Highland Spring is found at the edge of the tiny village of Blackford, by the level crossing, opposite the signal box that looks as if it were made by Hornby. Blackford sits in a natural basin in the Ochils of Perthshire. At the edge of town is the sprucely maintained Tullibardine distillery, sadly mothballed, but witness to the quality and plentiful supplies of water that flow into the area.

This countryside is like an immense, gently sloping bowl with Blackford sitting in the centre. Climbing out of the valley the vistas lengthen first to hills, then to mountains, subtle hues of greens, browns and blues. This is fertile land, but walking up the hill to the borehole is a strange experience. The land is deserted, not a person in sight. There are no sheep or cows but many other forms of wildlife even the occasional wildcat it is claimed. Adrian Reid who is in charge of operations explains that the company spends millions to ensure that the water in the bottle is exactly the same as the water that comes out the ground. As a natural mineral water Highland Spring must consistently match the composition it had when it was first registered in 1982. So the company has to protect the water on its 30 year journey as it rises through basalt and sandstone. In order to do this 2,000 acres of the catchment area have been bought and apart from the occasional walker and security guard, no human activity takes place on this land. Nothing is allowed to affect the water.

This quest for purity is echoed in the emptiness of the land, a quietness that stretches back to a time before people seriously began to affect their environment.

Back down the hill, the inside of the factory is a different place altogether, modern, efficient and humming with human activity. We weren't allowed into the area where the water is put into bottles. Those that work here operate in a strict sterile environment. Even the air is purified; strangers are not allowed. Once sealed the bottles leave this area and fly down the line to the labelling machine. One machine alone labels over 32,000 bottles per hour and the lines are operated by just a handful of people. Yet it is the people who make the difference at Highland Spring.

Twenty three years working for Bell's taught Adrian Reid a thing or two about bottling but it was his apprenticeship in the Marines that taught him a thing or two about team building. Highland Spring's dedication to quality isn't directed from the top, it is led from the bottom. The entire workforce run the company and quality is what they want. Beware any supplier that doesn't come up to scratch; they may have a team of line operators bearing down on them conducting an audit of their procedures and quality standards. If a member of staff isn't happy about the labelling on another line he or she gets up and fixes it. Any employee who stops a shipment because there is a question on quality is a hero, not a villain. And, quality works. 100% productivity days are the norm at Highland Spring.

Dorothy Senior, Technical Services Manager at Highland Spring, and also originally from the whisky industry, points out that people are maybe not aware of the taste of chlorine and this in turn can throw the taste of any whisky. She spends many a moment tasting waters as we might whiskies and recommends that our members taste the difference for themselves. If your wee dram in the evening is more reminiscent of the local baths than the Highlands, perhaps it is the water that is to blame rather than our tasting notes. After all, water is not something that any of us can take for granted.