Drink it under the natural light...or light it below with a bulb and battery, in the special stand the bottle nestles in. Photography by Dhanraj Emanuel.

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December 2007

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Beverages

Aquadeco Spring Water

Contender For The Most Fashionably-Bottled Spring Water

CAPSULE REPORT: When we first reviewed Bling H2O spring water, we thought it was the ne plus ultra of spring water packaging. It still is—it’s hard to do better than a frosted wine bottle with embedded Swarovski crystals. But depending on your taste (in bottles, not water), you may prefer Aquadeco, an Art Deco glass bottle blown in Slovenia in the design of a vase (but we think it looks like a trophy). Even better, there‘s an optional stand that lights the bottle from below. Give ‘em the old razzle-dazzle.

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Until the green movement sends everyone back to the water tap, business people know that there’s money in bottled water. Over the last few years, if you had money, you created a vodka. But it’s easier to bottle water than to distil potatoes. So if you have a concept, as Project Runway’s Tim Gunn would say, make it work.

Arnold Gumowitz had a concept and made it work. A successful real estate executive and bottled water fan, he founded Aquadeco LLC in late 2004. As a businessman, he knew that packaging sells water—find the bottle first, because there’s plenty of spring water to be had.

With an interest in art and architecture, Gumowitz came up with the concept: an elaborate Art Deco glass bottle, designed by a firm in Michigan. Fins fan out like the Chrysler building, then taper down to a stair-stepped base, and a handsome silvery cap. Turning the concept into reality required a bit of legwork: A worldwide search for a glass maker took him to Slovenia, to a firm that has been producing fine glass for more than 600 years. In fact, the first bottles were filled with water from Mount Ararat, Armenia! The design was a success: At the 2007 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, it won first place in the Best Packaging category.

Like Fiji Water, the bottle has both front and back clear labels; unfortunately, similar to Fiji, the back label shows a landscape, in this case the snow-capped Mount Ararat. Why the brand—which costs three times as much as Fiji, even in its smaller, 500 ml PET (plastic) incarnation—would do such a thing, is a topic for a class on packaging design and branding. The bright blue touristy photo and the elegant Art Deco glass bottle are badly out-of-sync. The photo certainly does not belong on a $35.00 bottle of water. (Yes, that Slovenian glass does cost money—but it’s reusable. Bling H2O is similarly priced.) We peeled our label off (with an Exacto blade and some carbon tetrachloride) so as to better enjoy the beauty of the bottle.

And Now, The Water

After the bottle was designed, a worldwide search began for the right spring water to fill it. The original fill, from Mount Ararat, was conveniently close to the glass factory, but not necessarily the best water. Gumowitz, an engineer and a hydrogeologist traveled through Europe, visited Nepal, and finally settled on a high-quality and award winning natural Canadian source. (Canada has the world’s largest supply of fresh water, according to Aquadeco.) The aquifer which supplies the water for Aquadeco was created during the last Ice Age, some 18,000 years ago, with complex layers of soils of different porosity, that create a natural filtration system that purifies the water. You can see the analysis below.

At the end of the day, what is Aquadeco? It’s a crisp, fresh spring water in a fancy bottle. Because it’s a spring water rather than a mineral water, it has that flavorless profile beloved by most bottled-water buyers; there’s a tiny detectable trace of sweetness (as it applies to water) from the relatively high level of bicarbonate in the mineral structure.

Aquadeco makes an impressive gift. If you’re pouring water into your single-malt Scotch, it sure beats tap water. If you’re on a diet, it makes you feel important. And, given that the manufacturer told us his biggest customers were in Dubai, it makes you feel rich.

The lovely glass bottle is refillable, and makes an impression at your table. (The PET bottle is refillable too—it’s just not as nifty as the glass.) So, consider it more than a bottle of water: It’s a bottle of water and a carafe.

*TDS =Total Dissolved Solids, ND = not detectable, N/A = not available

AQUADECO SPRING WATER   500 ml PET Bottle $6.00 to $8.00 750 ml Glass Bottle $35.00 Aquamaestro.com Or telephone 1.212.564.7250 for a retailer AquaDecoWater.com   Find reviews of other bottled waters.