Suanne Taylor, age 92, of Collinsville, Okla., for her question:
HOW IS MINERAL WATER CARBONATED?
The world famous city of Baden Baden, Germany, is a health resort that is located in the Black Forest mountain district in the southwestern part of the country. What makes Baden Baden and other health spas in the area so famous is the abundance of mineral water that comes up from the ground. There are lots of health spas built around large amounts of mineral water in North America, too.
Mineral water is spring water with a high content of mineral matter. One type is called aerated mineral water. The term aerated means "charged with gas,'' and that's exactly what the water is: it is carbonated by Mother Nature deep within the ground. As soon as the water reaches the air, there's a fizzing as tiny bubbles of gas rise to the surface.
Among the minerals found in mineral water are salt, Epsom salt, lime, magnesia, iron, silica, boron, fluorine and many others, including some radioactive substances. The most common gases found in aerated mineral water are hydrogen sulfide and carbonic acid.
Almost all mineral water is rainwater that has seeped underground through rocks, dissolving mineral matter on the way. Other springs may contain magmatic or juvenile water, as it is called, which rises from deep in the earth after forming through a chemical process in rocks. Some of these springs are hot springs, while others have cooled to ordinary temperatures.
Since ancient times, people have used mineral water to cure such ailments as poor digestion, rheumatism and skin infections. The temperature of the water, the location, the altitude and even the climate at the springs are all considered to be important parts of the mineral water treatment.
There are thousands of mineral springs in North America. At about 800 of them there have been health spas at one time or another.
Most of the North American mineral water deposits, and therefore most of the health spas, are located in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. For some reason that is probably related to the fashion of the times, most of the spas have declined in popularity since the turn of the century and many have gone out of business.
Still in operation today and going strong are a number of major spas known for their mineral springs. Included are those at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Hot Springs, Ark., and French Lick, Ind. Hot Springs has been made a national park.
Water from the mineral springs of a number of famous European locations is imported to the United States. Included are the waters of the Apollinaris from Germany, Hunyadi Janos from Hungary and Vichy from France.