling Salvavidas complex in Guatemala
City's Zone 2. A cluster of deep wells sends a nonstop flow of raw water
into giant receiving tanks at Salvavidas' processing center. For the initial
phase of treatment, the water flows into filtration / chlorination tanks to
kill any microscopic bacteria and parasites and remove dissolved or suspended
solids, as tiny as 0.45 micron. (A micron is a unit of length equivalent to
one-millionth of a meter). From there the water enters another series of tanks
for dechlorination. Next is a disinfection process using ultraviolet rays and
finally comes ozone treatment.
The bottling process is a fully automated ballet, performing nearly nonstop,
seven days a week. After being washed and disinfected with special soaps and
detergents in super-hot water, containers roll down long conveyor lines to get
their fill, being capped off, labeled and boxed automatically, without so much
as a helping hand. All within bottling rooms where even the air is sterilized
and disinfected, along with all the equipment and containers.
Claudia Lara, marketing manager for the company, said the Salvavidas operation
is the largest and most modern of its kind in Central America and the only one
in Guatemala certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), an extension
of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
“Not only is our water certified by NSF, but our bottles and machinery
are certified too,” she explained. “It makes a difference.”
Water, of course, takes the shape of its container, and Salvavidas pours it
into an array of receptacles: five gallons, 2.5 liters, one gallon, 1.5 liters,
half-liter and 265ml bottles for individual servings. Salvavidas, which exports
half-liters to El Salvador, also provides distilled, demineralized water in
five-gallon bottles. A fleet of bright-blue trucks delivers water to schools,
restaurants, and shops and into individual households countrywide.
So despite what the travel guides say, you can drink the water — as long
as it comes out of the right bottle. •
Ernesto Moran delivering Agua Salvavidas
