2 million bottles of Perrier destroyed. Well water contaminated.

A well that has been the source of Perrier water for a century has been suspended as spring water from it was found to contain E. coli and other bacteria which can cause severe intestine of infection and can lead to fatal kidney failure in rare cases.

Image from online store and in the public domain.

The well is situated in Vergèze near the southern city of Nimes. As a result, Perrier has been forced to destroy to million bottles of their water.

The well is one of seven used by Perrier to fill their bottles. Perrier is owned by Nestlé Waters France, a business which has been under pressure to improve production processes since it admitted in January that it had used illegal treatments on Perrier and Vittel to remove pollutants.

The bacterial contamination was detected before the bottles had been distributed and the bottles destroyed as a precaution. The company put the problem down to a "microbiological deviation". The problem appeared after heavy rains in southern France last month.

The company added that "All bottles on the market can be consumed in complete safety."

Nestlé admitted breaching French and EU regulations three months ago in using ultraviolet disinfection and activated carbon filtration to purify Perrier and Vittel mineral water.

The treatments are effective in reducing the risk of faecal contamination and are allowed for tap water but banned for "natural mineral waters".

Underground springs such as the ones mentioned providing water to Perrier are supposed to require no sanitising whatsoever.

The Times newspaper reports that "Nestlé has previously been accused of illicit treatment of other mineral water brands including Contrex and Hepar.

They said that they have stopped the practices and that their water is and has been always safe to drink.

An investigation has been launched to shed light on the state's failures in the supervision of the production of bottled water.

French news media have accused the French government of turning a blind eye to production problems despite an official report in 2022 which revealed that at least 33% of French mineral water brands had used banned treatments.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.