Zillia mineral water is well protected from the raging drought in Corsica

While defect water becomes worrying at the surface, the subsurface resource appears resilient to climatic variability. In the factory of ciliaa Good collects 30-year-old water from a depth of 80 meters, the properties of which are analyzed daily.

During this summer time, the Zilia plant is running at full speed day and night.

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“The months of July and August each represent five to six times the amount of water sold during a winter month.notes the boss Françoise Ciavaldini, while the good figures for July have just fallen. I can’t tell you how many liters we sell every day, the number is so huge. We have never sold as much water as this year. We work to the maximum of our capacities and all teams are mobilized, of course respecting the annual quotas set by the ARS. »

The factory has its own laboratory and measures the quality and quantity of the resource on a daily basis. - Jean-Marie Colonna / Crystal Pictures

The relationship between high temperature and water demand is self-evident for the director, especially since summer coincides with that of tourism on the island. But other more subtle factors must be considered. “You must also understand that the increase in our sales is due to the difficulties in transporting water from the continent.Francoise Ciavaldini’s book. In summer, passenger traffic has priority. The more cars are in the boats, the fewer trucks are allowed. And since water is a low-value product, professionals in the food industry are more likely to load their trucks with high-value products like oil, sugar and coffee. »

In glass or plastic, with or without bubbles, in its various formats, the water from a depth of 80 meters seems to be making fun of the current drought. - Jean-Marie Colonna / Crystal Pictures

Around 95% of the production of Sodez, the Zilia water company, is destined for the Corsican market.

The six pack of 1.5 liter bottles alone, the company’s flagship product, represents more than ten million bottles sold or 15 million litres. A quantity to which must be added the sale in all other formats of 33 cl, 50 cl and one liter, in glass and plastic, in gaseous and flat, flavored and even in demijohns of around twenty liters.

A very stable resource

While on the surface the rivers dry up, the springs dry up, the water in the villages runs dry, the subterranean resource seems unshakable.

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“This water, which we draw from a depth of 80 meters, does not come from last year’s rain or snow.says Françoise Ciavaldini. It takes more than thirty years to get where we draw it from; which guarantees a certain independence from the current drought. The flow is the same all year round, as is the temperature and chemical characteristics. It is thanks to this almost perfect stability that our water was awarded mineral water status in 2015. This water is at the heart of what we do, and we do everything we can to preserve it. This underground stream that flows under Zilia is not found everywhere. There were five years of preliminary hydrogeological studies before the decision was made to locate the facility here. »

In Tsilia, the increase in the price of glass, wood, cardboard and energy is more worrying than the lack of water. - Jean-Marie Colonna / Crystal Pictures

The Zilia factory has its own laboratory. Water is monitored and analyzed to measure volume, acidity, temperature, conductivity and other technical parameters. This data, which must be stable, is stored for the long term and transmitted to the regional health department, which closely monitors the activity.

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“A prefectural decree sets the amount of water that must be withdrawn each yearspecifies Claude Cristelli, Sodez Quality Manager. This operating quota set by the ARS changed in 2015 when we became a bottled water. It is defined by hydrogeologists according to the estimate of available resource. Complex calculations make it possible to set a limit beyond which the resource will not be renewed. We are achieving these quotas for the first time this year. »

In the face of drought and water scarcity, there is no shortage of underground resource availability. - Jean-Marie Colonna / Crystal Pictures

The water pumped from Zilia previously seeped into the foothills of Montegrossu at around 1,000 meters above sea level.

It then slowly migrated through the granite rock before being pulled 30 to 50 years later. The absence of urban areas and farms around the site of the infiltration and upstream also contributes to the quality and stability of the resource.

With Zilia, the difficulties are not due to the raw material. On the other hand, the delivery of packaging board, pallet wood, glass and energy costs reduce margins and profitability.

“Fortunately there is still plastic to bottle water”closes, not without bitterness, the patron saint of the waters of Zilia.