Clean groundwater guarantees the quality of our products
The Rajamäki groundwater area has long been known as one of the most important groundwater areas of the Salpausselkä ridge system. Protecting the more than 1,000-hectare area owned by Anora here, and particularly the groundwater beneath it, plays an important role in ensuring the high quality of Anora’s products.
In the forests of Rajamäki, the soil below a thin layer of humus quickly turns into sand and gravel. When you dig a little deeper, in some places, merely to a depth of 1.5 metres, you reach the surface of the groundwater. The same water has been used at the Rajamäki plant since 1888, when the plant was established.
“The groundwater in Rajamäki fulfills all the quality requirements without any chemical or mechanical processing. The area has water well above our needs and the water has just the right amount of various minerals without, for example, too much of chloride or iron,” says Milja Karhu, Anora's Environmental Specialist.
Close co-operation with partners and locals
Anora protects this valuable natural resource with great care. In addition to the continuous monitoring of the water’s surface levels and quality, the area is shielded from activity that could result in impurities ending up in the water. This is of utmost importance, since clean groundwater is not processed in any way when it is added into beverages.
The vehicles operating in the area are also guided and monitored with great diligence, given that a mere few litres of oil absorbed by the soil could contaminate the groundwater for a long period of time. Forests machines are always equipped with a soaking substance, for example, which allows for minimising the amount of any damage. Any problems are promptly reported to the Rajamäki plant, so that any damage can be prevented as soon as possible.
The groundwater pumped from the two main water catchments of Anora is led to the Rajamäki plant, where it used in, besides beverage production, all of the plant’s operations requiring water, such as the cleaning of tanks and production equipment. The plant’s operations are developed continuously in a more ecological direction – the company aims to reduce and increase the efficiency of water consumption in the future by recycling water in cleaning processes.
The high-quality, pure groundwater has been one of the most important things at Anora’s for more than 130 years. Its protection benefits everyone: In addition to guaranteeing the plant’s operations, it preserves the area’s nature for future generations.
A distinctive taste
According to Karhu, if you have a finely-tuned sense of taste, you can notice a difference between processed water and clean groundwater.
The forest in the groundwater area has a distinctive taste, acting as a filter for the rain water. The rain water is absorbed into the ground more slowly than without the forest, which reduces the amount of air pollutants and heavy metals. The difference in the taste and the chemical composition of the water are excellent assets when it comes to revealing fake products.
“The effect of the forest and the lack of chemical treatment give the water a fresh taste and a clear colour. Besides the taste, using clean groundwater is also important for the environment as well as the image of the product since it comes straight from nature", Karhu explains.
A spring of water at the Rajamäki in the 1890's.