Bottled water looks much the same, except for packaging and price. If it’s wet, clear, and safe, what more do you want from H2O? Well, Fiji is attempting to stand out among the contenders for your aqua dollars. The trademark slogan at the top of their webpage says Fiji is “The Earth’s Finest Water.” That’s quite a claim. I read on . . . .
World’s Finest Water Claim
A trip to the Fiji website is like a virtual vacation to the unpolluted tropical paradise in the South Pacific. We’re told that the water begins in the clouds and falls onto the Fiji Islands, where it’s filtered through layers of volcanic rock.
Fiji water boasts a Ph level of 7.5, slightly lower than Evian
The liquid collects in natural artesian aquifers deep below the Earth’s surface, gathering natural minerals and electrolytes that give the water a soft, smooth taste. Natural pressure forces the water to the surface, where it’s bottled at the source, untouched by man until you unscrew the cap. Wow! Impressive!
I couldn’t resist. Fiji was on sale—as initial offers often are. So I ordered a carton from Amazon.
Fiji Island, Missouri River or Ozark Well Water?
I decided to compare the water from the tropical isle with well water from my farm located in the Ozark foothills. It’s mineral rich, but how would it stack up in a taste test with water from an island aquifer? The test also included a sample of processed Missouri River water from my condo spigot. Not content with my own opinion, I did my “study” using six members of my family and friends, that I promised to feed in exchange for their unvarnished views.
I engaged some serious participants in my after dinner water taste test.
This weekend, after a few bowls of Irish Stew and cornbread, they were ready to submit to my “parlor game.” The plan was to evaluate 3 paper cups of cold drinking water for taste, smell, and color. We had no way of measuring content or purity, after all we weren’t chemists—though there was a geologist among us.
We sipped. We sniffed. We sampled. We pondered. We sipped some more. All agreed that there was no difference in the color or smell and all but one thought there was very little difference in the taste. When pushed to pick, 3 chose Fiji as #1 and farm well water #2—though one picked my St. Louis condo water as best.
So there you have it. The results of my totally unscientific water taste test. I’ll leave it to the health gurus to figure out the actual difference. But as far as taste goes, there was just a slight tilt toward Fiji.
