Brewery where the purest drink on tap is H2O
TWICE a month, 76-year-old Farouk Moos and his wife travel to the brewery in Newlands, Cape Town, for a drink — and end up taking 30 litres home with them.
It’s not the brewed variety, but rather fresh water from the spring on the brewery premises where hundreds go every day to collect water.
The water runs down Table Mountain into springs scattered around the suburb at the foot of the mountain.
Moos has been drinking the spring water since he was a boy. Even though he no longer lives in Newlands, for the past decade he and his wife, Ghaironesa, have been making the trip to collect it.
“I grew up in Newlands and we had a little spring in our yard that we used to drink from,” Moos said.
“I feel much better drinking this water over tap water. It is clean and fresh and has no chemicals and I prefer the taste. We use this water for drinking and cooking and the tap water for showers and gardening.”
While the Mooses fill their drums an almost endless stream of cars enters the small park where the spring point stands. An array of people join the queue to fill bottles and canisters with water at one of four taps where water flows at about 50 litres a minute.
The brewery, which was the first in the country, was built there because of the spring, and the water is used to make the beer.
“The second half of the 19th century saw the development of several breweries because of the excellent water available in the Newlands area,” said SAB spokeswoman Robyn Chalmers.
“The springs have valuable heritage aspects as well as being an important resource.
“The spring water is untreated, in the most natural form that a person would be able to consume. The water has softer notes and less chemical tastes such as chlorine that is evident in tap water,” she said.
Besides being free, most people say they prefer the spring water because they don’t like chlorinated tap water and they believe the spring water is healthier.
Deidre Phillips from Plumstead said the spring water improved the quality of her tea and meant she could water her plants without using council water.
The free water also meant many people were saving on their water bills.
Kamiela Ismael, of Athlone, said her family collected water each week and that it significantly reduced their water bill.
“The tap water isn’t nice, and buying bottled water is pricey, so we come and fetch water here,” Ismael said.
“This water feels much lighter than tap water, which is milky sometimes and you can see it contains a lot of chemicals.”
The tap water isn’t nice, and buying bottled water is pricey