Tap Water Treatment Packet Launched in UK

Beginning next week, consumers in the UK will be able to buy teabag-like packets that make tap water taste more like bottled water.

The result of nine years' research by a team of Norwegian naturopaths, the makers of vivatap® — Brunel Healthcare — launched their product yesterday at an event hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador at his London residence.

The vivatap process removes all chlorine from the tap water, greatly improving the taste and smell. In addition, it naturally raises the mineral content of water that was previously low in minerals and stabilizes the pH balance to a neutral level, ensuring the water is not acidic. (Water from different areas of the country have varying levels of mineral content and pH.) In preliminary studies, vivatap also has been found to cut lead and mercury levels.

A consumer simply fills a two-liter pitcher or bottle with tap water, drops one "sachet" packet (unopened) into the water, and waits for at least five minutes.

Each packet contains natural ingredients from the Arctic Sea: coral algae (plants that form a hard mineral shell), ground shell sand, chitosan, and calcium ascorbate (an anti-oxidant ingredient). Although derived from shellfish, the chitosan is purified and is said to pose no risk to those with a shellfish allergy.

Although vivatap will kill bacteria for up to 24 hours, it is not intended to be used to purify water unsuitable for drinking or to replace purified water when mixing powdered baby milk. However, the product can be used to make tap water in any country more palatable, so it's especially useful for travelers.

The cost is very reasonable when compared to bottled water. When it goes on sale next week at UK supermarkets, pharmacies and health stores — in boxes of 18 packets costing the equivalent of $5.40 — it works out to about 30 cents for every two-liters treated.

Source: Brunel Healthcare & The Daily Telegraph