U.S. Water News Online
HONOLULU -- Japan's thirst for desalinated, 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, according to state export statistics.
The water is pumped to the surface via a pipeline that dips 3,000 feet deep in waters near the National Energy Laboratory on the Big Island's Kona Coast.
While most of the water is bottled and exported to Japan by companies that pay the state to certify the water as authentic, bottlers are trying to develop a local and mainland U.S. market.
The water is mainly marketed in Japan as being exceptionally pure, with possible health benefits. The salt is removed through reverse osmosis and electrolysis.
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 seawater 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.
"It looks like this could be something that could go on for some time," he said.
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.
Baird predicted more than $100 million in investments over the next year or so by companies engaged in the bottling operations.
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 1 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, officials said. One company has announced plans to set up its own operation offshore from Oahu, pumping deep seawater into a boat for bottling at plants in Kapolei.
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