About our Publix bottled water
Need to quench your thirst? Get your hydration from our Publix H2O. In our 3 dairy plants in Lakeland and Deerfield Beach, Florida, and Dacula, Georgia, we bottle 3 types of water: spring, drinking and purified. All 3 plants bottle 1-gallon sizes of water, but our Deerfield Beach facility is the only plant that also bottles water in a 2.5-gallon size. Our Deerfield Beach dairy plant operates 2 production lines dedicated to bottling water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Among the 3 facilities, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water are shipped to our stores in an average week. During hurricane season, we double warehouse inventories to keep our stores fully stocked and ready for customers who may be impacted by a storm.
How we make it
Spring water
The spring water we bottle in our Deerfield Beach dairy plant comes from springs in central Florida. The water is pumped into 7,000-gallon tankers for delivery to our dairy plant.
Once the water is delivered, it’s pumped through a hose to silos, where it’s filtered and disinfected. The spring water is then dispensed from the water filler into 1- and 2.5-gallon sizes.
After bottling, the water is tested for quality purposes. The bottles of water then travel down a conveyor belt to a case stacker, where they are prepared for shipment. They’re sent to our distribution centers and held until stores place their orders.
Drinking water
The drinking water bottled in our Deerfield Beach dairy plant is collected from the city tap and stored in tanks.
This water is treated and filtered to remove certain chemicals. Once this is complete, the water is dispensed from the water filler into 1- and 2.5-gallon bottles, and we run a quality check to ensure it meets our standards.
The bottles of water then travel down a conveyor belt to a case stacker, where they are prepared for shipment. They’re sent to our distribution centers and held until stores place their orders.
Purified water
The purified water we bottle in our Deerfield Beach dairy plant is collected from the city tap. The water is 1st treated with carbon filters.
We then filter the water and run it through a reverse osmosis unit. Reverse osmosis is a water treatment process that removes contaminants from water. The purified water is then disinfected, dispensed from the water filler into 1-gallon bottles and tested for quality.
The bottles of water then travel down a conveyor belt to a case stacker, where they are prepared for shipment. They’re sent to our distribution centers and held until stores place their orders.
About the Deerfield Beach dairy plant
Our 3 dairy plants produce many of our private-label products, including milk, cottage cheese, carbonated drinks and water. We 1st bottled water when our Lakeland dairy plant opened in 1980 and expanded production to the Deerfield Beach dairy plant when it opened in 1988.
The Deerfield Beach dairy plant is 172,500 square feet, employs about 200 associates and has several production lines. In addition to the 2 for bottling water, it has an additional 4 for other fluid filling and 1 for carbonated beverages, as well as ice-making and bagging operations. The Deerfield Beach dairy plant also operates a state-certified dairy laboratory and is certified under the Safe Quality Foods (SQF) program for food safety and quality.
