Study of mother waters production process

Abstract

The Salies-de-Béarn Farm Company (Atlantic Pyrenees, France) demanded a study on the production process of «mother waters» to test it with respect to the related natural mineral water. This particular water has high sodium chloride levels (approximately 350 g/L salt) and must comply with the order of 19th of June 20001, in which it must be free of pathological germs and have a stable physic-chemistry composition. Several tests were carried out with different natural mineral water volumes, heating these samples at different temperatures and during different time intervals. The physic-chemical tests were carried out with ionic chromatography on the original sample and during the heating process. The results obtained gave us the opportunity to study the evolution of the concentration of the characteristic element of the mother water depending on the test parameters. This study’s objective has been to define the optimal heating conditions for the production of the mother water with a satisfactory and repeatable physic-chemical composition retaining all its therapeutic properties.