It is needless to mention that water, a compound of Hydrogen and Oxygen is a precious natural gift which is very essential for survival of mankind including animals. The water used for potable purposes should be free from undesirable impurities. The water available from untreated sources such as Well, Boreholes and spring is generally not hygienic and safe for drinking. Thus it is desirable and necessary to purify the water and supply under hygienic conditions for human drinking purpose.
Packaged drinking water uses water from any source which has to be treated and disinfected, a process that could involve filtration, UV or ozone treatment or reverse osmosis (RO) before it is fit for human consumption.
The mineral water is the purified water fortified with requisite amounts of minerals such as Barium, Iron, Manganese, etc which can be absorbed by human body. It is either obtained from natural resources like spring and drilled wells or it is fortified artificially by blending and treating with mineral salts. The mineral water shall be manufactured and packed under hygienic conditions in properly washed and cleaned bottles in sterilized conditions.
Packaged waters, which can be spring or mineral waters or bottled tap waters, form an increasingly utilized source of drinking-water in both developed and developing countries. Because of extreme variation in the mineral composition of marketed bottled waters, with levels of total dissolved solids ranging from almost zero to several thousand milligrams per liter and with a similar variation in concentrations of essential elements, the public should have access to information on the mineral composition of bottled or packaged water.
Different materials are used for the packaging of bottled water: glass; plastic (PVC and PET). These packaging have different shapes, colours and capacities. They are an essential part of the bottled water marketing. In some cases, it is even possible to recognize the brand of the bottled water only thanks to the shape and colour of its packaging.
Few Indian Major Players are as under
• Aradhana Snack Foods Co. Pvt. Ltd.
• Bikaji Marketing Ltd.
• Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd.
• Hemline Flavours Pvt. Ltd.
• Kothari Biotech Ltd.
• Mohan Meakin Ltd.
• Mount Everest Mineral Water Ltd.
• Orient Beverages Ltd.
• Parle International Pvt. Ltd.
• Rose Valley Inds. Ltd.
• Sachi Molding Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
• Sri Sarvaraya Sugars Ltd.
• United Breweries Ltd.
• Vemaa Equipments Ltd.