Arsenic Removal in the U.S. Bottled Water Market

Bottled water is now the United States’ second largest beverage on a volume basis, having recently surpassed beer for the number two spot. Carbonated soft drinks top the list. But while consumption of carbonated soft drinks has been shrinking, bottled water consumption has skyrocketed, with American sales tripling in the past 10 years.

Clearly, the bottled water business is big, and has become an attractive business opportunity for entrepreneurs and for existing companies seeking to expand into a robust and profitable industry. Before one “dives headfirst” into the water business, however, it’s important to understand the strict regulatory nature of the business and the quality processes that go into the production of each bottle of water.

Latest Regulatory Update
In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a final rule establishing a bottled water standard of quality (SOQ) for arsenic of 10 parts per billion (ppb) effective for bottled water on January 23, 2006. This ruling coincides with the implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) reduced maximum contaminant level (MCL) of arsenic in drinking water to 10 ppb. Under Section 410 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, FDA regulations for bottled water must be at least as stringent and protective of public health as tap water standards regulated by the EPA.

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), a trade association representing the bottled water industry, has been advocating and supporting this standard for the last three years and adopted a 10 ppb standard of quality for arsenic in the IBWA Model Code in 2002

According to the EPA, about 25 percent of bottled water establishments use water that comes from a community water system. It is estimated that the cost of the new arsenic regulation will be less to those bottled water firms than to firms using ground water sources since community water systems will already be required to be in compliance with the EPA’s new drinking water regulation for arsenic beginning in 2006 – so additional treatment will not be required. Based on EPA's estimate of arsenic levels in ground water sources used by community water systems, it can be assumed that 5.3 percent of bottled water establishments currently use source water with arsenic levels higher than 10 ppb. Based on these assumptions and estimates, it is estimated that 20 bottled water establishments in the United States would face additional arsenic abatement costs when the FDA’s new standard for arsenic in bottled water of 10 ppb becomes effective on January 23, 2006. Estimates for the total cost of arsenic abatement required at these 20 facilities are as high as $10 million or more per year.

Arsenic Removal Technologies
As non-drinking water applications for arsenic removal emerge, industrial and commercial facilities will look to those treatment technologies currently being employed in the municipal drinking water market to treat their arsenic contamination. Municipal arsenic removal treatment options include ion exchange, activated alumina, reverse osmosis, coagulation/filtration and adsorption. Adsorption is a continuous passive process conducted at a specific flow rate or velocity, normally about 7 gpm/ft3, downward through a fixed bed adsorber. Empty bed contact time (EBCT), which dictates the amount of water resident within the bed required to effect complete arsenic adsorption, is another key process parameter. An attractive characteristic of adsorption technology is its simplicity and relatively low cost.

Severn Trent Services offers the SORB 33® arsenic removal system and Bayoxide® E-IN 20 iron oxide arsenic and heavy metal removal media to meet this market’s needs.

For more information, email info@severntrentservices.com