Ironically, it was the lack of water that led Rebecca Davies and Paul Kramer to set up their mineral water business.
In the middle of one of the State’s worst droughts, the couple, who live on a 252-hectare wilderness property at Lacey’s Creek, bordering the D’Aguilar National Park north-west of Brisbane, found the creek water they relied on for their everyday living and their produce garden had become unreliable.
Desperate for another source, they sought the help of a water driller. At first, as they began to sink a bore, it didn’t look very positive until 22 metres when they hit the aquifer. Keen to test the water for quality, Rebecca and Paul had it analysed and to their surprise, discovered that rather than being spring water as expected, the water had a mineral content as high as many of the imported mineral waters, more in fact than the legal requirement needed to classify it as “mineral water.”
“Spring water does contain some dissolved trace minerals,” Paul says, “but mineral water has a much high concentration of them.”
The minerals present in the water are due to the way it’s naturally filtered from the creek. It flows from the creek and goes underground through a gravel bed, before seeping through cracks in the solid rock. This is where it’s enriched with minerals and becomes alkaline.
Rebecca and Paul’s water was selected to be the water of choice for Queensland Parliament House Catering Services almost three years ago, for several reasons.
“We always strive to support local and environmentally-friendly businesses and Mineral Water Direct’s water ticked the box on both accounts. Collected just 40 kilometres away, it means a low carbon footprint compared to the transportation of an imported or even interstate water brand, plus the extraction process is sustainable and carbon neutral, as Rebecca and Paul use 100% solar power,” says Monique Harmer, Director of Property Services at Queensland Parliament.
“And of course, there’s the taste – the water is beautifully pure, something our diners in Strangers’ Restaurant often note.”
Paul and Rebecca, who live in a self-built timber-slab house on the densely-forested property have always been off-grid.
“We live sustainably, in harmony with nature, so, we don’t use any chemicals at all and because we border the national park and are surrounded by forest, there are no contaminants in the water as it flows down to us,” Paul says.
There are no other elements or chemicals added in the bottling process either. The water is simply triple filtered and passed under a UV light which has no effect on the mineral content or taste.
As part of their environmental ethos, which they practise in both their personal and business lives. Paul and Rebecca eschew plastic, delivering the water to people in BPA-free 10 litre refillable containers. For customers such as Parliament House, that want sparkling water, they take the water to neighbour, Ocean View Estate winery. Ocean View carbonate and bottle it for them in recyclable glass Burgundy bottles.
The couple also believe in complete transparency by running an annual open day. They invite their customers to visit and see for themselves the source of the water they’re enjoying.
Find out more about Mineral Water Direct via their website here.
Written by: Natascha Mirosch
