Fiji Water facts for kids
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| Country | Fiji |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1996 |
| Source | Artesian aquifer |
| Type | Artesian |
| pH | 7.3 – 7.7 |
| Calcium (Ca) | 18 |
| Magnesium (Mg) | 15 |
| Silica (SiO2) | 93 |
| TDS | 222 |
| Website | www.fijiwater.com |
| All concentrations in milligrams per liter (mg/L); pH without units | |
Fiji Water is a popular brand of bottled water. It comes from the island nation of Fiji and is bottled there. An American company called The Wonderful Company owns it.
The company says its water comes from an underground source called an artesian aquifer. This aquifer is located on Viti Levu, which is the largest island in Fiji. Fiji Water is sold in different bottle sizes, from small to large.
Contents
How Fiji Water Started
Fiji Water was started in 1996 by a Canadian businessman named David Gilmour. His company was first called Natural Waters of Viti Ltd.
Later, in 2004, a company known as Roll Global bought Fiji Water from Gilmour. This company is now called The Wonderful Company. They reportedly paid about US$50 million for it.
Fiji Water in Fiji
Fiji Water gets its water from a place called Yaqara. This area is on the northern side of Viti Levu, Fiji's biggest island. The water is then bottled and sent to other countries.
Disagreements with the Government
From 2007 to 2008, Fiji Water had some disagreements with the government of Fiji. These issues were mainly about taxes on water that was being exported. At one point, the government wanted to add a new tax of 20 cents per liter. This led to legal problems and even caused water bottling companies in Fiji to temporarily stop working. Eventually, the government decided not to add this tax.
In December 2008, Fiji Water had to let go of 40 percent of its workers. This happened because the company was not selling as much water.
Another disagreement happened in November 2010. The Fiji government asked a Fiji Water director to leave the country. Soon after, the government raised the tax on water for big producers. This new tax mainly affected Fiji Water. The tax went from a very small amount to 15 cents per liter.
Because of this higher tax, Fiji Water closed its offices in Fiji on November 29, 2010. The government wanted Fiji Water to pay much more in taxes. They wanted the company's tax contribution to go from F$500,000 to F$22.6 million each year.
There was talk that Fiji Water might move its operations to New Zealand. However, the government warned that if Fiji Water left, they would give the water source to another company. So, Fiji Water decided to start working again and agreed to the new tax.
Helping Communities in Fiji
In December 2010, the Fiji Water plant in Fiji had 400 employees. The company also created a foundation. This foundation helps provide water filters to communities in rural Fiji. Many of these communities did not have access to clean water. By 2018, the number of communities without clean water had gone down to 12%.
How Fiji Water is Advertised
Fiji Water uses the slogan "Earth's finest water" in its advertisements.
In 2006, Fiji Water ran an advertisement that caused some controversy. The ad said, "The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland". The water department in Cleveland, a city in the US, felt insulted by this.
The Cleveland Water Department then tested Fiji Water against their own tap water. They also tested other bottled water brands. Their tests showed that Fiji Water had a small amount of arsenic. Cleveland's tap water, however, had no arsenic.
Fiji Water later did its own tests in 2015. They reported that their water had 1.2 micrograms of arsenic per liter. This amount is much lower than the safety limit set by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US, which is 10 micrograms per liter.
Impact on the Environment
Producing bottled water like Fiji Water can have an impact on the environment. In 2007, a magazine called Fast Company reported on this. They noted that the machines used to get water from underground run on diesel fuel.
Making just one Fiji Water bottle uses about 1.75 gallons of water. It also uses 2,000 times more energy than getting tap water.
To help reduce its impact, Fiji Water announced plans in 2008 to plant natural forests. This was meant to help reduce the carbon pollution from their operations. However, the part of their website that showed their progress was shut down by 2011. By 2019, only half of the forest area they promised had been planted.
Experts believe that Fiji Water's goal to become "carbon negative" (meaning they remove more carbon than they produce) might not happen until at least 2037. Some people also point out that shipping bottled water around the world creates a lot of plastic waste. This plastic can end up in landfills and harm the environment.
See also
In Spanish: Fiji Water para niños
