Shenzhen News Network September 5, 2023(Shenzhen Evening News reporter Wu Jie intern Tan Jia Chen Siyi/Wen Yan Wen Ting/photo) In the early morning, it was drizzling, and there were seven wells scattered at the foot of Lion Mountain in Baoan District, Shenzhen. With the intermittent sound of rain, the water in the well is slowly flowing to a production workshop of mineral water source. After 14 processes, such as coarse filtration, fine filtration and inspection, cans of bottled water were loaded on transport vehicles and sent to thousands of households in Shenzhen.
Recently, a reporter walked into Shenzhen Yiliquan Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yili") late at night to visit the only mineral water source with mining license in Shenzhen (Qiniang Mountain Mineral Water Plant has been closed). In this factory area of 1.142 square kilometers, 90% is a water source protection area. The water source here belongs to metasilicic mineral water, and the metasilicic acid content is more than 40MG/L, which is 60% higher than the national standard. In this precious water source, a group of "water conservation people" have been silently guarding it.
Fully sealed transportation creates "safe water"
The factory produces over 120,000 tons of mineral water every year.
Chen Jiali, 50, is responsible for the exploitation and daily maintenance of seven wells in Yili Water Source Protection Area. In 2005, he was selected to join the water resources exploitation and conservation team. Since then, it has become Chen Jiali’s daily work for 18 years to record the water level, flow rate, conductivity, water temperature and other well operation parameters of each well, check the facilities and environmental sanitation of the well, adjust the water yield, inspect the water source and send water samples to the laboratory.
On September 4, Chen Jiali, wearing labor insurance shoes and a straw hat, walked on the road to the source of mineral water with a bunch of keys. After the rain, the soil was filled with faint fragrance, and the branches and leaves on both sides of the path were hung with rain. Standing at the entrance of the water source, a tall iron gate blocked the way. Chen Jiali said that only this key in his hand can open the front door in the whole factory. After opening two protection doors in succession, the reporter saw late at night that a locked well house came into view, which was one of the wells in the mineral water source.
What about water? Opening the last iron gate is different from the traditional well where the water is gurgling. There is no "shadow" of a drop of water in the well room, and no sound of water can be heard. "The process from the extraction to the transportation of mineral water is completely sealed. A 0.22um (micron) respirator is installed on the well, and even the air must be filtered before it can enter the well." Chen Jiali explained that there were no water pipes on the road from the water source to the factory, but all the water pipes were laid in special underground canals. These water sources will flow to the production workshop. After going through layers of procedures and strict inspection, they can be sent to people’s homes.
According to reports, at present, Yili Lion Mountain Factory is responsible for the production of bottled water, with a production line that produces more than 120,000 tons of mineral water every year. It is the water conservation personnel, water quality monitors, assembly workers, transport drivers and other grass-roots water guardians like Chen Jiali who jointly guard this mineral water source, so that citizens can drink "safe water".
Mineral water needs 20 years of natural purification of rock strata.
Water production goes through 14 processes and checks at different levels.
A high-quality and safe mineral water, which flows out of the mountain rocks and reaches the citizens, needs to go through many checkpoints. Wu Zhizhong, from Ji ‘an, Jiangxi Province, is the director of Yili. After graduating from university majoring in food, he has been engaged in the management of mineral water industry for 30 years. He is the gatekeeper of mineral water quality assurance.
Recently, the reporter came to the workshop of Yili Mineral Water Plant late at night to see that the assembly line was running slowly and the workers were making bottled water in an orderly way. There are 14 processes from disinfection inside and outside the empty barrel, washing with the cover removed, online monitoring of ozone content in mineral water, random sampling of water quality, filling of qualified mineral water … to the final laser scanning of the bar code of the barrel.
"We strictly control every process. Whether it is source water, process water, finished water, or the environmental sanitation of the production workshop, there are staff online monitoring at all times, just to ensure the same quality of each barrel of water. " Director Wu said.
Late at night, the reporter saw at the scene that the bottle body of each barrel of water has an "ID card". The public can know the specific production time of this barrel of water by scanning, so as to distinguish the authenticity. At the same time, the factory can also trace the source through this "ID card".
"After the surface water seeps into the ground, it will be purified by the rock strata in the long underground deep circulation to form mineral water, which takes about 20 years." Director Wu stood in front of a well, stroking ancient rocks, and told reporters late at night that among all kinds of water, natural mineral water is a scarce natural resource, and there are three main criteria for judging high-quality mineral water sources: first, the ecological environment is good, second, the water quality is excellent, and third, the water quantity is large.
In order to make good use of every drop of precious natural mineral water resources in the production process, Yili mineral water aims at green mines, and the recycling rate of mineral water is 100%, ensuring the sustainable development and utilization of drinking natural mineral water resources.
In Shenzhen, a rapidly developing modern city, the only mineral water source being mined is precious. "The ecological environment of the water source is the lifeline. Only when the local ecological environment is good can we embark on a sustainable development path." Director Wu said that in the future, he will patrol the water source with more water source guardians to ensure that the water source is not damaged by wildlife and human activities, so that citizens can drink high-quality natural "safe water".