Hydrodynamics Group - Articles on Spring Development Page 4

Bottled Water: Feds release new guidelines on Spring water--page 4

As seen in Water Conditioning and Purification Magazine--July 1999

WATER SOURCE DEFINITIONS FOR BOTTLED WATER

Spring Water

Natural--Water from a naturally flowing spring or pumped from a borehole, hydrologically connected to the spring water source and requiring minimum treatment for bottling.

Spring Water--Water from a naturally flowing spring or pumped from a borehole, hydrologically connected to the spring but requiring treatment that does not change the natural chemical composition of the water, such as particle or macron filtering or ozonation.

Well Water

Artesian--A well drilled through a confining layer such as clay, with hydraulic head pressures rising up the well casing to an elevation above the static level of the tapped aquifer, or flows to the earth's surface without the aid of a mechanical pump. The latter characteristic is most desirable for marketing purposes.

Non-Artesian--A well drilled into a groundwater aquifer that uses a pump or other mechanical means to withdraw water and experiences no artesian characteristics.

Surface Water

Lakes/Rivers--Water drawn directly from natural surface water sources such as lakes, rivers, ponds or glaciers.

Surface--Usually applies to manmade reservoirs (impoundments) which collect water from a system of streams.

Municipal Water--The source of this water can be any of the previous sources employed to supply water to a village, town or city. Typical municipal systems use filtration, coagulation and chlorination as treatment.

Natural Mineral Water

Natural mineral water is extracted from a protected source, collected and bottled directly on site without any treatment to its natural mineral and biological components.

spring. The requirements are that a natural spring orifice exists, it flows continuously over a long period of time, is hydraulically connected to any associated borehole, and that both the spring and borehole aren't influenced by surface water.

We highly suggest a program focusing on the continual monitoring of the spring that includes documentation, systematic archiving of information and spring management. An ancillary benefit from this approach is the continued flow of information necessary to effectively manage a spring source. The result is a defensible, archived database accurately documenting a spring source in full compliance with FDA regulations.••

References

1. Federal Register, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Food and Drug Administration, Volume 60, No. 218 (Monday, Nov. 13, 1995), 21CFR Part 103, 129, 165, and 184,Doc. No.88P-0030, RIN 0910-AA11 Beverages-Bottled Water, Code 165.110(a)(2)(vi), Sections 48, 53, and 54.

About the Authors

*John Bredehoeft has been working in groundwater since the 1950's, and spent 32 years with the U.S. Geological Survey. He's authored more than 100 research papers, managed the USGS water research program and was its West Coast regional manager. In 1995, Bredehoeft started The Hydrodynamics Group, and has consulted on a number of the nation's nuclear waste facilities. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Russian Academy of Natural Science.

*Michael King is a registered geologist, certified engineering geologist and hydrogeologist with over 22 years of experience in environmental engineering. He's now working on several U.S. spring projects and has completed 16 watershed studies in the last five years. The former owner of ASE Drilling Co., he has drilled over 500 domestic, commercial, industrial and irrigation water wells. He is currently a technical editor for the Association of Engineering Geologists (AEG) Bulletin.

Monitoring the weather at the site is also important. Springs are often at higher elevations, especially in the West, where microclimates--areas where weather conditions fluctuate between very short distances--are very common. An on-site electronic weather station helps in understanding spring flow. Precipitation and temperature data are typically recorded by these systems.

They're natural resources that require managing so they can provide a long-lasting supply of high quality water. One of the biggest management issues is over-pumping using boreholes. A small spring/aquifer system can support natural spring flow usually year round; however, pumping of boreholes can upset the hydraulic balance of the aquifer system, resulting in overdrafting of the aquifer where the amount of water being removed is at a faster rate than is naturally replenished. Long term over-pumping can dry up a spring.

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