THIS IS SOURCE
Source is a naturally alkaline, negatively charged water drawn from a deep aquifer beneath our land in Aotearoa New Zealand.
At 147 metres below the surface, the water moves through an ancient rock bed formed approximately 5 to 23 million years ago. Its journey through layers of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, limestone and volcanic material gives Source its distinctive natural properties.
It emerges at approximately pH 9.5, with a naturally negative oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of around -175 mV, and characteristics associated with what researchers describe as structured or exclusion-zone (EZ) water.
And it is the negative charge that makes us particularly curious.
Most conventional drinking waters have a positive ORP. Source is unusual because its strongly negative, electron-rich state occurs naturally, without being created through ionisation or electrolysis. This becomes even more interesting when considered alongside research into structured water, where electrical charge and charge separation are central to how water behaves at biological surfaces.
We explore what this could mean further below.
Nothing is added to create Source's unusual properties. There is no artificial alkalisation or electrical processing.
The water comes from the earth this way.
And that is where the story of Source begins.
Our Story
The aquifer on our property was first tapped in the 1980s for a kiwifruit orchard, and later supplied only the homestead. When we — Ross and Shona Grundy — bought the land in 2014, we had no idea what we were inheriting. A friend, Andrew Cooper, urged us to test the water before deciding how the property might be used. We knew nothing about water science, so when the results came back with a pH of 9.5, it was Andrew who recognised its significance. He encouraged us to look deeper.
Curious, we commissioned Jacobs Engineering to conduct environmental and hydrological tests. Their findings confirmed that the water was unusually stable and of exceptional quality. That prompted us to begin the long process of securing commercial consents.
In 2016, during that journey, water researcher and author Veda Austin arrived unexpectedly.
“Do you know how special your water is?” she asked.
“Yes — it’s highly alkaline,” we replied.
She smiled. “That’s true… but that’s not the special part.”
She described its unique properties beyond alkalinity and shared her astonishing story: after a car accident left her with severe internal injuries, drinking our water had triggered a detoxification process that expelled twenty-seven shards of glass over ten days. It sounded unbelievable — and we were sceptical — but when she asked, we allowed her to collect the water privately, long before we were a commercial business.
That moment began a decade-long friendship.
Veda returned often, sharing insights from her evolving research and telling us again and again that people needed this water.
But we hesitated.
We were just a husband-and-wife team. Launching a water brand would require significant investment, and the question lingered:
What if no one wanted it? What if water was just water?
Recognising our uncertainty, Veda decided to show us.
In April 2023, 8 years after she first began collecting water from us, Veda went live on Instagram and invited anyone who felt drawn to the water to email us.
We expected one or two messages.
Instead, over 350 emails from around the world arrived in a single day.
Heartfelt, vulnerable stories from people asking for the water and sharing why they believed it might help them.
It was no longer just Veda's voice.
It was a community waiting for this water to be released.
That was the moment everything changed for us.
Instead of holding onto the belief that water was simply water, we became curious.
What were people recognising in this water that we had yet to understand for ourselves?
That question opened the door to everything that followed.
It was Veda's unwavering belief, and the overwhelming passion of the people, that convinced us the water wasn't just wanted. It was needed, with a purpose far bigger than us.
As we prepared to launch, Veda told us:
“You're going to hear the most amazing stories.”
And now we simply say:
“We are in the eye of the storm of amazing stories.”
In October 2023, supported by Veda, we finally released our water to the world.
And Source was born.
WHAT MAKES SOURCE DIFFERENT
When Source was first tested, it was the naturally occurring pH of approximately 9.5 that got our attention.
But, just as Veda told us all those years ago:
That's not the special part.
As we learned more about water, we realised that Source's alkalinity was one characteristic of a much more interesting water.
The characteristic that has become particularly important to our exploration is its naturally negative electrical charge, typically measuring around -175 mV ORP, and its relationship with what researchers describe as structured or exclusion-zone water.
To understand why that matters, it helps to look at each characteristic in context.
Naturally alkaline | pH 9.5
Source consistently emerges from the aquifer at approximately pH 9.5.
Nothing is added to make it alkaline. It isn't electrolysed or ionised, and alkalising minerals aren't added after extraction.
Its alkalinity is created naturally through the water's interaction with the geology of the aquifer.
Why is this important?
There is growing interest in how the mineral composition and pH of drinking water may influence hydration.
A quote from Dr Andrew Huberman, Ph.D; a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine:
"It is true that water that is more alkaline can move more readily across the aquaporin channels....higher pH water is going to be absorbed more quickly...including rapid hydration of your brain-cells which can greatly enhance cognitive function."
But we make an important distinction when talking about Source.
We don't consider alkalinity to be the most remarkable characteristic of our water.
There are many alkaline waters in the world, including waters that are artificially alkalised.
pH 9.5 was what first made us look more closely.
What we discovered next was far more interesting.
Naturally negatively charged | around -175 mV
Source typically measures around -175 mV ORP.
ORP stands for oxidation-reduction potential and measures a substance's tendency to accept or donate electrons.
Most conventional drinking waters have a positive ORP. Source has a strongly negative ORP, meaning it exists in an electron-rich, reducing state.
Importantly, this occurs naturally.
It isn't created by an ionising machine or electrical process.
Why is this important?
Because when we stop looking at water in a bottle and begin looking at water inside the human body, charge becomes particularly interesting.
The water within us doesn't simply exist as free-flowing liquid. It interacts intimately with cell membranes, proteins, collagen and other hydrophilic surfaces.
Research into water at these biological interfaces has shown that water can organise into ordered, negatively charged regions.
This has led researchers to investigate the role that water structure and electrical charge may play in cellular processes and in maintaining the environment in which our cells function.
And this is where Source becomes particularly interesting to us.
We are drinking a water that already carries a naturally negative charge.
It raises an important question:
Could drinking water that is naturally electron-rich and negatively charged help support the environment in which our cells function?
We don't yet have clinical evidence demonstrating that drinking Source can restore cellular balance, so we are careful not to present this as established fact.
But it is a compelling scientific question, and one of the central reasons we continue to explore Source.
And then there is 'Structure'
The negative charge becomes even more interesting when considered alongside another characteristic observed in Source: water structure.
Professor Gerald Pollack and his laboratory at the University of Washington have extensively studied a state of water he describes as exclusion-zone water, or EZ water.
His research shows that when water interacts with certain hydrophilic, or water-loving, surfaces, a more ordered region of water can form alongside that surface.
What makes this particularly interesting is charge separation.
According to Pollack's research, the EZ itself carries a negative charge, while the water beyond it carries the corresponding positive charge.
It is this separation of negative and positive charge that allows the system to behave much like a battery.
Why is this important?
Because hydrophilic surfaces exist throughout the human body.
Our cells, proteins, membranes, blood vessels and connective tissues all exist in intimate contact with water.
Pollack's research explores the theory that water associated with these biological surfaces can form these ordered, charged regions, and that this relationship between water, structure and electrical charge may be important to how biological systems function.
This is what makes Source so interesting to us.
Source has a naturally negative ORP, and it has demonstrated characteristics associated with structured or EZ water.
We don't suggest that these are the same thing, or that one proves the other. But together, they give us a compelling reason to continue exploring the relationship between Source, water structure, electrical charge and the cellular environment.
None of these characteristics were engineered into Source. They were already there.
So, is Source an alkaline water?
Yes.
But that description tells only a small part of the Source story.
pH 9.5 was what first got our attention.
Its naturally negative charge was what made us look much deeper, particularly as we began hearing remarkable and often similar experiences from people drinking Source around the world.
We can't yet say that the negative charge is responsible for what our customers are experiencing.
But the consistency of these stories, alongside what researchers are learning about water structure, electrical charge and the cellular environment, gives us compelling questions to keep exploring.
And this is where our story moves from what we already know about Source to what we hope to discover next.
What we know, and what we are still learning
WHAT WE CAN MEASURE
Source consistently emerges naturally alkaline at approximately pH 9.5.
It carries a naturally negative ORP, typically around -175 mV.
Its mineral composition and key characteristics have remained remarkably stable over years of testing.
The aquifer has been independently assessed by environmental and hydrological engineers, and Source is regularly tested by accredited laboratories to ensure it meets New Zealand drinking-water requirements.
WHAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED
Researchers examining Source have observed characteristics associated with structured or exclusion-zone water.
Other unusual phenomena have also been observed, including fluorescence (Source will glow blue) when passed through a pump.
These observations continue to give us more questions to explore.
WHAT WE ARE STILL LEARNING
The much bigger question for us is what these characteristics could mean within the human body.
There is a compelling scientific theory behind why they may matter.
Professor Gerald Pollack's research proposes that water alongside hydrophilic surfaces, including those found within biological systems, can organise into an ordered, negatively charged state known as exclusion-zone, or EZ, water.
His work explores the theory that this ordered water and its electrical charge may play an important role in the environment in which cells function.
THIS LEADS US TO A FASCINATING POSSIBILITY
Could drinking water that is already naturally negatively charged and demonstrates characteristics associated with EZ water help support or replenish the structured water within our cells, helping to restore the cellular environment in which our bodies are designed to function?
At this stage, that remains a scientific hypothesis.
There have not yet been human clinical trials demonstrating that drinking Source produces this effect, and we are careful not to claim otherwise.
But this is where our own experience with Source becomes particularly interesting.
Since making Source available, we have received hundreds of personal accounts from people describing changes they have experienced while drinking the water.
Those stories are not clinical evidence, and they cannot establish that Source, or its negative charge, caused those outcomes.
But we believe they are worth paying attention to.
Many of the experiences being shared with us are compelling enough to ask whether what we are hearing from our community could be consistent with aspects of the scientific theory we are exploring.
PURE BY NATURE
Source is independently tested by accredited New Zealand laboratories on a regular basis to ensure it meets New Zealand drinking water standards.
But a laboratory report filled with numbers and chemical names doesn't tell most people very much.
So what does our testing actually tell us about Source?
Exceptionally low nitrogen
One of the results we pay particular attention to is nitrogen, including nitrate and nitrite.
Why?
Because elevated nitrate levels in groundwater are commonly associated with what is happening on the land above it, including intensive agriculture, fertiliser use and animal waste.
Source's exceptionally low nitrogen readings are therefore important to us.
They support the picture we see throughout our testing of a deep, protected aquifer with very little influence from modern surface activity.
Naturally occurring silica
Source also contains naturally occurring silica, acquired as the water moves through its ancient geological environment.
Silica is a naturally occurring mineral compound found in rock and soil. Its presence in groundwater can tell us something about the water's long interaction with the geology through which it has travelled.
In Source, it is part of the distinctive mineral fingerprint created by the Miocene-aged rock bed beneath us.
Importantly, this isn't silica that we add to the water.
Like Source's alkalinity, it comes from the aquifer itself.
Naturally alkaline at approximately pH 9.5
Our laboratory testing consistently confirms Source's naturally high pH of approximately 9.5.
There is no ionisation, electrolysis or addition of alkalising minerals to create this result.
Even more interesting to us is its stability.
We have stored Source for more than nine years and had it independently retested. Its pH, mineral profile and ORP remained remarkably stable.
That tells us something important.
These aren't temporary properties created by processing. They are enduring characteristics of the water itself.
An unusual natural mineral profile
Source's testing also gives us a detailed picture of the minerals it has collected through its journey underground.
Rather than adding minerals or electrolytes after extraction, Source arrives with its own naturally occurring mineral profile, shaped by millions of years of geology.
This is one of the reasons we think it is important to look at Source as more than simply “alkaline water”.
pH is one measurement within a much bigger geological fingerprint.
Tested for the things we don't want to find
Of course, an interesting mineral profile means very little if the water isn't also clean.
Our accredited laboratory testing screens Source for microbiological contamination and a broad range of potential contaminants, including metals and other substances that can make groundwater unsuitable for drinking.
This is fundamental to us.
Before asking what makes Source unusual, we first need to know:
Is it clean? Is it safe?
Our ongoing monthly testing allows us to answer those questions and monitor the aquifer over time.
And then we tested the packaging
The bladder concept is important to us, as Source needs to be protected from sunlight - otherwise it will destroy the structure. So we see it as a safe "womb" for the water to travel in.
But we also wanted to know what happened after Source left the aquifer in this bladder.
Three independent scientists separately examined Source taken from our BPA-free water bladders after the water had been stored in them for weeks and months.
Under high-powered microscopy, they reported finding no microplastics or microscopic organisms in all of these samples they examined.
This was particularly reassuring to us because it addressed something conventional source-water testing couldn't answer:
Are we preserving the purity of Source after we package it?
The results give us confidence that the water reaching you retains the extraordinary cleanliness we see at the aquifer.
Kaitiakitanga | our responsibility to the water
As our understanding of Source grew, so did our understanding that finding something extraordinary brings responsibility with it.
In Te Ao Māori, kaitiakitanga speaks to guardianship, protection and responsibility.
We don't think of ourselves as owning this water simply because the aquifer lies beneath our land.
We are its kaitiaki (guardians).
Why this matters
Ownership asks:
What can we take from this resource?
Kaitiakitanga asks:
What is our responsibility to it?
That distinction influences the decisions we make.
It means understanding the aquifer and its sustainable yield, protecting the land and ecosystem above it, taking only what can be naturally replenished, and considering the generations who may drink Source long after we are gone.
We don't think in 5 year plans. We think in 200 year plans.
Tikanga (protocol) also informs the way we interact with the water itself.
Our processes are deliberately simple and intentional.
We begin each day with reverence for the water and work within a state of tapu (sacredness). We intervene as little as possible, filtering Source and passing it through UV light to meet our drinking water requirements while preserving the water as close as possible to the way it emerges from the aquifer.
We have come to understand that intention and frequency are important when working with this water. A 528 Hz frequency is played throughout our filling process, and words of intention are placed randomly within every box of Source.
From the moment the water leaves the aquifer until it reaches the person who drinks it, our intention is the same:
to handle it with care, respect and as little interference as possible.
For us, these practices aren't a brand story.
They are part of working with this sacred water.
And then the stories came
Veda told us before we released Source:
“You're going to hear the most amazing stories.”
She was right.
You can read people's direct testimonials throughout this website, on our instagram, or below is one of our many favourite stories...
Sarah "day zero"
Sarah is based in the UK and was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE), which primarily affects the skin.
After being told that her remaining option for managing the symptoms was regular steroid injections, a path she was reluctant to take, Sarah reached out to us.
She simply wanted to “just try” Source and see what, if anything, she experienced for herself.
Sarah "week 3"
Sarah ordered four boxes of Source, 40 litres in total, and began documenting her experience as she drank between 1.5 and 2 litres each day.
By week three, as she began her third box, this was the change Sarah had documented.
Encouraged by what she was seeing and feeling, she decided to keep going...
Sarah "week 5" and today
By week 5 Sarah was looking and feeling like her full self again.
Sarah has now been with Source for over a year and a half, and continues to report on how well she is looking and feeling.
Thank you Sarah for trusting us with your story and allowing us to share it.
Through you, and others like you, we understand our purpose and why we made Source available in the first place.
Experience Source for yourself
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