Daily Times

If you think bottled water is a rip-off when you can get it straight from the tap, then you might want to look away now.

Harrods is to start selling bottles of water for an eye-watering £80 each – because it’s sourced from Arctic icebergs off the coast of one of the most remote communities in the world.

It takes an intrepid expedition to Svalbard, a sparsely inhabited archipelago between Norway and the North Pole, to make just 13,000 750ml bottles of Svalbardi a time.

But the company claims the water taken from the island’s icebergs is some of the purest in the world – and says Hollywood actor Matt Damon is a fan.

Harrods will start stocking the premium iceberg water bottles exclusively from March.

The high price reflects the fact there are two only two expeditions a year to the freezing archipelago to make just 13,000 bottles at a time.

The makers say, “It makes an ideal gift for those who want to experience a different type of fine water that has been taken from unparalleled Arctic waters.”

As Svalbard is the global centre for climate change research, a percentage of each sale of Svalbardi is donated to the archipelago’s Global Seed Vault – a centre which stores every variety of seed in the world to insure against the loss of crops due to natural disasters caused by global warming.

The water, which is bottled at source, is reportedly almost entirely mineral free.

The makers say this gives the water an “exceptionally light mouth feel” and a “unique terroir, perfect for pairing with fine foods”.

Matt Damon is said to be a fan of the pure Svalbardi water, after taking a trip to the remote archipelago and remarking on the purity of water taken from icebergs there last summer.

The company was founded by Norwegian-American former Wall Street businessman Jamal Qureshi who tried the water on a visit to the remote archipelago in 2013.

He said, “Svalbardi is sourced from melted icebergs which first fell as snow up to 4,000 years ago. Because the ice has been tightly compacted since before industrial-era pollution circled the world, pollutants have been unable to contaminate the source. The results were clear in laboratory testing which was unable to find any trace at all of contaminants ranging from nitrates to arsenic. What’s more, this is entirely natural without any filters which alter the chemistry of the water. When first presented with laboratory results, the Norwegian food authorities were stunned at the quality and gave immediate approval.”