Think Healthy Think Mineral Water

One of the treasures I miss most about Switzerland is the pure water. I love bubbly water and definitely miss the Swiss water. Switzerland has water everywhere. Go for a walk and I'm sure you will wind up seeing at least one fountain.

You seem to also guess Swiss mineral water would be popular all over the world, especially since practically every tourist brochure touts it's vast water resources, including rivers lakes and mountain streams.

When I first arrived in Switzerland I in fact didn't even know if the water was safe to drink. (I'd say that is odd, but really I didn't know!) I thought, it's near France, do I need to watch out? With very little advertising outside of Switzerland, little did I know how great the water tasted.

One good fact is the sales of mineral water is actually on the rise. The reason behind it's popularity is the potential of health advantages associated with the mineral water.

Did you know there are actually 48 mineral waters in Switzerland. Among the most popular that I know personally are Cristalp Saxon from the Valais, Aproz from Sion in the Valais, Henniez from Vaud, San Bernardino in canton Ticino, and Valser in the Vals Valley.

Of course I never knew that even Swiss tap water is often filtered, sterilized or chlorinated. I think this is common knowledge you acquire after living in a certain area for some time. That is exactly why bottled mineral water is becoming even more popular.

Bottled water is often untreated and often does not contain additives, making it the healthiest and purest commodity around. The addition of "gaz" is of course allowed. With some of the treatments such elements such as iron or sulfur are permitted in certain circumstances, but most elements are removed ahead of time.

Sadly, many of the above mentioned mineral waters are only produced in Switzerland and not really anywhere else. The main reason accordingly is because the market is flocked by the big guy who basically prevents any chance of the little guy to survive. Let's hope Switzerland gets a bit more bold in the future and sends out some of it's mineral water into parts of Canada and the States too.