Urals Sharing Schungite Water with Europe

20.08.2009 — Analysis

A small company from a Urals village attracted interest from Germany by the production of healing water. The RusBusinessNews observes has found out that hiding behind the "Schungite Water" brand, first of all, is the unique mass production technology.

Schungite vs. multinational corporations

In contrast to Russia Western countries have now been making and selling drinking water for some decades. The mass production technology, however, has a serious flaw; the multinationals, due to the scale of their activities, have to use water from a multitude of artesian springs all over the world. The chemical composition of their water differs depending on the area of origin. Unitising the production for an umbrella brand is possible only through the total water purification to the distilled purity level with the following addition of chemical elements in accordance to the corporation's standards. But then water loses its natural properties.

Of course, there are minerals adding which to water makes it alive again returning its natural properties and even giving the healing effect. Up until recently, however, this was only used by witch-doctors making such water at home.

Specialists consider schungite or schungite carbon to be the most effective mineral to make water "alive"; this mineral is petrified ancient oil, its massive deposits have been found in the vicinity of the Onega Lake in the North-West of Russia. Healing properties of schungite have been well known for a long time. In 1714 Peter the Great established a resort here; it was named "Marcial Waters". Having found out about the unique antiseptic properties of the stone, Peter the Great, the legend has it, ordered his soldiers to carry a piece of schungite in their marching satchels. Putting these pieces of stone into their mess tins the soldiers had disinfected fresh water.

In modern times people began use schungite en masse in household water filters used for the additional water purification. Filters based on natural materials were conceived as an alternative to the electrochemical, membrane, and sorption polymer materials which purify water making it lifeless.

On contact of schungite with cold water a mineral water solution with healing properties comes to life. Schungite changes the structure of the water and this is what makes it biologically active and its properties become close to those of snow-thaw water. People started making Schungite water at home not only in Russia but in the western Europe too. This water can be taken in unlimited quantities, it has positive effects on cardiovascular system, cleans and restores the gastrointestinal tract, cleans liver and kidneys, improves the blood composition, it is effective against obesity and gives an amazing cosmetic effect.

Russian health professionals confirm the healing properties of schungite water. In Saint Petersburg, for instance, the effect of water additionally purified by schungite filter has been studied for 6 months in the City Children's Diagnostics Centre. "We have observed the following positive changes in the majority of patients: disappearance of pain syndrome and improvement in the overall perceived health; improvement (gastroscopy confirmed) in the morphology of the gastric mucous membrane; improvements in patients with allergic disorders manifested as dermatitis" is a quote from the Diagnostics Centre's report.

Water flow production

Yelena Dontsova, a Urals entrepreneur, had tried for the first time to prove that a mass production of schungite water is possible, having established Tri-2000 LLC in Ekaterinburg three years ago.

In 2008, to be closer to nature (as well as to seriously reduce the rent for the production area), the company moved to an ecologically clean area of the Monetny village 30 kilometres away from the Urals capital. Schungite is still shipped from Karelia and the natural mineral water is very close now, the borehole is just 500 metres away from the company.

Technically the large volume production is organised here as follows. Water, coming into the production area and having undergone various purification stages, goes into several large covered 5 ton tanks. Water remains there with so called schungite pyramids (miniature copies of Egyptian pyramids keeping precision of all proportions). Around 15 tons of schungite water is made daily; it is then bottled into 19 litre bottles and distributed by dealers to towns in the Urals.

The technology of the infusion of water on industrial scale is the main know-how of the company that has attracted the attention of a German wine producer. People in that country have also heard of the vivifying properties of schungite water; Germans are considering the opportunity of its mass production under the Ekaterinburg company's brand.

It is interesting that Germany itself has the whole range of natural sources of healing waters in Bad Wildungen, Bad Kissingen, and Baden-Baden. Moreover, there are mineral water resorts not far from Germany, such as the Austrian Bad Ischl and the Czech Karlovy Vary. However, first of all, the mass production of schungite water is a novelty for the European market; and secondly, the most important advantage in the mass production technology is that it is not tied to any particular resort source.

So far the company is building on its work with the Urals dealers from Ekaterinburg, Nizhniy Tagil, Kamensk-Uralsky, Novouralsk, Lesnoy (all these are in the Sverdlovsk Oblast), as well as from Tyumen and towns of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. Initially Yelena Dontsova attempted to work with retail chains directly but the result was rather unimpressive for our times - the price to pay for the products to find its way onto the shelves was too high for a small company.

Currently there are three companies already making schungite water in Russia (two of them in Moscow and Saint Petersburg) but only Tri-2000 has the exclusive right of making the product under the brand "Schungite Water".

Forward to nature

The economic crisis has not affected the schungite water sales. This is why Yelena Dontsova is planning the construction of own plant in Monetny which would considerably increase the production volumes.

It is so far hard to guess which mass production technology for water is likely to win the world markets: the tried and tested low cost technology of multinationals or the new natural water production technology which at the moment is only feeling out its path toward the consumer.

"The demand for natural drinking water will only grow with time," Yelena Dontsova is pretty certain, "Russia remains one of the very few countries in the world where there are still remaining some ecologically clean water resources. They must be used to support health of all people."

Pavel Kober