Mineral and Thermal Waters

Collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, definitions, and recommendations relating to food, food production and processing, and food safety, including standards for bottled drinking waters and natural mineral waters. The Codex Alimentarius is developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission established in November 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The World Health Organization (WHO) joined the Commission in June 1962. The first session of the Commission was held in Rome in October 1963.

Groundwater which meets the standards of mineral water (i.e., at least 1 g/kg dissolved solid) or which contains less than 1 g/kg of dissolved solids but having concentration of pharmacologically active compound above the lower limit, including temperature above 20 °C (i.e., thermal water).

Total amount of thermal energy (heat) accumulated in the Earth’s crust down to given depth, referred to particular area for which the calculations are made and for mean annual temperature at the Earth’s surface.

Is a heat energy generated and stored in the Earth.

Consists of three elements: (i) heat source, (ii) reservoir (i.e., aquifer), and (iii) fluid – i.e., thermal water (or steam) as a heat carrier; it comprises the entire hydrogeologically connected area with the recharge zone, reservoir aquifer, and outflow zone; the geothermal aquifer plays a role of geothermal reservoir.

Diagram that illustrates the possible utilization of thermal waters with respect to their temperature.

Diagram that utilizes the resources and reserves to assess the amount of any minerals on the Earth in the light of two distinct parameters: degree of certainty and the profitability (technically, these parameters are used as axes of the diagram). Such diagram can be used also to assess the resources of geothermal energy.

May be defined in different ways depending on the field of application, i.e., hydrogeology, balneology, or bottled water industry. Traditionally term “mineral water” was referred to specific groundwater used for curative purposes which characterized higher than average concentrations of dissolved solids or gases or higher temperature. The formal definition of mineral water has been proposed for the first time by L. Grünhut in 1911 during the International Balneological Congress in Nauheim, Germany. It was established that this term can be referred only to the groundwater which contains at least 1 g/kg of dissolved solids. Nowadays, the value of 1 g/L of total dissolved solids is commonly accepted border between fresh and mineral waters also from hydrogeological point of view.

Also called as geothermal water, are defined as groundwater with a temperature of at least 20 °C at the outflow.