Loch Ness Bottled Water Venture Draws 250 Orders

Bottled water is no longer required to be potable — at least not in Scotland, where a London native has begun selling water from Loch Ness on eBay.

What started out as a joke between friends has become a somewhat successful enterprise, Auslan Cramb reports in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph.

Brian Ball scoops out water from the loch and sells it at £6 a pint, which equals about $11 U.S.

The 37-year-old sales manager moved from London to Scotland last year. He got the idea for his venture when American friends requested water from the Loch Ness monster's home as a souvenir.

When Ball asked the Loch Ness Visitor Centre and public health officials about the legality of selling the water, they reportedly told him there was no problem as long as he clearly labeled each bottle as unfit to drink.

Each bottle displays an image of the monster on the label, along with a guarantee of the water's source.

Ball's eBay orders so far total about 250, sold to monster water enthusiasts from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya and Canada.

Source: The Daily Telegraph