The Liquid of the Gods

This year I finally got around to joining the Indonesia Heritage Society, something I've been meaning to do since before we even moved here. They do a range of activities, including consulting with and giving tours of the National Museum, sponsoring a variety of lectures and study groups on some aspect of Indonesia, and organizing Explorer groups which explore places in and around Jakarta. I joined one of the Explorer groups, and now every other week a couple of the members organize a tour for the group to visit and experience something new about Indonesia.

Two weeks ago we went to the home of an Indian woman who has lived in Jakarta for 20 years. She owns a very good Indian restaurant nearby and loves to cook. She taught the group about different spices used in Indonesia and taught us 3 different Indonesian recipes (see a future post for more details).

Yesterday our tour was at the Equil Mineral Water bottleing plant. The factory is located at the base of Mt. Salak, about 1.5 hour drive from Jakarta. The drive there was typical of life on Java - constant traffic and end to end towns. But once we arrived at our destination we found peace, quiet and beauty - not something you'd typically find at a factory! The surrounding grounds of the bottling center were really lush and serene, in keeping with the equilibrium of their product. The factory was actually quite small. Most of the space was filled with cartons of water, while the space for bottling took up just 1/5 of the warehouse. It was immacutely clean and spacious, and the workers all wore gloves, masks and hairnets. The bottles and caps are sterilized and the room in which the water is bottled was a grade 3 clean room (or something like that) - meaning they had 2 separate disinfecting rooms leading to the bottling room, similar to a surgery room.

The main reception hall is of European design made of marble and filled with art. In front of the hall is a beautiful Koi fish pond filled with mineral water from the source (probably some of the most expensive and healthiest fish anywhere!). After the factory tour they gave us a presentation on mineral water and how Equil compares to other brands. I had not known beforehand that the term "mineral water" is a very select and protected description for water. In order for a brand to describe their water as "mineral water", they have to meet 4 criteria as set out by Codex, a joint standard as adopted by EU countries, WHO and FAO. The criteria for natural mineral water (as distinguished from any other drinking water) is that:
1) It comes from a natural spring source or a bored hole
2) It fulfills the Codex's criteria from the physical, chemical and microbiological points of view
3) It does not undergo any treatment except carbonation
4) It is bottled at the source

The water used in Equil mineral water is from an aquifer 80 meters underground that is fed from rain coming through Mt. Salak. The water is 150 years old and is not pumped to the surface, but comes up naturally. They don't treat the water in any way (except for carbonation for their sparkling water) and it is bottled at the source, so it meets the Codex criteria. During the presentation we also learned about the different mineral contents of popular mineral water brands. For example, Perrier used to be (I don't know how they corrected this if it's not allowed to be treated) very high in nitrates, which can cause cancer or Blue Baby Syndrome in babies and small children. Many of the mineral water brands are bottled in Europe. But when thinking about how heavily farmed Europe is and the wars that have been fought on that land (resulting in higher nitrate content and other pollutants), I wonder if drinking European mineral water would be so safe considering that it hasn't been treated. Equil marketers are finding it difficult to open up international markets for their brand because it is from Indonesia, which is considered in the world to be "dirtier". But really, perhaps Indonesian mineral water would actually be safer than any other brand!

I also don't think often about the taste of water, unless it's very noticeable. We do not drink tap water here as it's not safe enough, instead we buy the Aqua brand bottled water (owned by Danone). During the presentation they had us do a taste test between Equil and Aqua. I was very surprised at what a huge difference there was! Equil had a far smoother and slightly sweet taste to it, whereas Aqua had a less pleasing taste and even had a bit of an after taste. Now we're not going to change brands as it would just be too expensive to use only Equil water; however, I did end up buying 6 cartons of their sparkling water (I have had it before several times in restaurants so I already knew I liked it).

Another interesting thing about this company is the mystic beliefs of the owner. He used a shaman to help him find the water source and consulted a Feng Shui expert in designing the facilities. The water source is located next to the main building and has been decorated with a satue and stepping stones over the bubbling brook, as well as a Hindu type open air enclosure. The tour guide explained that many people have felt something especially "spiritual" or different when walking through the Hindu enclosure, or when drinking straight from the source. I have to say it did feel different to me - the air felt heavier and my heart sped up a little. So maybe there is a spirit protecting the water!

It was thoroughly enjoyable tour and I was impressed with the company and the facilities, and best of all their water tastes great! The owner plans to build villas nearby for natural living and an escape from our current hectic life styles - maybe we'll be here long enough to enjoy it.