What is spring water?

A spring is a location at the land surface where ground water discharges from the aquifer, creating a visible flow.

International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) defined spring water as ‘..water derived form a underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth.. and is not derived from a municipal system or public water supply’.

An aquifer is a geologic formation or group of hydraulically connected geologic formations storing and transmitting significant quantities of potable groundwater.

The water must be collected at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation that feeds the spring.

Due to its high quality, spring water usually does not requires any treatment as for instance screening, flocculation, clarification, filtration, the addition of chemicals or the use of ultraviolet light.

There have been various proposed classifications of springs, based on different characteristics, of which the most common are:
*Discharge rate and uniformity
*Character of the hydraulic head (pressure) creating the discharge
*Geologic structure controlling the discharge
*Water quality and temperature

Chemical analyses of spring water are useful in classifying the water by type and to determine potential uses where water quality is important.

For example, high total hardness requires excessive soap and detergent for laundering, high iron causes staining of sanitary fixture s and clothing, high fluoride causes dental fluorosis or staining of teeth.
What is spring water?

Requirements for Natural Mineral Waters

Requirements for Natural Mineral Waters
Bottled mineral waters have been consumed for many years either as a ‘safe’ form of water in areas where mains supplies are of dubious quality or because of the perceived therapeutic effects of minerals present.

The perception of therapeutic properties stems historically from the great spas and the association of certain water sources with cure, or alleviation, of specific diseases such as liver complaints.

Therapeutic properties were usually associated with the mineral content of the waters although more esoteric properties such as naturally occurring radioactivity were also considered beneficial.

Natural mineral water is a water clearly distinguishable from ordinary drinking water because:

• It is characterized by its content of certain salts and their relative proportions and of the trace elements or of other constituents.
  
• It is obtained directly from natural or drilled sources from underground water-bearing strata.
  
• It is constant in composition and stable in discharge and temperature (due account being taken of the cycles of natural fluctuations).
  
• It is collected under conditions which guarantee the original bacteriological purity.
  
• It is bottled close to the emergence of the source with particular hygienic precautions.
  
• It is not subjected to any treatment other than those permitted by the standard.
  
• It is conformity with all the provisions laid down in this standard.

Requirements for Natural Mineral Waters