Aqua Botanical: innovative solution made from industrial waste

You would drink water made from industrial waste? Thanks to an innovative solution from Australia, this is now possible. Learn how here.

This solution goes by the name of AquaBotanical, the first bottled water made entirely from the by-product of the fruit and vegetable industries. The creator, chemist Dr. Bruce Kambouris, worked in a juice manufacturer company. His inspiration came because he was unhappy with the water discarded in the process from juices concentrated. He didn’t understand why that industrial waste had no value despite being clean and full of nutrients. From there he created the brand that represents not only a new sustainable source of drinking water but also an important step in the battle against food waste.

Approximately 800 liters of water are disposed of every ton of processed fruit in the industry. In recent months Kambouris signed agreements with fruits and vegetables companies to collect and filter the unwanted liquefaction of oranges, carrots, beets, etc. The raw material varies according to the season and availability. The result is a slightly sweet water, but clean and it has nor fruit or vegetables taste.

Aqua Botanical won the Food Industry Innovation Award of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology of 2015. The product is sold in the local shops, but the goal is to expand to supermarkets, since the company has ability to bottle up to 100 million liters of water per year. To make things even better, the filtration surplus from its production is returned to farmers who use it to feed the animals.

Innovations like this are essential to our future, but they are not enough. Like we always say here, we must do our part in reducing food waste. Buy ugly fruits and vegetables, reuse what you can, make a good purchase planning. Leftovers are valuable. And what was industrial waste can be clean and nutritious water. Spread this idea!