Facts

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ORIGINS

Mount Warning Mineral Water & Yaru Water

Mount Warning Mineral Water is a family-owned business continuing the legacy of our forefather who settled on the property in 1904. They had moved up the river from Byangum/Murwillumbah where the family had originally settled in the mid 1800s.

Our water story also dates back 100 years, when the property was selected for its timber and lush surroundings, and for its naturally occurring, groundwater-fed water holes.

Traditionally our family were cattle and dairy farmers. Like many other farmers, however, in order to survive and ensure the farm was viable, we had to diversify, and in 2000, with our traditional cattle and dairy farm under threat, we looked at ways to keep the family farm going. With the help of a renowned water diviner we then embarked on a new venture – drilling a well into a fractured sandstone aquifer – and Mount Warning Mineral Water was born.

Several years on we launched our social enterprise, Yaru Water, built from our close relationship with local indigenous entrepreneurs. Yaru is now our leading brand, with profits fed back into projects across Australia that support initiatives that help close the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Origins and extraction of Mount Warning Mineral Water and Yaru Water

Mount Warning Mineral Water and Yaru Water are both sourced and extracted in the Tweed Valley, in Northern NSW, from an underground aquifer within the sedimentary rocks of the Clarence-Moreton Basin. This basin underlays an area of 16,000 km² across north-eastern NSW and south-eastern Queensland.

Our company goes to great lengths in the construction of our wells to ensure we do not take any water from the overlying volcanics (the surface basalt layers) and does not affect the surface waters (e.g. rivers, creeks, streams) or surface springs.

We take our water from the fractured sandstone layers deep beneath the volcanics. This water is quite high in minerals, hence the classification as a ‘mineral water’ and not a fresher ‘spring water’.

More information on the Clarence-Moreton Basin aquifers can be found here:

Monitoring our water extraction

Under our licensing agreement with NSW government, it is a requirement that all ground water extraction is reported via accredited monitoring equipment. This data is reported in real time to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and ensures environmental sustainability and compliance.

Our current annual water allowance or allocation is 50 ML. We actually use far less water now than when dairy farming. This will continue to be the case even as we grow.

Annual water use compared to farming and other products

With regard to water usage, as traditional dairy farmers, we had a water access license for 180 ML per year. Irrigation was used for 12 hrs a day over 4-5 months of the year, with continuous soil moisture monitoring determining that irrigation was required to ensure adequate pasture growth. The moisture probes indicated that deep drainage was negligible, and the irrigation system used did not generate any runoff. The dam frequently ran dry.

So, with our current 50ML water allocation, our water usage is far less now than when we were farmers!

Water is also used to produce many of the everyday items we consume. Here are some examples relating to how much water is used on average, to produce various products:

 

Foodstuff Quantity Water Consumption (litres)
Wine 250mL 109
Beef burger 1 (bread, meat patty, lettuce, tomato 25,000
Tomatoes 1 kg 214
Chocolate 100g 1,720
Orange Juice 200 mL 170
Beer 1 Pint 75
Bottle of water 1 L 3

Sources: Institute of Mechanical Engineers;  watercalculator.org; AfricaCheck.org

Groundwater impacts

The NSW Chief Scientist’s Report on the impacts of the bottled water industry on groundwater resources states:

“It is estimated that the total take currently authorised from these groundwater systems is less than 2% of water entering the system each year. The current level of extraction by the water bottling industry is small in comparison to the sustainable extraction limit.”

“Based on the review of available information, there is no measured evidence that current bottled water extractions have impacts on other properties’ bores, surface water or GDEs in the Northern Rivers region. The Review found no evidence at this point in time that current WSP extraction limits are not sustainable.”

“The Review identified seven operators in the Northern Rivers region with allocations of 240.5 ML/y who are actively extracting for water bottling purposes, representing 0.55% of water licences and basic landholder rights (together defined in the WSP as ‘total water requirements’) and 0.008% of estimated total annual aquifer recharge in the four groundwater sources.”

For further information the full report can be found here.

Our carbon footprint

We are continuously innovating to reduce our carbon footprint. Mount Warning Mineral Water is now produced in a custom glass vessel. Yaru Water is produced in fully recycled and recyclable PET. Both Mount Warning Mineral Water and Yaru Water are committed to doing business responsibly and seeking meaningful opportunities to make a difference. That means investing in its communities and the environment and focusing our efforts around meaningful issues with like-minded partners to enable positive change.

Our extended family

Whilst we are a small family operated business, we currently employ 11 additional people with a number of local suppliers also working on a contract basis. Our staffing levels will increase as our business grows, with the aim of employing around 30 individuals, plus local contractors. Our staffing numbers can also fluctuate due to seasonal demand during the seasons, but we are proud to be a local employer in our region.

Social enterprise

It is incredibly important to us that we use our family business to help create positive change.  To this end, we are proud to operate our biggest selling water brand, Yaru Water, as a social enterprise. We raise funds for community projects via sales of our water and establish projects that help to close the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. We also support other like-minded organisations such as the Fred Hollow’s Foundation.

You can find out more about the Yaru Foundation and the projects we’ve supported over the past couple of years here.

Future growth

We are currently building a brand-new facility that will allow us to evolve from a small to a medium sized business, with a new glass bottling line and a fully recyclable and recycled PET line. This is critical to ensure we are operating sustainably.

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