Malvern Water (bottled water)
Encyclopedia
Malvern Water is a brand of bottled
drinking water
obtained from a spring in the range of Malvern Hills
that marks the border between the counties of Herefordshire
and Worcestershire
in England
. The major bottling plant is owned by the Coca-Cola
Corporation and the water which is available in still and sparkling versions is marketed under the original brand of Schweppes who began bottling it on a commercial scale in 1850. It is also bottled on a smaller scale by a family-owned company since 2009 as Holywell Spring Water. The water is a natural spring water from the hills that consist of very hard granite
and limestone
rock. Fissures in the rock retain rain water, which slowly permeates through, escaping at the springs. The springs release an average of about 60 litres a minute. The flow depends on rainfall and can vary from as little as 36 litres (8 gallons) per minute to over 350 litres (77 gallons) per minute.
being recorded in 1622. Various local grocers have bottled and distributed Malvern water during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was first bottled on a large commercial scale by Schweppes, who opened a bottling plant at Holywell in Malvern Wells
in 1850. The water was first introduced by Schweppes as Malvern Soda, later renaming it Malvern Seltzer Water in 1856. In 1890 Schweppes moved away from Holywell, entered into a contract with a Colwall
family, and built a bottling plant in the village in 1892. The Holywell was subsequently leased to John and Henry Cuff, who bottled there until the 1960s. The Holywell became derelict until 2009 when with the aid of a Lottery Heritage grant, production of 1200 bottles per day of Holywell Spring Water was recommenced by an independent family-owned company. The well is believed to be the oldest bottling plant in the world.
In the 1850's Malvern Water was bottled by John and William Burrow at the Bottling Works Spring in Robson Ward's yard on Belle Vue Terrace in Great Malvern. Bottling ceased here in the 1950s and the former bottling works are now furniture showrooms.
Water for the Bottling Works Spring is piped from St Ann's Well
.
In 1927, Schweppes acquired from the Burrows family, Pewtress Spring in Colwall, on the western side of the Herefordshire Beacon, approximately two miles from Colwall village. The source emerges at the fault line between the Silurian
thrust and the Precambrian
diorite
and granite
above it. The spring was renamed Primeswell Spring, and in 1929 Schweppes commenced bottling. The factory employed 25 people who bottled 26 million bottles annually. It was operated by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd., and the water was sold under the Schweppes brand name.
On the 20th October 2010 Coca Cola Enterprises, who currently own the Malvern brand, announced that production would be ceasing as of the 3rd November 2010. This is due to the declining market share Malvern has on the overall water market. On the 28th October 2011 it was reported that the bottling plant is being sold to a property company.
. In 1987 Malvern gained official EU status as a natural mineral water
, a mark of purity and quality. However, in spite of regular quality analysis, Malvern's reputation for purity suffered a blow when during 2006 the rock that filters the water dried out, allowing the water from heavy storms to flow through it too quickly for the natural filtering process to take place efficiently. Due to the slight impurities, the Coca-Cola Company, manufacturer of the Schweppes brand, had to install filtration equipment, which reclassifies the water as spring water under European Union
law. Consequently,the labels were change from: Malvern The Original English Natural Mineral Water. Naturally filtered through Pre-Cambrian granite and sourced from deep beneath the Malvern Hills. to read The Original English Water Bottled in the Malvern Hills.
In 1998, Coca-Cola Schweppes recalled stocks of carbonated Malvern Water due to traces of benzene
found in the carbon dioxide
delivered to the bottling plants from the Terra Nitrogen factory near Bristol
, which distributes the gas to carbonated drinks manufacturers.
Bottled water
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not...
drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
obtained from a spring in the range of Malvern Hills
Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills are a range of hills in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern...
that marks the border between the counties of Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The major bottling plant is owned by the Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
Corporation and the water which is available in still and sparkling versions is marketed under the original brand of Schweppes who began bottling it on a commercial scale in 1850. It is also bottled on a smaller scale by a family-owned company since 2009 as Holywell Spring Water. The water is a natural spring water from the hills that consist of very hard granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
rock. Fissures in the rock retain rain water, which slowly permeates through, escaping at the springs. The springs release an average of about 60 litres a minute. The flow depends on rainfall and can vary from as little as 36 litres (8 gallons) per minute to over 350 litres (77 gallons) per minute.
History
Malvern water has been bottled and distributed in the UK and abroad from the 16th century with water bottling at the Holy WellHoly Well, Malvern
The Holy Well is set on the slopes of the Malvern Hills above Malvern Wells. The well is believed to be the oldest bottling plant in the word.-History:The Holy Well was granted to John Hornyold Esq in 1558.In 1743 Dr John Wall analysed the spring water...
being recorded in 1622. Various local grocers have bottled and distributed Malvern water during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was first bottled on a large commercial scale by Schweppes, who opened a bottling plant at Holywell in Malvern Wells
Malvern Wells
Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. The parish of Malvern Wells, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland, and the former parish of Great Malvern, and owes its...
in 1850. The water was first introduced by Schweppes as Malvern Soda, later renaming it Malvern Seltzer Water in 1856. In 1890 Schweppes moved away from Holywell, entered into a contract with a Colwall
Colwall
Colwall is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England on the border with Worcestershire, nestling into the side of the Malvern Hills. Areas of the village are known as Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall and Colwall Green along over a mile of the B4218 road...
family, and built a bottling plant in the village in 1892. The Holywell was subsequently leased to John and Henry Cuff, who bottled there until the 1960s. The Holywell became derelict until 2009 when with the aid of a Lottery Heritage grant, production of 1200 bottles per day of Holywell Spring Water was recommenced by an independent family-owned company. The well is believed to be the oldest bottling plant in the world.
In the 1850's Malvern Water was bottled by John and William Burrow at the Bottling Works Spring in Robson Ward's yard on Belle Vue Terrace in Great Malvern. Bottling ceased here in the 1950s and the former bottling works are now furniture showrooms.
Water for the Bottling Works Spring is piped from St Ann's Well
St. Ann's Well, Malvern
St. Ann's Well is set on the slopes of the Malvern Hills above Great Malvern. It is a popular site on a path leading up to the Worcestershire Beacon and lies on the final descent of the Worcestershire Way....
.
In 1927, Schweppes acquired from the Burrows family, Pewtress Spring in Colwall, on the western side of the Herefordshire Beacon, approximately two miles from Colwall village. The source emerges at the fault line between the Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
thrust and the Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
diorite
Diorite
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...
and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
above it. The spring was renamed Primeswell Spring, and in 1929 Schweppes commenced bottling. The factory employed 25 people who bottled 26 million bottles annually. It was operated by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd., and the water was sold under the Schweppes brand name.
On the 20th October 2010 Coca Cola Enterprises, who currently own the Malvern brand, announced that production would be ceasing as of the 3rd November 2010. This is due to the declining market share Malvern has on the overall water market. On the 28th October 2011 it was reported that the bottling plant is being sold to a property company.
Purity
The natural untreated water is generally devoid of all minerals, bacteria, and suspended matter, approaching the purity of distilled waterDistilled water
Distilled water is water that has many of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container.-History:...
. In 1987 Malvern gained official EU status as a natural mineral water
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
, a mark of purity and quality. However, in spite of regular quality analysis, Malvern's reputation for purity suffered a blow when during 2006 the rock that filters the water dried out, allowing the water from heavy storms to flow through it too quickly for the natural filtering process to take place efficiently. Due to the slight impurities, the Coca-Cola Company, manufacturer of the Schweppes brand, had to install filtration equipment, which reclassifies the water as spring water under European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
law. Consequently,the labels were change from: Malvern The Original English Natural Mineral Water. Naturally filtered through Pre-Cambrian granite and sourced from deep beneath the Malvern Hills. to read The Original English Water Bottled in the Malvern Hills.
In 1998, Coca-Cola Schweppes recalled stocks of carbonated Malvern Water due to traces of benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
found in the carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
delivered to the bottling plants from the Terra Nitrogen factory near Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, which distributes the gas to carbonated drinks manufacturers.
