B.C. company selling bottled ocean water from right out of the Salish Sea

They’ve sold soaps, sea salts and cocktail rimmers using minerals from right out of the Salish Sea.

But now, Saltwest Naturals, a Sooke-based salt company, is bottling up ocean water and selling it in their store.

And no – it’s not “raw water.”

Coverage of bottled water on Globalnews.ca:

2:41 Battle brewing with Nestle over bottled water in Ontario

The idea to bottle ocean water came during an annual inspection with the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

A representative told Saltwest that they should bottle the water they collect down at a beach to make their products, Jeff Abel, the company’s chief of operations, told Global News.

“I wasn’t even aware we could so we had some further conversation to that nature, and here we are today,” he said.

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One-third of the water that Saltwest collects down at the beach is converted into potable water, said Jessica Abel, Saltwest Naturals CEO.

They make the water drinkable by putting it through a high pressure pump that pushes the liquid through two filters and then through a reverse osmosis system.

The water is desalinated, demineralized and then pushed through a UV filter to purify it before it’s stored and bottled.

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“You would be hard pressed in like a blind taste test to tell the difference between it and other bottled waters,” Jeff said.

“It just tastes like water.”

Saltwest Naturals is Canada’s first company to take desalinated water, bottle it and sell it.

It can only be purchased at the Saltwest store in Sooke for now, for $2.50 a bottle.