Risorse in acque minerali dell'Italia: aspetti quali-quantitativi

The availability, the distribution and the hydrochemical characteristics of the Italian mineral water are here summarized. The available data indicate that Italy is the largest consumer of mineral water in the world, with a value of 186 l/year/per capita and a total volume of 12.35 million of cubic meters/year, with a preference for waters with low mineralization. Were surveyed 431 labels and 260 different mineral waters are bottled; currently in Piedmont, Tuscany and Lombardy has the largest number of bottled waters. Italian and EU regulations require partial differences in the quality requirements of mineral and source waters compared to drinking water. The quality of mineral waters depend on the variety of the big five hydrogeological complexes present on Italian territory in which it moves and give different chemical characteristics, with a predominance of Ca-HCO3 waters. It also compared the Italian vs European water quality respect to certain parameters (electrical conductivity, Sodium, nitrates and Arsenic). The protection of natural mineral waters must also be ensured by the delimitation of areas of sources protection