Monday, July 10, 2006; D02

Gretchen Cook-Anderson couldn't forget the bottles and bottles of water her doctor ordered her to drink during a difficult pregnancy with her twin boys in 2001.

That eventually led the former public relations agent to her new role as president and chief executive of Saphia Lifestyle Beverages of Silver Spring. Its first product, offered online, is bottled water billed as specially formulated for "nursing moms, expectant moms and hopeful moms-to-be."

Cook-Anderson said she hopes Saphia water will soon be stocked in stores that sell products for pregnant women and babies, and eventually in the baby-product aisles of supermarkets and Target stores. The water is lightly flavored and fortified with supplements such as folic acid and calcium.

"We encourage women to continue to take prenatal vitamins," she said. The supplements are added to Saphia water at sufficiently low doses that pregnant women can continue taking their vitamin pills while drinking four or five bottles of the water a day, she said. "Our product is not so much about the vitamins and minerals as it is about hydration."

The water is sold for $42.99 for a case of 24 bottles, a company spokeswoman said. That's $1.79 per 16.9-ounce bottle of highly purified, nutrient-enhanced . . . tap water.

Asked the source of the water, Cook-Anderson said she did not recall where the processing plant she is using got its water. She later sent word by e-mail: It's from Chicago's public water system.

-- Larry Liebert