DOWNTOWN PORTLAND, THIS IS KOIN
6 NEWS.
WATCHING OUT FOR YOU.
JENNIFER: IF YOU THINK BOTTLED
WATER IS ALREADY TOO EXPENSIVE,
IMAGINE PAYING
$16 FOR ONE
BOTTLE.
THAT'S THE PRICE ONE COMPANY IS
IN FACT CHARGING FOR OREGON
SPRING WATER.
JEFF: WE ASKED THE QUESTION, IS
THIS LEGAL?
OUR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
GABRIELLE KAROL WENT STRAIGHT TO
THE SOURCE.
GABRIELLE: THE SO-CALLED RAW
WATER TREND MADE IT EASY TO CALL
CALIFORNIANS CRAZY.
AS WE SAW IN THIS SAN
FRANCISCO CO-OP, THE PAGE IS
WORKING.
ROCK WATER WHICH IS WATER
THAT IS UNFILTERED, UNTREATED
AND UNSTERILIZED.
GABRIELLE: THE IDEA OF
UNTREATED, UNPURIFIED SPRING
WATER, ALSO MADE THE FOUNDER OF
LIVE SPRING WATER AN EASY
PUNCHLINE.
FLUORIDE MAKES PEOPLE FEEL
MORE DOS FILE.
--.
STYLE -- DOCILE.
GABRIELLE: MUKHANDE SINGH,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CHRISTOPHER
SANBORN SAYS HIS COMPANY'S RAW
OR UNTREATED, SPRING WATER, HAS
HEALTH BENEFITS, THANKS TO
PROBIOTICS.
THE FIRST TIME I DRANK FRESH,
LIVING SPRING WATER, THE SURGE
OF ENERGY AND PEACEFULNESS
ENTERED MY BEING.
GABRIELLE: LIVE SPRING WATER'S
WEBSITE SAYS THE COMPANY SOURCES
IT'S WATER FROM OPAL SPRING,
WHICH IS LOCATED IN OREGON'S
JEFFERSON COUNTY.
THE SITE'S VIDEO SHOWS SINGH
HIKING THROUGH THE WOODS,
COLLECTING WATER INTO THE
COMPANY'S SIGNATURE GLASS ORBS.
I DROVE AND HIKED COUNTLESS
MILES FOR NEARLY A YEAR BEFORE
IT WAS CERTAIN I DISCOVERED THE
ULTIMATE SOURCE.
GABRIELLE: THE WAY LIVE SPRING
WATER GETS ITS WATER IS LEGAL.
IT IS ALSO VERY DIFFERENT THAN
THE COMPANY'S VIDEOS SUGGEST.
INSTEAD OF HIKING DOWN THE
CANYON TO GET TO OPAL SPRINGS,
THE FOUNDER IS ACTUALLY GETTING
HIS WATER FROM RIGHT HERE IN
OPAL SPRINGS BOTTLING COMPANY.
OPAL SPRINGS BOTTLING COMPANY
SELLS PLASTIC BOTTLES OF SPRING
WATER.
IT ALSO BOTTLES WATER IN GLASS
ORBS, FOR LIVE SPRING WATER.
BEHIND THIS LOCKED GATE, IS THE
ACTUAL OPAL SPRING.
IT'S MANAGED BY THE DESCHUTES
VALLEY WATER DISTRICT.
WE ARE TAKING WATER OUT OF
OPAL SPRINGS BEFORE HE GETS
THERE AND PUMPING IT TO OUR
DRINKING WATER CUSTOMERS.
GABRIELLE: THOSE CUSTOMERS
INCLUDE THE TOWNS OF CULVER AND
MADRAS, AND THE OPAL SPRINGS
BOTTLING COMPANY, WHICH GETS ITS
WATER THROUGH STEEL AND PVC
PIPES, FIVE MILES AWAY FROM THIS
SOURCE.
IT IS TRUE, HOWEVER, THAT THE
DESCHUTES VALLEY WATER DISTRICT
IS PROVIDING SO-CALLED RAW
WATER.
NO CORONATION, NO SILTATION,
NONE OF THAT.
WE JUST POP IT STRAIGHT FROM THE
SOURCE.
-- PUMP IT STRAIGHT FROM THE
SOURCE.
GABRIELLE: THE WATER IS TESTED
FOR DANGEROUS BACTERIA, AND
OVERSEEN BY THE OREGON HEALTH
AUTHORITY.
IT MAKES THE COMEDIANS'
CRITIQUES OF RAW WATER, A LITTLE
OVERBAKED.
THIS RIGHT HERE IS SOME RAW
WATER OF MY OWN CREATION.
LUCKILY, -- LOCALLY SOURCED FROM
A MANHATTAN POTHOLE.
GABRIELLE: WHILE LIVE SPRING
WATER IS AS SAFE TO DRINK AS THE
TAP WATER IN MADRAS, OREGON, THE
COMPANY'S CASH FLOW, MAY BE
RUNNING DRY.
THE SITE SAYS DELIVERIES ARE
CURRENTLY ON HOLD, AND WILL NOT
BE FULFILLED UNTIL FURTHER
NOTICE.
THERE IS A HIDDEN BEAUTY AND
OUR FORGETFULNESS.
GABRIELLE: KOIN 6 NEWS LEARNED
THAT MONTHS AFTER LIVE SPRING
WATER CAUGHT NATIONAL ATTENTION,
IT ALSO CAUGHT THE EYES OF THE
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
HEALTH, WHICH FOUND THAT LIVE
SPRING WATER DID NOT HAVE A
LICENSE TO SELL BOTTLED WATER IN
CALIFORNIA.
I CAN NEVER GO BACK TO
DRINKING DEAD WATER AGAIN.
GABRIELLE: OPAL SPRINGS BOTTLING
COMPANY SAYS IT IS IN THE
PROCESS OF GETTING ITS LICENSE
IN CALIFORNIA SO THEY CAN START
DISTRIBUTING THE LIVE SPRING
WATER AGAIN.
THIS MAY NOT BE THE ONLY
BUSINESS CHALLENGES THEY ARE
FACING.
JEFF: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?
GABRIELLE: OVER THE COURSE OF MY
REPORTING I FOUND THAT SINGH HAD
DISSOLVED HIS COMPANY IN
CALIFORNIA, HIS APPLICATION
EXPIRED FOR A BUSINESS LICENSE
IN HAWAII, WHERE HE NOW LIVES,
AND THERE'S NO RECORD OF A
BUSINESS LICENSE IN OREGON,
EITHER.
I DID TRY TO INTERVIEW HIM, HE
AGREED TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS
AND EMAIL AND HE SAID THIS WAS
SIMPLY OVERSIGHT.
HE WOULD PAY TO MAKE SURE THE
BUSINESS LICENSE WAS OK AND
CALIFORNIA, BUT WE HAVE NOT SEEN
THAT AND I'VE BEEN CHECKING THE
WEBSITE FREQUENTLY.
JEFF:
I'M SURE EVERYONE IN
JEFFERSON COUNTY WHO IS WATCHING
THIS ARE SAYING HECK, WE CAN
JUST BOTTLE THAT TAP WATER
AND
SELL IT DOWN IN CALIFORNIA FOR
FIVE DOLLARS.
JENNIFER: NO, YOU NEED THAT
FANCY GLASS OR.
GABRIELLE: THEY'RE NOT
HANDCRAFTED ANYWHERE VERY
SPECIAL IN OREGON.
THE ARTIST MASS-PRODUCED.
JENNIFER: GREAT STORY.