Sina Science and Technology News On the afternoon of July 6, it was reported that Nongfu Spring held its first open day activity in the new factory of Daming Mountain in Shanglin, Guangxi. This is the 12th water source of Nongfu Spring, which has been put into production and opened to the public for visit.
Up to now, Nongfu Spring has 12 water sources in production nationwide, forming a wide coverage of water source layout and source water barriers.
Looking for Water in Guangxi for Ten Years: The more you go to the mountains, the better the water will be
Nongfu Mountain Spring Guangxi Shanglin Water Source is located at the eastern foot of Daming Mountain. The forest coverage rate in this area is about 98.9%, and the average altitude is about 1200 meters. The water source area has a complete forest water ecology, which is an important water source forest area in Guangxi.
(Water source ecological environment of Daming Mountain in Guangxi) As early as 2008, Nongfu Spring had focused on Guangxi. For more than ten years, Fang Qiang, the Nongfu Spring Water Source Surveyor, has repeatedly gone deep into the vast hinterland of Guangxi's forests, and has taken mountain spring water, glacier melt water and other water sources from all over the country for testing. "One meter ahead, the water quality will be better. The reason why our water pipes are so long is that they are close to the source. Generally speaking, the source has the least human activity. Only the places where people are rarely visited can have rich vegetation. The most primitive ecological environment, the pure and sweet water filtered by nature, and there are not many water sources that meet this condition," Fang Qiang recalled.
(Nongfu Mountain Spring extracts water from Daming Mountain for testing) Around 2016, Fang Qiang saw Daming Mountain in Shanglin, Guangxi. After years of tracking and monitoring, it was not until the beginning of 2021 that Nongfu Spring found a water source named "Yixiantian" in Daming Mountain. The water source here comes from Longtou Mountain, the highest peak in south central Guangxi and the main peak of Daming Mountain, with an altitude of about 1760 meters. The upstream water flows from the canyon cliff and finally converges into Dongchun River. Nongfu Spring Water Intake is located at the upstream waterfall of Dongchun River, which is extremely difficult to enter due to terrain reasons, and there are few human activities. After many tests in different seasons and weather, Nongfu Spring confirmed that the water source meets its requirements for water quality and taste standards. At the same time, Daming Mountain is also a drinking water source recognized by surrounding residents. Along the mountain road, it is often seen that local residents, even citizens from Nanning urban area, pick up buckets of water at the spring outlet on the mountainside outside the water source, and even often queue up to pick up water.
(Nongfu Spring, the source of Daming Mountains and Rivers) The process of finding and determining the source of the Daming Mountains and Rivers is almost the epitome of every source of water in Nongfu Spring, and it also continues the consistent concept of building factories in the source of water in Nongfu Spring. According to Fang Qiang, many of the 12 water sources of Nongfu Spring in China are located in relatively remote areas, such as Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province, Mohe River in Heilongjiang Province, Mount Emei in Sichuan Province, Taibai Mountain in Shaanxi Province, Wuling Mountain in Guizhou Province, etc. The water intake and construction costs under complex landforms are often far higher than the industry average.
11.8 km water intake pipeline passes through the cliff of Daming Mountain
(From the foot of the mountain to Nongfu Spring Water Source, there is only a long and thin walkway built in the last century, close to the cliff) In order to get water from the source, the pipeline must extend all the way from the factory to the upper reaches of Dongchun River, which makes the total length of Daming Mountain water intake pipeline reach 11.8km. During the construction of water intake pipeline in Daming Mountain, Nongfu Spring was faced with the problem of cliffs, and ordinary people would even lose their legs in narrow places, which made the construction extremely difficult.
In order to protect the environment to the greatest extent, large machinery shall be avoided during pipeline construction. In order to facilitate transportation, the 11.8km long pipeline has been divided into nearly 2200 pipelines. Just transporting the pipeline up the mountain was completed by nearly 60 workers after more than a month. In addition, the water intake pipeline is laid by using the original water channel along the mountain.
Because of the low gradient and long distance of the raw water channel, the water intake pipeline has to increase the pipe diameter and set more bends to ensure the flow rate, which means higher construction accuracy requirements, as well as the corresponding increase in material and labor costs. "Even so, in our pipeline construction philosophy, the priority of ecology and environmental protection is always higher than the convenience and cost of construction." Hou Xiaochuan, a Nongfu Spring employee in charge of pipeline design and construction, introduced.
The annual precipitation of Daming Mountain can reach about 2000mm. The pipeline welding happens in the rainy season of Daming Mountain. If the weather is good, the construction team can weld only 80m a day on average. In order to cope with rainy weather, the construction team is stationed in the mountains in groups to carry out welding operations. At the end of August 2022, after more than four months, the 11.8 km long water transmission pipeline connecting the water source and the Daming Mountain Plant in Shanglin was formally laid.
"The layout of water sources is the future, and it is also the barrier of Nongfu Spring"
At the production end, Nongfu Shanquan Guangxi Damingshan Factory will invest in several production lines in the future, and the annual production capacity is expected to be more than 500000 tons. Depending on the location, the production base of Daming Mountain will provide products for the consumer markets in Guangxi and neighboring Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangdong, etc.
(The completed Nongfu Mountain Spring Guangxi Damingshan Factory) In recent years, there has been a growing demand for natural water products in markets all over the country. Taking Guangdong, the largest market in South China, as an example, from May 2021 to May 2023, the compound growth rate of natural water sales in Guangdong Province will be 2.04%, while the compound growth rate of purified water sales will be - 3.28%. Natural water will still be the mainstream of drinking water products at present and in the foreseeable future. As early as 2000, Nongfu Spring saw the long-term trend of consumers' pursuit of nature and health, and announced that it would only produce and sell natural water.
Accompanied by the transformation of natural water race track, it is the water source area that needs to be arranged to produce natural water. From water source exploration, water quality detection, to the construction of factories, the layout of water sources is a costly project, which requires high time and capital costs. The management of Nongfu Spring once said to the media: "In the first ten years, the company did bear storage and transportation costs far higher than the average level of the industry, but never thought of giving up.".
Some insiders pointed out that "the nature of the drinking water industry determines that it is a relatively 'primitive' industry in all aspects. In this industry, the core competitive advantage is not technology, but how many assets related to raw materials have been mastered." Nongfu Spring, which is interested in the future trend of natural water, has accelerated the layout of water sources in recent years. It is understood that in nearly half a year since last September, Nongfu Spring has also reached cooperation with many governments to build production bases in local areas, and more water sources will be put into production and use in the future.
"High quality water sources are scarce resources, and the layout of water sources is the future, which is also the barrier for Nungfu Spring to distinguish from other drinking water enterprises." Nungfu Spring said that in the future, Nungfu Spring will continue to practice the concept of "natural and healthy", continue to invest in the construction of water sources for a long time, and provide good products for consumers across the country with the long-term layout of high quality water sources.
