Are Tesco 5 litre (Ashbeck) mineral water bottles really tap water?

regi3457

just did a check and Ashbeck water has a lot of chlorine in it, why would it have chlorine if it comes from a natural source? Can anyone explain this to me please?

rubadub

regi3457 wrote: »

just did a check and Ashbeck water has a lot of chlorine in it

a lot of chlorine relative to what?

I can see this, listing chloride but not chlorine.

Tesco's Ashbeck Mountain Spring - Natural mineral water.

Here is the details... all in mg/litre

Calcium 10.0,

Magnesium 2.5,

Sodium 9.0,

Potassium 2.0,

Bicarbonate 25.0,

Chloride 12.0,

Sulphate 10.0,

Nitrate 11.0,

pH at source 6.2

ballygowans value is 28mg/L

https://www.ballygowan.ie/our-water/ballygowan-water-source/

This is a (ridiculously sensationalist) article on tesco & asda selling filtered mains water

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2190027/Asda-Tesco-selling-tap-water-bottled-water-confusing-customers.html

note at the bottom they even call out ashbeck as being "legit"

SOLD NEXT TO NAME BRANDS
The Tesco and Asda still water bottles sit alongside big-name mineral water brands on the shelves.
At Tesco, the Everyday Value Still Water features a ?best seller? sticker while at Asda shoppers are drawn to a promotion sign advertising its 17p low price.
The Tesco brand adds the slogan: ?Just water, nothing added.? Asda?s tells customers it is ?Good for hydration? and its ingredients are ?Still Water (100%)?.
The bottles also sit alongside the supermarkets? own brand mineral waters. Tesco?s Ashbeck and Asda?s Eden Falls ? at 42p and 45p respectively ? list their spring source.

Nody

regi3457 wrote: »

just did a check and Ashbeck water has a lot of chlorine in it, why would it have chlorine if it comes from a natural source? Can anyone explain this to me please?

Natural source does not mean it's clean water; it could be swamp water for all you know (it's a natural source but you'd never drink it directly).

regi3457

rubadub wrote: »

a lot of chlorine relative to what?

I can see this, listing chloride but not chlorine.



ballygowans value is 28mg/L

https://www.ballygowan.ie/our-water/ballygowan-water-source/

This is a (ridiculously sensationalist) article on tesco & asda selling filtered mains water

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2190027/Asda-Tesco-selling-tap-water-bottled-water-confusing-customers.html

note at the bottom they even call out ashbeck as being "legit"

I am pretty sure chloride and chlorine are totally different things. From what I checked on google, chloride is harmless in small amounts and chlorine is a poison.

I meant relative to water that you find in such natural places (springs and underground etc)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

regi3457 wrote: »

I am pretty sure chloride and chlorine are totally different things. From what I checked on google, chloride is harmless in small amounts and chlorine is a poison.

I meant relative to water that you find in such natural places (springs and underground etc)

I'm not sure what your angle is here. All water contains chloride and it varies depending on the mineral composition of the source.

rubadub

regi3457 wrote: »

I am pretty sure chloride and chlorine are totally different things.

they are, I was guessing you saw chloride and thought it was chlorine.

regi3457 wrote: »

I meant relative to water that you find in such natural places (springs and underground etc)

so what are these values?

I would be comparing ashbeck to bottled water that you do not have any doubts about. And if no chlorine is listed on the bottle it does not mean there is none -try and find a branded bottle you trust that does list it. Tesco are very open about their ingredients listing, they even have ingredietns listings on some spirits & beers which are not required.

Chlorine is a huge issue if brewing beer, Ashbeck is commonly used by brewers and I do not recall any saying chlorine was an issue.

regi3457

Hendrix Acidic Geyser wrote: »

I'm not sure what your angle is here. All water contains chloride and it varies depending on the mineral composition of the source.

My angle is: why is there chlorine in the water which supposedly comes from a natural source?

ongarite

regi3457 wrote: »

My angle is: why is there chlorine in the water which supposedly comes from a natural source?

There is no chlorine in the wafer as mentioned already

Tesco's Ashbeck Mountain Spring - Natural mineral water.

Here is the details... all in mg/litre

Calcium 10.0,

Magnesium 2.5,

Sodium 9.0,

Potassium 2.0,

Bicarbonate 25.0,

Chloride 12.0,

Sulphate 10.0,

Nitrate 11.0,

pH at source 6.2

https://www.eldoradosprings.com/blog/chlorine-vs.-chloride

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

regi3457 wrote: »

My angle is: why is there chlorine in the water which supposedly comes from a natural source?

It doesn't. Yet again, you are confusing chloride and chlorine and I already told you chloride is present in 'natural' water..

Arbie

Our tap water tastes good, so I drink that at home. If I am buying a bottle, I like the taste of Tipperary Water, Ballygowan, and Volvic. But River Rock and Dasani taste awful. In my homeplace we had bad tap water, so we drank filtered tap water or bottle water. We didn't care once it was safe and tasted nice.

So does it matter whether bottled water is from a tap or mineral spring once it is safe and tastes nice? I think what matters to most people is the taste. A small number of people may need to drink tap water for specific safety/health reasons, but again does it matter if it's mineral or not?

CeilingFly

Chloride is part of the chlorine sphere.

In high dosages its harmful.

For drinking water 250mg is the recommended upper level, so at 12, its very low.

Here's an article about it

http://sciencefairwater.com/chemical-water-quality-parameters/primary-anions-and-cations/chloride/

At the end of the day, bottling water is cheap. Mineral water comes free out of the ground. There's no manufacturing or additives involved.

For years we overpaid for it as it was a "fashion" Now its an everyday commodity and most people won't over pay for brand names.

Found out today that 6400 5litre drums will fit on a 40ft truck with pallets double stacked.

L1011

CeilingFly wrote: »

Found out today that 6400 5litre drums will fit on a 40ft truck with pallets double stacked.

Pretty sure that's sailing very close to if not over the maximum weights allowed. Water alone is 32 tonnes! Add in the vehicle, fuel, the pallets and even the empty drums and you're running out.

CeilingFly

L1011 wrote: »

Pretty sure that's sailing very close to if not over the maximum weights allowed. Water alone is 32 tonnes! Add in the vehicle, fuel, the pallets and even the empty drums and you're running out.

True. I don't think I'll take up trucking

But shipping is probably the biggest cost followed by the plastic container itself.

regi3457

ongarite wrote: »

There is no chlorine in the wafer as mentioned already


https://www.eldoradosprings.com/blog/chlorine-vs.-chloride

Yes there is as I already mentioned. I took a sample and tested it myself.

I just realize that the confusion might be that when I said I did a "check" I wasn't being concise. The "check" I did was with chlorine strips.

regi3457

CeilingFly wrote: »

True. I don't think I'll take up trucking

But shipping is probably the biggest cost followed by the plastic container itself.

exactly which makes Ashbeck water a miracle

1.29 for the bottle, the water and to import it from midlands in England

regi3457

Hendrix Acidic Geyser wrote: »

It doesn't. Yet again, you are confusing chloride and chlorine and I already told you chloride is present in 'natural' water..

yes, I get your point but please see my other point, I may not have expressed myself correctly

CeilingFly

regi3457 wrote: »

exactly which makes Ashbeck water a miracle

1.29 for the bottle, the water and to import it from midlands in England

Why?

The water itself is virtually no cost.

After vat, its about €1.05. Say 30c for shipping, 5c for bottle, 5c for the water itself and still 65c between tesco and bottler.

Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands they sell and its a nice profit.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

regi3457 wrote: »

yes, I get your point but please see my other point, I may not have expressed myself correctly

Sorry, bit what, exactly, is your point regarding chlorine/chloride?

regi3457

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why?

The water itself is virtually no cost.

After vat, its about €1.05. Say 30c for shipping, 5c for bottle, 5c for the water itself and still 65c between tesco and bottler.

Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands they sell and its a nice profit.

Why do you say 30c for shipping where do you get that? How can it cost 30c to transport a 5 litre container of water that weighs 5 kg?

Former Former

regi3457 wrote: »

Why do you say 30c for shipping where do you get that? How can it cost 30c to transport a 5 litre container of water that weighs 5 kg?

You can't transport one bottle for 30 cents.

Can you transport 10,000 bottles for €3,000? Very possibly, especially if you already have the shipping routes, the trucks and the warehouses in place.

regi3457

Former Former wrote: »

You can't transport one bottle for 30 cents.

Can you transport 10,000 bottles for €3,000? Very possibly, especially if you already have the shipping routes, the trucks and the warehouses in place.

When you put it like that it does seem more reasonable but still, I am not convinced that you could move that much cargo for 3000 euro. Would a truck even be able to fit 10000 5litre bottles on it?

CeilingFly

regi3457 wrote: »

Why do you say 30c for shipping where do you get that? How can it cost 30c to transport a 5 litre container of water that weighs 5 kg?

This is getting ridiculous/stupid. They don't send them individually by Fedex.

Say 49 per layer, 5 layers per pallet, 20 pallets per truck. Max €1000 - €1200 per truck movement UK to Ireland (probably lower due to volume)

That equates to 20c per bottle. Add extra transport from Irish warehouse to store. Maximum 30c per bottle, in reality probably 20c-22c in total.

BTW - a 40ft container from China to Dublin is less than €2,500, so if the water was coming from China, the cost would be about 40c per bottle. Bulk shipping is cheap.

rubadub

regi3457 wrote: »

just did a check and Ashbeck water has a lot of chlorine in it

rubadub wrote: »

I would be comparing ashbeck to bottled water that you do not have any doubts about.

Did you use your test strips in a brand you do trust?

You said "Ashbeck water has a lot of chlorine in it" what values did the strip indicate?

2L bottles of lots of tesco fizzy drinks are 55cent, there would be cost of ingredients and carbonation. I remember getting protein powders from a place in the UK years back and it was £6 for up to 30 or 35kg by courier.

jjjd

According the the FSAI there are only 2 recognised Irish natural mineral water sources - Ballygowan and Glenpatrick

https://www.fsai.ie/faq/bottled_water.html

regi3457

CeilingFly wrote: »

This is getting ridiculous/stupid. They don't send them individually by Fedex.

Say 49 per layer, 5 layers per pallet, 20 pallets per truck. Max €1000 - €1200 per truck movement UK to Ireland (probably lower due to volume)

That equates to 20c per bottle. Add extra transport from Irish warehouse to store. Maximum 30c per bottle, in reality probably 20c-22c in total.

BTW - a 40ft container from China to Dublin is less than €2,500, so if the water was coming from China, the cost would be about 40c per bottle. Bulk shipping is cheap.

Is it possible for a truck like that to cross the channel on a ferry?

regi3457

jjjd wrote: »

According the the FSAI there are only 2 recognised Irish natural mineral water sources - Ballygowan and Glenpatrick

https://www.fsai.ie/faq/bottled_water.html

What about the Ishka spring and the Celtic pure spring? I thought those were supposed to be very important as they supply a lot of brands.

rubadub

regi3457 wrote: »

What about the Ishka spring and the Celtic pure spring? I thought those were supposed to be very important as they supply a lot of brands.

they are seemingly spring water, he said mineral water. His link has a link to the legal definitions.

regi3457

rubadub wrote: »

Did you use your test strips in a brand you do trust?

You said "Ashbeck water has a lot of chlorine in it" what values did the strip indicate?

2L bottles of lots of tesco fizzy drinks are 55cent, there would be cost of ingredients and carbonation. I remember getting protein powders from a place in the UK years back and it was £6 for up to 30 or 35kg by courier.

No I ran out of strips but I ordered more so I will check .The value was around 0.2 ppm

regi3457

rubadub wrote: »

they are seemingly spring water, he said mineral water.

oh ok got it

Former Former

To answer the OP's questions:

1. Is it tap water? No, absolutely not.
2. Is it economical to sell it at this price? It doesn't matter.

Whatever is making the OP unwell, it's not the water