Diving into the world of ‘fine water’

Workers inside a small plant ferry sleek glass bottles along a conveyor as they fill with the spring’s water. They place the finished product in cases and load them on trucks headed for neighboring India’s upscale hotels and restaurants and richest families. Ganesh Iyer, the managing partner of Veen Waters, which operates the plant, watches like a nervous parent. This natural mineral water—sold as a premium brand—is his “baby,” he says, newly born from beneath the pristine South Asian kingdom of Bhutan. Like its many counterparts worldwide—captured from volcanic rock in Hawaii, from icebergs that have fallen from melting glaciers in Norway, or from droplets of morning mist in Tasmania—this water is bound for the privileged to uncap and savor as some do a fine wine. There are tasting competitions and “water sommeliers,” who swill and judge this water. The flavors of each brand give hints about each water’s origins. As water becomes a bigger commodity worldwide, the “luxury” category is growing. At the same time—and even though the United Nations deemed water a basic human right more than a decade ago—climate change and population growth are leaving the world’s most vulnerable people thirstier than ever. India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, according to the World Bank. Some might find these two worlds difficult to reconcile, but leaders in the fine water world claim they can help. Michael Mascha, a founder of the Fine Water Society, a consortium of small bottlers and distributors worldwide, says their movement is helping draw attention to the value of water. This article was provided by The Associated Press.