The New International Encyclopædia/Mineral Waters
MINERAL WATERS. The term usually applied to spring waters which have a variable quantity of solid substances in solution, and on this account may exert effects on the human body different from those of ordinary water. Mineral waters have been used as remedial agents from a very early period. The oldest Greek physicians had great faith in their curative power, and the temples erected to Æsculapius were usually close to mineral springs. We are indebted to the Romans for the discovery not only of the thermal springs in Italy, but also of some of the most important springs in other parts of Europe, as those of Aix-la-Chapelle, Baden-Baden, Bath, and Spa in Belgium. In the United States mineral springs have also attracted attention since an early period. At Saratoga Springs, for example, the High Rock Spring was known to the white people as early as 1767, and the American aborigines seem to have been acquainted with its important properties even before that date. In West Virginia and Virginia seven springs were already noted in 1831, and of these the Bath mineral spring, now known as the Berkeley Spring, was visited as early as 1777, while the White Sulphur Springs were utilized in 1778. The therapeutic action of mineral waters or spas, as they are frequently termed, depends largely on their chemical composition and their temperature, although a variety of other circumstances, such as situation, elevation, climate, mean temperature, and above all the regular habits of the patient, have no doubt an important bearing on the success of the treatment.
Origin. The origin of mineral waters is often looked upon with much curiosity, and yet there is nothing unnatural about it. The rain water falling on the surface soaks down through the soil into the rocks and may slowly filter through them to a considerable depth, coming out to the surface at a lower level in the form of a spring; or again the water may reach sufficient depths to be subjected to great pressure or even heat, and coming to a fissure or being struck by an artesian-well boring, it will tend to escape to the surface through such an outlet. Many mineral springs are found along lines of faulting, since fault fissures afford a means of escape. The dissolved mineral substances no doubt are obtained from the rocks through which the water has flowed. In some cases the waters in seeping through one type of rock may take up certain acids which later react on basic elements contained in other rocks, thus producing salts. Most waters contain some carbonic acid, which greatly increases their solvent powers in the presence of lime, magnesia, and iron; while if the waters are alkaline they may take up substances which are ordinarily rather insoluble, such as silica. The attacking power of the water may be still further increased if it is hot. There seems to be some relation between hot springs and the geological structure of a region, as thermal springs are more abundant in areas where the rocks have been highly faulted or where there has been volcanic activity in comparatively recent geological times. Mineral springs commonly contain more dissolved material in regions of sedimentary rock formation than in igneous or metamorphic areas.
Temperature. Springs are commonly characterized as thermal when they have a temperature of over 70° F. If the temperature is between 70° and 98° they are called tepid, while all exceeding the latter limit are included under hot springs. The following examples will serve to show the degrees of temperature found in different thermal springs: Sweet Springs. W. Va., 74° F.; Warm Springs, French Broad River, Tenn., 95°; Washita, Ark., 140° to 156°; San Bernardino Hot Springs, Cal., 108° to 172°; Las Vegas, N. M., 110° to 140°; Sulphur Springs, Aix-les-Bains, France, 108°; Kaiserquelle, Aix-la-Chapelle, Prussia, 131°; Karlsbad (Sprudel), Bohemia, 162°.
Flow of Springs. The amount of water which a mineral spring may discharge is quite variable; thus 500 springs in Central France, which were tested, yielded 2,628,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, and the famous Orange Spring in Florida is said to discharge 5,000,000 gallons per hour. The discharge per hour of some of the principal American springs is as follows: Champion Springs, Saratoga, 2500 gallons; Roanoke Red Sulphur Springs, Va., 1278 gallons; Warm Sulphur Springs, Bath. Va., 350,000 gallons; Hot Springs, Ark., 20,100 gallons; Glen Springs, Waukesha, Wis., 45,000 gallons; Horeb, Waukesha, Wis., 1500 gallons.
Classification. A classification of mineral waters may be geographic, geologic, therapeutic, or chemical. The following scheme of classification is one adopted by A. C. Peale, a noted authority on the subject of mineral waters, and more especially those of the United States:
CLASSIFICATION OF MINERAL WATERS.
| Alkaline | ||||
| Alkaline-saline | Sulphated | |||
| Muriated | ||||
| Saline | Sulphated | |||
| Muriated | ||||
| Acid | Sulphated | |||
| Muriated |
| |||
| Siliceous | ||||
Springs included in the above groups may be either thermal or non-thermal, and they may be either free from gas or contain carbonic acid gas (carbonated springs), sulphureted hydrogen (sulphureted), nitrogen gas (azotized), and carbureted hydrogen (carbureted). The alkaline waters include all those containing alkaline carbonates, such as carbonates of alkalies, alkaline earths, alkaline metals, or iron. About one-half of the alkaline springs of the United States are calcic alkaline, that is, containing calcium carbonates or bicarbonates as the predominant ingredient. The water of the Hot Springs of Virginia is a hot, carbonated, calcic alkaline water. The alkaline-saline waters include those containing combinations of alkaline carbonates with sulphides (sulphated) or chlorides (muriated), there being in the United States one-third as many as of the saline waters. In the saline waters sulphides and chlorides predominate; in the United States there are about one-third more springs of this class than of the alkaline springs. Springs which are classified as purgative or aperient will fall in the subclass of sulphated salines. The salines may be sodic sulphated or muriated, or calcic sulphated or muriated; the sodic muriated constitute about 88 per cent. of the muriated saline waters of the United States. The acid class includes all waters containing free acid, whether silicic, sulphuric, or hydrochloric. In addition to having free acid a spring may also contain salts of the acid.
Geographical Distribution. There are at the present time between eight and ten thousand mineral springs in the United States, and of this number 659 were listed as commercial producers in 1901. Most of the mineral springs of commercial value are found in the Eastern United States and in the Mississippi Valley; west of the 101st meridian they are largely confined to the Pacific Coast. No hot springs are known in the New England States. In Maine the springs are slightly alkaline-saline and chalybeated, with a few of carbonic character. Their temperature ranges from 40° to 46° F. Chalybeated springs are abundant in Massachusetts. Many of the springs of the New England States are utilized for commercial purposes, but among the Eastern States as a whole New York stands at the head of the list of producers. The springs at Saratoga have an international reputation, and compare favorably with any of the foreign spas, the waters from the Congress, Empire, Columbia, High Rock, Hathorn, and Geyser springs being extensively used throughout the United States. These waters are effectual in diseases of the liver, spleen, and skin, in neuralgia, and rheumatic and dyspeptic troubles. Farther south in the Appalachians are the celebrated Hot Springs of Virginia, including the Berkeley Springs and the White Sulphur Springs. The waters of the former are used chiefly for certain forms of dyspepsia, diseases of the liver and bowels, while those of the latter are of special value in the treatment of chronic diseases, gout, rheumatism, etc. The general character of the springs of Virginia and West Virginia is saline; sulphureted waters are the most numerous, but alkaline and chalybeate and acid springs also occur. The saline springs are found in excess of all others in the South Central States, and thermal springs are few. In this region the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas are the chief producers of mineral waters. The Hot Springs of Arkansas are among the most important thermal springs found in the entire country, and of value for diseases of the blood. The Texas springs are peculiar from the fact that many of them show free sulphuric acid. Owing to the abundance of limestone formations in the North Central States, calcic springs are quite numerous, and in Wisconsin those of Waukesha are widely known. In the Cordilleran region the most noted occurrence of hot springs is that of the Yellowstone Park, but they are not used for medicinal purposes. In New Mexico the Las Vegas Hot Springs are often visited, and in Washington the Medical Lake is the source of one of the best known mineral waters of the Pacific Coast.
Foreign Waters. A number of foreign mineral waters are imported into the United States and find a considerable sale. Chief among these is the Apollinaris water which comes from Ahrweiler, Germany, and which is largely used as a table water, and in cases of nervous irritation attended with dyspepsia. The Friedrichshall bitterwater, from the Friedrichshall Springs, near Hildenburg, Germany, is largely used for habitual constipation, as is the Hunyadi-Janos water from Budapest, Hungary, which is a remedy also for congestive and gouty disorders. The Kissingen waters from Bavaria, the Vichy from France, and the Karlsbad Sprudel waters are extensively imported into the United States.
Production. The production of mineral waters in the United States in 1901 amounted to 55,771,188 gallons, valued at $7,586,962. The imports in the same year amounted to 2,567,323 gallons, valued at $744,392.
Chemical Analyses. The following table shows the important constituents of some of the American mineral waters:
Analyses of American Mineral Waters
| CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS | Congress Spring, Saratoga, N. Y. Saline, carbonated |
Excelsior Spring, Saratoga, N. Y. Saline, carbonated |
Warm Sulphur Springs, Va. Calcic |
Hot Springs, Ark. Thermal, carbonated |
Hot Sulphur Spring, Sharon Springs, N. Y. Alkaline-saline, sulphureted |
Las Vegas Hot Springs, New Mexico Alkaline-saline |
Bethesda Spring, Waukesha, Wis. Alkaline-calcic | ||
| Grains Per gallon |
Grains per gallon |
Grains per gallon |
Grains per gallon |
Grains per gallon |
Parts per 1000 |
Grains per gallon | |||
| Sodium carbonate | ...... | ...... | ...... | ...... | ...... | 5.00 | |||
| Sodium bicarbonate | 10.77 | 8.75 | ...... | ...... | .49 | ...... | 1.26 | ||
| Sodium sulphate | ...... | ...... | ...... | ...... | ...... | 16.27 | .54 | ||
| Calcium carbonate | ...... | ...... | 5.22 |
|
...... | 11.41 | |||
| Magnesium carbonate | ...... | ...... | ...... | ||||||
| Calcium bicarbonate | 143.40 | 41.32 | ...... | 12.66 | 12.93 | ...... | 17.02 | ||
| Magnesium bicarbonate | 121.76 | 29.34 | ...... | ...... | .69 | ...... | 12.39 | ||
| Lithium bicarbonate | 4.76 | ...... | ...... | ...... | ...... | Trace | |||
| Iron bicarbonate | .34 | 3.00 | ...... | 2.17 | ...... | ...... | .04 | ||
| Magnesium sulphate | ...... | 2.15 | ...... | ...... | 18.96 | ||||
| Potassium sulphate | .89 | ...... | 1.38 | ...... | ...... | ...... | .46 | ||
| Sodium chloride | 400.44 | 166.81 | ...... | ...... | .33 | 27.34 | 1.16 | ||
| Potassium chloride | 8.05 | ||||||||
| Potassium bromide | ...... | 1.57 | |||||||
| Sodium bromide | 8.56 | ||||||||
| Sodium iodide | .14 | 4.67 | |||||||
| Silica | .84 | .53 | 1.72 | .38 | .45 | 2.51 | .74 | ||
| Calcium sulphate | ...... | ...... | 14.53 | 2.54 | 96.64 | ||||
Bibliography. Bailey, “Mineral Waters of Kansas,” in Kansas Geological Survey, vol. vii. (Topeka. 1902); Branner, “Mineral Waters of Arkansas,” in Arkansas Geological Survey Report (Little Rock, 1891); Crook, Mineral Waters of the United States and Their Therapeutic Uses (Philadelphia, 1899); De Launay, Recherche, captage et aménagement des sources thermominerales, origine des caux minerales, géologie, proprietés physiques et chimiques (Paris, 1899); Peale, “Natural Mineral Waters of the United States,” in United Stales Geological Survey, 19th Annual Report (Washington, 1898); Peale, “Lists and Analyses of the Mineral Springs of the United States,” in United States Geological Survey Bulletin No. 32 (Washington, 1886); Schweitzer, “A Report on the Mineral Waters of Missouri,” in Missouri Geological Survey, vol. iii. (Jefferson City, 1892). For statistics of production, see Mineral Resources, issued by the United States Geological Survey (Washington, annually). See Bottling and Bottling Machinery.