About bottled water
Bottled water – what’s the difference?
Pre-packaged water comes in three categories: natural mineral water, spring water and table water.
They must comply with three requirements: Natural mineral water and spring water are regulated by the Swedish National Food Administration (SLV) directives on natural mineral water. The one thing they both have in common is that they must not contain flavouring or mineral additives. Mineral water and spring water must be groundwater tapped at source.
Natural mineral water
The water must come from a protected underground source. Nothing other than carbon dioxide must be added. The water must be tapped at source and not be transported by tanker. The label must declare the mineral content and name and place of the source. The Swedish National Food Administration decides when a bottled water can be called mineral water.
Spring water
From a protected underground source but comes under different rules than natural mineral water. Only carbon dioxide may be added and it must not be transported by tanker. The name of the source must be specified on the packaging but not the mineral content. Local environmental health committees decide when a water can be bottled and called spring water.
Table water
Table water and pre-packaged drinking water must comply with the health requirements of the Swedish National Food Administration’s drinking water regulations. In principle it could be ordinary tap water with carbon dioxide, minerals and flavourings added.
Environment
The consumption of bottled water is rapidly increasing in Sweden. In 2003, Swedes drank just over 180 million litres of bottled water. Transporting 180 million litres of water a year on our roads naturally has a negative environmental impact. The energy used to transport a year’s supply of bottled water and to produce the packaging is equivalent to the oil required to heat 16,000 houses for one year.
Did you know that…
A litre of tap water in Sweden costs about a half öre (hundred öre to one krona). Bottled water is often 1,000 times more expensive than tap water. A litre of bottled water requires 500 times more energy than a litre of tap water. Alarms about bacteria in bottled water occur quite often. Such bacteria do not exist in water boiled in Purity. 1.5 million tonnes of plastic a year are required to produce all the plastic water bottles in the world. Glass can admittedly be recycled, but this requires large amounts of detergent with all that entails for the environment.
Why not to re-use single serving water bottles.
Many people reuse plastic water bottles desgined for single use. We do not encourage this - read more by clicking this link.