In the packaged drinking water market, natural mineral water and purified drinking water represent two distinctly different products. The fundamental difference lies not only in the water source itself but also in the core water treatment process concepts.

As a beverage plant equipment supplier with extensive project experience serving over 125 countries worldwide, JNDWATER has a deep understanding of the processes involved in these two mainstream products. This article will compare national standards in depth, analyze the technical paths of mineral water treatment equipment centered on ultrafiltration and purified water treatment systems centered on reverse osmosis, and explain how JNDWATER provides professional equipment configuration solutions.

I. From Standards to Source: The Fundamental Difference Between the Two Types of Water

The national standards followed by these two types of products directly determine the starting and ending points of their process design.

Natural Mineral Water: Its “natural” attribute is strictly protected by national standards. The core requirement of the standard is that it must originate from deep groundwater in a specific geological structure, contain one or more compliant natural minerals, and, except for permitted physical treatments (such as aeration and filtration), must not alter the water’s essential mineral composition.

Purified Drinking Water: Its standards are mainly based on GB 19298-2014. It has relatively broad requirements for the water source, but the core lies in the “purity” requirement for the final water quality, requiring deep purification to remove the vast majority of dissolved substances.

II. Core Process Analysis: Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis

1. Natural Mineral Water Process: Ultrafiltration at its Core

Mineral water production aims to preserve its natural mineral components and flavor to the maximum extent possible while ensuring water quality and safety.

The typical process flow is: Water Source → Raw Water Tank → Multi-media Filter → Precision Filter → Ultrafiltration System (Core) → Sterilization → Bottling.

Ultrafiltration is the key link in this chain. It is a pressure-driven separation technology that relies on the micropores (typically 0.001-0.1 microns) on the membrane surface for physical sieving. It efficiently removes colloids, bacteria, viruses, and other substances that may cause water quality instability, while allowing almost complete permeation of mineral ions such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and metasilicic acid.

JNDWATER’s mineral water ultrafiltration treatment system uses membrane modules with strong anti-fouling capabilities and stable flux, ensuring that the microbial rejection rate meets aseptic bottling requirements while absolutely protecting the natural balance of minerals. For special cases where the mineral content is too high and the taste needs to be adjusted,

2. Drinking Water Purification Process: Based on Reverse Osmosis

The goal of purified water production is to obtain pure water with extremely low conductivity. The process is a typical deep purification route, with reverse osmosis as the core technology.

The typical process flow is: Raw water → Pretreatment system → Precision filtration → Reverse osmosis system (core desalination) → Bottling.

Reverse osmosis is currently the most effective membrane separation technology for producing purified water. It uses semi-permeable membranes with even smaller pore sizes (approximately 0.0001 micrometers), allowing only water molecules to pass through under high pressure, thereby removing 95%-99% of almost all impurities in the water, including inorganic salts, heavy metals, organic matter, and microorganisms. Through reverse osmosis, the source water is completely “reconstructed” into purified water.

JNDWATER’s reverse osmosis pure water production system uses membrane elements with high desalination rate and low energy consumption, and integrates advanced energy recovery and intelligent cleaning technologies. While ensuring excellent and stable output water quality (conductivity typically ≤10μS/cm), it significantly reduces customers’ long-term operating costs.

Advantages of JNDWATER Integrated Solution

Based on the above analysis, JNDWATER can not only provide the above-mentioned single water treatment equipment or filling line, but also provide customers with a whole plant solution from the source to the finished product:

For natural mineral water projects: We provide a complete production line with mineral water treatment equipment (ultrafiltration host) as the core, including pre-treatment, bottle blowing machine (if PET bottles need to be produced), sterile water bottling machine, opp hot glue labeling machine, film packaging machine, and even palletizer machine. Ensure that mineral water is produced in an efficient, sealed, and hygienic environment, perfectly preserving its natural properties.

For the drinking purified water project: We provide a complete set of filling line equipment with a purified water treatment system (reverse osmosis host) as the core, covering pre-treatment, water production, bottle water filling machine, sleeve labeling machine, shrink packaging machine, and auto palletizing machine. A powerful preprocessing solution can handle various complex water sources and ensure the long-term stable operation of the reverse osmosis system.

JNDWATER, with a deep understanding of water treatment processes, independent research and integration capabilities for core equipment such as ultrafiltration systems and reverse osmosis systems, and the ability to provide full chain equipment including blow molding machines, filling machines, labeling machines, packaging machines, palletizing machines, etc., can tailor the most economical, efficient, and reliable whole plant solutions for every customer. Whether it’s guarding a natural mineral spring or creating pure drinking water, JNDWATER is your trusted professional partner.