Purification That Comes in a Bottle: Water Takes on New Responsibiliti... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/dining/28wate.html?_r=1&oref=sl...

November 28, 2007

Purification That Comes in a Bottle: Water Takes on New

Responsibilities
By IAN DALY

AT a tiny table for two in the back of her cafe in Chappaqua, N.Y., on a recent Saturday evening, Diane
Felicissimo was expounding on the virtues of a mineral water from an ancient French spring called
Wattwiller. “They say it’s so old it has a soul,” she said.

Her establishment, Via Genova, opened in November of last year and is billed as a water bar. Since then she
has amassed an inventory of more than 80 varieties of the stuff, and with it, the devotion of discerning
aesthetes, who make pilgrimages to her mystical dispensary.

Ms. Felicissimo has grand visions for her featured product. “Ever hear of a water wedding?” she asked.
“Every wedding has alcoholics who aren’t supposed to be around alcohol. Why not have a beautiful bottle of
water on every table instead of Champagne, and then toast with that?”

A former alcohol and substance abuse counselor, she has had no takers so far for her offer to cater
nonalcoholic weddings centered around flavorless, odorless drinks. Yet she is not alone in believing that
bottled water can make the world a better place.

It is something of a renegade position these days, when the $15-billion-a-year bottled water industry is under
attack. Politicians are banning the bottles, and restaurateurs are wiping them off their menus, calling
attention to the ecological costs of moving millions of bottles around the world and around the United States
— not to mention disposing of all those containers.

There are those who say that while it may be hard on the planet, bottled water is good for the soul. Whether
that means printing prayers on their labels, vibrating water at frequencies meant to stimulate health, or
imbuing it with good vibes aided by Native American incantations and healing crystals, a small cluster of new
water brands are offering salvation along with rehydration. It may not be a coordinated counteroffensive, but
it is clear that one corner of the water industry is in the midst of a spiritual renaissance.

“I think there’s a revolution happening,” said Claire Brightwater, producer of a new spring water that shares
her last name. “I really believe that spiritual people like myself want to make a change, with all the suffering
in the world now.”

Ms. Brightwater, who calls herself a psychic, healer and medicine woman, and who owns a Native American
crafts gallery in Queens, applies the New Age healing techniques she has used on crystals for three decades to
transfer what she claims is palpable “good energy” to her water and those who drink it.

It is a complicated process. Once the bottles arrive from their source near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Ms.
Brightwater said, she lays out tumbled stones that she has “programmed for love, health and prosperity”

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around and on top of each case.

She burns sage and sweet grass, herbs used by the Native Americans, to clarify and purify the energy of the
water, and prays for its drinkers to experience good health, good luck and prosperity. She said she then asks
“the Great Spirit to help feed the hungry children, keep the waters clean and to protect the two- and
four-legged on this planet.”

She plays CDs of Native American and Buddhist healing chants for 12 hours a day, until the cases of water
are delivered.

Ms. Brightwater has found a powerful distribution channel for her water: two Whole Foods Markets in the
city have started carrying it this year. Bottled water, measured in units, is the company’s top-selling item,
and she said she is already hearing from appreciative shoppers. “So many people have e-mailed me to tell me
they can feel the energy flowing through them when they drink the water,” she said. “I’m astounded.”

Another product, Liquid OM Water, which made its debut in March, is purified suburban Chicago municipal
tap water that has been “frequency enhanced” by its creator, Kenny Mazursky. A “certified sound therapist,”
Mr. Mazursky said he uses Tibetan singing bowls and a giant earth gong to send vibrations through the water
at specific frequencies.

“The guys at the warehouse love it,” said Mr. Mazursky, who said he energizes a truckload of 36,000 bottles
at a time in his distribution center near Chicago, before the water makes its way to health food stores, gyms
and spas around the country. “They all come down off their forklifts to sit in on it.”

Mr. Mazursky said that the natural frequencies he chooses promote good health and balance, and that his
bottles stay “energized” for years after he treats them. “Water holds sound at five times the magnitude of
air,” he said. “That’s why dolphins and whales can talk to each other when they’re miles apart.”

Another product, Spiritual Water, demands a more participatory (and devotional) role from its consumers.
On Dec. 3, the company, based in Davie, Fla., will start to sell a line of Christian-themed waters inscribed
with prayers and religious illustrations. One variety, called “Formula J,” features the image of Jesus wearing
a crown of thorns. “Focus” water depicts the Virgin Mary, and “Defense” water bears a glowing crucifix and
copy that brings to mind the slogans on sports drinks: “Do you need more defense? Grab a cold Defense
Spiritual Water bottle, read the prayer, believe in God, believe in yourself and the sky’s the limit. ...”

Ten cents of the $1.69 price will go to a faith-based charity. The bottles contain municipal tap water from
Santa Ana, Calif., where it is bottled but not blessed.

Blessing the water might limit its consumers to one denomination, said Elicko Taieb, the company’s founder.
“It’s really about thinking positive,” he said. “We create an icon that people can use on a daily basis. It’s a
symbol that says, ‘Hey, you can do it. God is with you.’”

Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and members of other religions have long treated water as sacred, and the
idea of water as elixir has ancient roots, going back at least as far as Roman spas. Today, pharmacy shelves in
France stock waters to aid with everything from constipation to passing kidney stones. (In the United States,
the Food and Drug Administration prohibits mineral waters from making any such health claims unless they

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submit to the same evaluation process as new medications.)

Arthur von Wiesenberger, a consultant to the bottled-water industry, speculates that some of the more
recent far-fetched claims may stem more from a familiar idea in the social sciences: that cultures, faced with
trying times, tend to turn to superstition.

“We’re at war, the world is in a relative state of turmoil,” Mr. von Wiesenberger said. “People are looking
anywhere for guidance. Why not start with the fundamentals, like water? Water does have some mystical
elements to it and that’s been through the ages. There’s much about it we still don’t understand. So in a way,
it’s a perfect vehicle to bring in faith and mysticism.”

Not every new player in the bottled water game aspires to be so deep. Kevin Boyd, founder of Beverly
Hills-based Bling H20, sells water from Tennessee in 750-milliliter bottles encrusted in Swarovski crystals
and that go for $40. “It’s the same statement people make when they’re doing bottle service at a nightclub or
driving a Bentley,” he said. “Those of us who get it, get and appreciate it.”

Which brings up one niggling little fact: the substance inside the bottle. Appeals to the soul, or to more
earthly desires, may inspire customers, but they don’t show up under a spectrometer.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

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