Our Story

From the gracious gift of natural mineral water sourced from our spring in the idyllic Daylesford region (Victoria, Australia), the Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. crafts a range of balanced, considered drinks with pure flavours and ingredients that impart a story of their sense of place.

The range of premium waters, organics, naturals and mixers has been meticulously crafted to deliver an honest product that is respectful of its roots and champions the beauty of our locale.

They’re natural. They’re beautiful. They’re local.

Our Story

A quest for provenance and a compassion for community lie deep in the hearts of Mitch Watson and Brylie Rankine. These are the principles upon which they founded the Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co.

The company is based in a Victorian region known as Spa Country; the type of Australian bush land you see bewitchingly captured in a Russell Drysdale painting. It is a place where out-of-towners flock for some ‘me’ time, to regenerate, and to ‘take in the waters’; pristine mineral springs that the geology of the region naturally and graciously gifts.

The couple and their young family made their home here in 2005. It was then that they discovered an opportunity to more closely cleave a community to its greatest and most precious asset – natural mineral water. Working within the town’s renowned hospitality culture, the duo was alarmed at the proliferation of imported mineral water, in a region that possessed the highest number of mineral springs in the country. There was a kinship between this regional resource and its people that was aching to be nurtured.

With little more than a credit card and a drive to create change, Mitch and Brylie began bottling their first pure, natural and local mineral waters in the spring of 2006, with just 300 cases delivered to the local shops.

In June 2018, following a successful and amicable buyout from co-founding partner Mitch Watson, Brylie Rankine is the sole Director of the business.

Today, the Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. anchors a community passionate for supporting local. It is driven by a desire to share the natural beauty of its fine waters with the rest of the world, whilst being ever respectful of its origins. Its considered range of premium waters, organics, naturals and mixers is sought-after by restaurants, cafes, retailers and discerning consumers who demand a regular delivery, direct to their door, right across Australia.

Local & Good

We exist because of our local hero; the pure, beautiful, natural mineral water. From this perfect base, we keep life as local as we can. From our people (some 30 locals from around town), to packaging (wherever possible sourced no further than 100 kilometres away), bottling, warehousing and everything in between, it’s all done locally. We live here too; our kids go to school here, this is our community. So we relish the opportunity we have to support and help our neighbourhood and contribute to the local conversation.

We do this because we believe local should support local, and we aim to drive as much benefit back into the local community as we can. We also do all of this because we believe in the beauty and honesty of our products and know people want the choice of purchasing such wares; products that are created, grown or manufactured by locally owned businesses, rather than needing to default to imported products that come from thousands of kilometres away.

We believe being mindful of a sustainable footprint is simply a part of doing good business. So, for us, the use of recycled materials, minimising the use of packaging, and always seeking to embrace the latest innovations on this front is just our normal.

In supporting what’s local and good, we recently invested into the region’s fledgling community wind farm project, Hepburn Wind. How great will it be when we can be fully reliant on the local wind to power the Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co.?

Our water is good for you, possessing one of the optimum mineral compositions of its type.

A History

It was over 150 years ago when the mineral spring of the Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. was first discovered. With the onset of the gold rush in the 1850s, a plethora of springs were found in the region, as the hopeful-rich prospected their way through the landscape.

In the late nineteenth century, the mineral water in the region was the main source of refreshment. Many small towns created their own cordial factories with bottling plants located right at the spring site. All of the early glass bottles were blown by hand, and then became more sophisticated with the addition of cork or marble stoppers, that aimed to retain the water’s natural carbonation.

In the early 1900s gold was fast depleting, and the populous instead became enamored with the therapeutic properties of the natural mineral springs of the region. It was the start of the region’s now preeminent reputation as a mecca for rest and recuperation. Women and men folk caught the steam train to town, to stay in the guesthouses dotted amongst the magnificent mountainside and picnic amongst the tall bushy gums, as well as to bathe and ‘take in the waters’.

This Central Highlands region of Victoria is now recognised as being home to the largest concentration of natural mineral springs in Australia. That’s why it’s revered as Spa Country.

The Water

The legal definition of mineral water states it is “ground water which, in its natural state, contains carbon dioxide and other soluble matters in sufficient concentration to cause effervescence and impart a distinct taste”.

The water-table is the upper layer of ground water which lies a few metres underneath the surface, saturating the deeper soil layers. Under this is the aquifer, which in our region is Ordovician layers of rock (some 450 million years old), comprising sandstone, shale and silt and reaching depths of up to 1,000 metres. When the water-table is pushed to the surface due to the natural folds, faults or fractures of the aquifer (the ancient rock), naturally bubbly springs manifest.

The water in our region measures 2.5 grams of dissolved mineral salts in every litre of water, on a quality par with water found at some of Europe’s most venerated mineral spas. These minerals come from two sources: the water itself, from the salts in rain as clouds form over the sea (imparting sodium chloride and potassium chloride content); and the ancient rock (containing calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and iron).

The result is a mineral water from which you can taste a true sense of place, and is unique in its mineral composition, exceptional quality and utmost purity.

Composition & Health Benefits

It’s called mineral water for a reason. Sourced from nature, unlike tap water it is free of any added chemicals, and possesses only naturally occurring essential minerals that have been lauded for their health benefits for centuries.

Drinking mineral water each day can enhance your overall health and wellbeing. It can aid weight lose (it contains no calories or fats), lower blood pressure, improve bone health, aid digestion, assist with muscle performance, maintain your electrolyte balance for good hydration, reduce the risk of kidney stones and improve your skin. Even bathing in it has intensive therapeutic benefits.

The mineral water from the Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. is high in potassium and magnesium, two critical minerals essential for optimal mind and body functioning:

Potassium: is a very significant body mineral, essential for the correct functioning of all cells and nervous tissue and is important for the brain and nervous system.

Magnesium: is the body’s natural stress reducer. It strengthens the immune system, controls blood pressure and relaxes the muscles. It is concentrated in the kidneys, bones and muscles.

Other minerals present in our water include:

Sodium: to maintain the balance of water in the body, preventing stomach ailments.

Iron: aids the body in delivering oxygen through red blood cells and essential in the formation of haemoglobin. It also prevents anemia.

Calcium: vital for the growth and functioning of bones and minerals.

Chloride: for healthy skin, hair and glands.

Sulphate and Silica: natural cleansing agents that help purify the liver. They are also known to strengthen bones, teeth and skin.

Bicarbonate: aids digestion and balances the ph levels in the stomach, intestines and blood.