Okinshaw Water Strikes Blue Gold in Blewett
By Suzy Hamilton
They were drilling for gold in Blewett in 1995 and struck water instead.
“They found gold, only it’s blue gold,” says Wayne Rutherford, president of Okinshaw Water on Shasheen Road in Blewett.
Now the young company is already bottling Riva, an alkaline mineral water and selling it in Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Nelson, one more local industry for Nelson.
The firm employs 15, seven of them from the Nelson area.
It all started on a ferry ride last year when Rutherford overheard that a property near Nelson was for sale with an artesian aquifer under it.
A business consultant who has made a career of running companies, he quickly put together a team of four Saskatchewan go-getters from the gas and oil business, convinced that he would be bottling one of, if not the only, mineral waters in Canada.
By June Okinshaw had bought the property, began pumping the water from a 600 feet underground lake through a four inch pipe and became purveyors of fine water.
“With a pH of 7.93, our natural mineral water is a rare and precious resource,” the Okinshaw web page advertises.
“Deep sourced natural artesian water that is both alkaline and mineralized seldom exists in Canada or for that matter anywhere else in the world… Water analysis results show that our natural mineral water is rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, manganese and bicarbonates.
“It is perfectly balanced in both alkaline and mineral content.”
The water goes through two stages of protection and is bottled in a 500 ml PET, BPA-free plastic bottle that Rutherford says is “much more recyclable than a milk carton.”
The container was not without its problems.
“The biggest hurdle we’ve had is that we decided to design our own bottle,” said Rutherford. “The amount you have to know, all the details, it took a lot more time and thought that we thought.”
“But this is special water, and we wanted it to stand out,” added business development manager Tara Wood. “We’re used to hurdles.”
So the pear shaped, white labeled, pink topped bottle was born: “Riva, Natural Mineral Water and a Natural Source of Electrolytes.”
Rich in minerals, a natural source of electrolytes, Riva is billed as an excellent drink for athletes.
“A natural source of electrolytes, our mineral water has Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) content of 280 ppm. This classifies it as a Natural Mineral Water by both Canadian and USA water standards,” says information on Okinshaw’s website.
“The TDS in the water is comprised of minerals that would be expected from a natural aquifer water source. All the minerals are regarded as necessary for healthy living and are present in varied quantities.
“The rich mineral replenishing content of our natural mineral water is attracting more and more health-conscious consumers because it refreshes and energizes them.”
Whether or not this quality water from Blewett is enough to make it on the big scene, remains to be seen.
Marketed as Canadian Ice Water for the international market, the Blewett water will have to compete with 36 other mineral waters in Canada, according to information on the internet from Bottled Waters of the World.
France, a country of world famous bottled waters has 52 brands, while Italy sells 111 brands. The USA tops them all with 113 brands.
Rutherford and Wood are undaunted.
“Waters are different,” said Wood. “No two are alike. But we’ve got the best in Canada.”
Riva, now sold at Husky, is expected to be on more local shelves by June 1.
