Geochemistry of European Bottled Water

Country / Region: Europe

Begin of project: January 1, 2008

End of project: May 31, 2011

Status of project: May 31, 2011

European mineral waters

In Europe about 1900 "mineral water" brands are officially registered in 2010. Bottled water, usually derived from groundwater, is rapidly developing into a main drinking water supply for the general population in large parts of the continent. For this study, the Geochemistry Expert Group of EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) purchased 1785 bottled water "samples", representing 1247 wells at 884 locations and analyzed for more than 70 parameters. The dataset is used to gain a impression about the natural concentrations of, and variations in, the determined chemical elements and additional parameters in mineral water at a European scale.

Distribution of uranium concentrations in European mineral water

Many processes affect the hydrochemical fingerprint of groundwater - important factors include: rainfall chemistry, climate, vegetation and soil zone processes, mineral-water interactions, groundwater residence time and the mineralogy and chemistry of the aquifer (and contamination). The influence of geology in determining element concentrations in bottled water can be observed for a significant number of elements. Examples include: high values of chromium (Cr) clearly related to the occurrence of ophiolites; beryllium ( Be), caesium (Cs), germanium (Ge), potassium (K), lithium (Li) and rubidium (Rb) showing unusually high values in areas underlain by Hercynian granites while high values of aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), fluorine (F), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb) and silicon (Si) in the bottled water are related to the occurrence of alkaline volcanic rocks. A further key observation is that knowledge of geology alone is inadequate to predict the hydrochemistry of bottled water: natural variation is enormous, usually 3-4 and for some elements up to seven orders of magnitude. Such variation may reflect, among other factors, groundwater residence time and mixing with deep brackish formation waters. It has also been found that bottle materials can have an influence on bottled water chemistry. For antimony (Sb), leaching from the bottle material is so serious that the results for bottled water cannot be used as an indication of natural concentrations in groundwater.

Book cover

Some elements, as observed in the bottled water, are clearly not representative of typical, shallow, fresh groundwater; rather, they tend to exhibit unusually high concentrations, typical for "mineral water": examples are boron (B), beryllium (Be), bromine (Br), caesium (Cs), fluorine (F), germanium (Ge), lithium (Li), rubidium (Rb), tellurium (Te), and zirconium (Zr).

In terms of water standards, most of the bottled water samples fulfill the requirements of the European Union legislation for mineral (and drinking) water. Very few analyzed samples (in general less than 1%) returned values exceeding maximum admissible concentrations for "mineral water", as defined by the European Commission.

The results are presented in the geochemical atlas "Geochemistry of European Bottled Water". The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing the original datasets. Several more detailed national interpretations were published in the special edition "Mineral Waters of Europe" of the Journal of Geochemical Exploration (see below).

Literature:

• REIMANN, C. & BIRKE, M. (Eds.) (2010): Geochemistry of European Bottled Water. 268 p., 28 figs., 6 tab., 2 app., 67 maps, CD-ROM. Borntraeger Science Publishers, Stuttgart. ISBN 978-3-443-01067-6. (www.borntraeger-cramer.com/9783443010676)
  
• BIRKE, M., RAUCH, U., HARAZIM, B., LORENZ, H. & GLATTE, W. (2010): Major and trace elements in German bottled water, their regional distribution, and accordance with national and international standards. - Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 107 (3), pp. 245-271. doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2010.06.002
  
• BIRKE, M., RAUCH, U., LORENZ, H. & KRINGEL, R. (2010): Distribution of uranium in German bottled and tap water. - Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 107(3), pp. 272-282. doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2010.04.003
  
• BIRKE, M., REIMANN, C., DEMETRIADES, A., RAUCH, U., LORENZ, H., HARAZIM, B. & GLATTE, W. (2010): Determination of major and trace elements in European bottled mineral water - Analytical methods. - Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 107(3), pp. 217-226. doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2010.05.005
  

Partner:

EuroGeoSurveys - The Geological Surveys of Europe