ERMUSR Misc Issues 06-06-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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c~p~•ry 't,o o ~ Hoist Your Glasses for a Toast ... to Reve~•se Osmosis! ~1w~a.A~ ~'~,~, ~„;~„~ `3~.~,a~,,~ Japan's Thirst for Hawaii Deep Seawater Drives Industry S. Water News Online, March 2006 The following article seems to confirm the ongoing identity crisis of municipal water supplies and illustrates what marketing can do for a product. HONOLULU- Japan's thirst for desali- nated, bottled Hawaiian deep seawater is driving a booming industry on the Big Island, with sales reaching nearly $17 million last year. Demand for the water that sells for up to $6 a bottle is increasing, making it one of the state's hottest exports. The water is pumped to the surface via a pipeline that dips 3,000 feet deep near the National Energy Laboratory on the Big Island's Kona Coast. The water is mainly marketed in Japan as being exceptionally pure, with possi- ble health benefits. The salt is removed through reverse osmosis and electroly- sis. Bottlers are also trying to develop a local and mainland U.S. market. Five years ago, exports of the water totaled just over $360,000. Last year, the Foreign Trade Zone Division of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism recorded $16.8 million in deep seawa- ter exports. Ron Baird, head of the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, a state agency set up to research ocean thermal energy conversion, says the business still appears to be in its infancy. Baird predicted more than $100 million in investments over the next year or so. The drinking water operation is a byproduct of the pipeline used to cool buildings at the lab and produce energy using cold water from the depths of the ocean. The largest bottler of deep seawater in Hawaii, Koyo USA Corp., is building a third plant at the energy laboratory, increasing its daily capacity from 250,000 to I million bottles a day, according to Hiroshi Usami, Koyo's general manager. Three other companies also are getting into the business this year, and others will be setting up operations later, offi- cials said. One company has announced plans to set up its own operation off- shore from Oahu, pumping deep seawa- ter into a boat for bottling at plants in Kapolei.