The history
Known since ancient times, Orezza water was enjoyed by the Romans, who valued its exceptional qualities.
The history of Orezza water continues into the modern era: permission was given to exploit the spring by Ministerial decree under Napoleon III, on 25 April 1856; 10 years later, on 7 February 1866, a not-for-profit organisation was set up by imperial decree.
Later in the 19th century, the Orezza establishments, with the bathing, massage and shower facilities became a very popular treatment centre: this precious spa water cured anaemia, nervous disorders, malaria and liver and kidney disorders.
People then began to believe in the miraculous therapeutic powers of Orezza water.
In the 20th century, during the Second World War, it was even sent to North Africa to provide strength and vitality to the forces suffering from anaemia.
Authorisation to exploit the spring
Orezza water becomes a not-for-profit organisation
Dr Zuccarelli in his “Analysis of the Orezza mineral water” confirmed
that it was effective in treating anaemia
The spring closes and the Orezza bottles disappears
The Source Sorgente Sottana is taken over by F.X. Mora
and work begins to modernise the site
Orezza water returns to tables
The range of the flavoured waters is launched:
Citron pink grapefruit and Mint
The still mineral water is launched at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters
La Castagniccia
The Orezza water comes from Castagniccia,
one of the most beautiful regions of Corsica,
a land which owes its name
to the numerous chestnut trees found in Corsica.
The site of Orezza,
nestling in a beautiful verdant setting,
has undergone a major renovation
which managed to preserve the site's old-worldly appearance.
Production and bottling
Orezza water, is a natural mineral water, which has had the natural carbon dioxide from the spring re-added. It is acknowledged as one of the mineral waters with the highest iron levels in the world. Moreover, the water must undergo a treatment to remove some of the iron before bottling.
The Orezza factory has set up a process to remove the iron, using a totally natural process: air oxidisation.
This involves 4 steps :
DEGASIFICATION
The mineral water is sent to the top of a degassing tower, where it is pulverised into micro-droplets, in order to encourage the gas to separate from the water.
The water then undergoes a vacuum pumping action, to extract the CO2.
The gas removed from this process is stored separately.
IRON OXIDATION
The water, which has just had its gas removed, then arrives in a tank where it is mixed with sterile compressed air, before moving to the oxidization tower, where the iron precipitation takes place.
FILTRATION
The water is then sent through sand filters which eliminated the solidified iron.
RE-CARBONATION
In the last step, during bottling, the water is then re-carbonated with the CO2 extracted during the first step.
Bottling
More than ten and a half million bottles of water
leave the Orezza factory each year,
after having undergone many controls to guarantee
that the original purity of the water is intact.