The bottled water scandal

In the recent scandal, (2025) Perrier's parent company, Nestlé, was found to have used several unauthorized filtration and treatment methods for its water, which is marketed as "natural mineral water."

These methods are illegal for products with that label in France and the European Union, which mandate that natural mineral water must be pure at the source and bottled without chemical treatment or disinfection.

The specific filtration and treatment methods that were reportedly used include:

• Ultraviolet (UV) treatment: This method uses UV light to kill bacteria and other microorganisms.

• Activated carbon filters: These filters remove impurities and some chemical pollutants.

• Microfiltration: The company was also found to be using very fine mesh microfilters, specifically at 0.2 microns, which is below the authorized threshold for natural mineral water.

These treatments were reportedly used to address issues with the source water, including contamination by faecal bacteria and pesticides, which would have otherwise made the water unsuitable for sale as "natural mineral water."

So many questions unanswered but you can see the concerns.

1. The Aquifer was running so low, the concentration of contamination were a concern to Nestle. So much so they destroyed thousands, if not millions of bottles of water due to pathogen concerns.

2. The blatant misinformation regarding the quality of water it had been known and respected for.

3. The process used was in fact quite basic and ineffective on many levels.

4. Do we need bottled water in todays' modern age?

Will add more later, but man this has really annoyed me, although it strengthens the position of our standard of drinking water. Better than Bottled. From your tap, for your whole house. From £399