Issue #412 What Does “Quality Water” Really Mean and How Can You Recognize It?

August is National Water Quality Month, which makes it the perfect time to look beyond the bottle, past the label and directly into the water itself. Most of us know when water tastes refreshing, but water quality involves far more than taste. It includes where the water comes from, how its source is protected, what it naturally contains, whether undesirable substances have been detected and how carefully it is bottled. For Salacious Drinks, those details are not fine print—they are the foundation of our business.

How Salacious Drinks Began

Salacious Drinks was founded in 2016 with a simple but surprisingly uncommon idea: water deserves the same curiosity and attention we give wine, coffee and other beverages connected to a place. Water is not one flavorless product. A spring in Italy can produce water that feels completely different from an artesian source in New Zealand or a mineral-rich aquifer in Spain. The geology surrounding a source influences the water’s mineral composition, texture and taste. Calcium may contribute structure, magnesium can introduce a subtle bitterness and bicarbonate can help create a smooth, substantial mouthfeel. Once we began exploring that world, we wanted other people to experience it too. That is why Salacious Drinks specializes exclusively in natural, single-source waters from around the world. We do not sell purified municipal water or water assembled through processing and the addition of minerals. Our portfolio is built around waters whose identity begins in nature: spring, artesian, mineral, glacier and other genuine single-source waters. For us, the source is part of the story but a beautiful origin story is not enough. We also want to understand what is inside the bottle.

Source, Safety and Character

“Water quality” can mean two related but different things. First, there is safety. A quality report may test for microorganisms, heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds and radiological substances. These results help establish whether the water complies with applicable standards. Then there is composition: the naturally occurring minerals that give water its personality. Calcium, magnesium, sodium, bicarbonate, silica, sulfates and other constituents can affect flavor, mouthfeel and food-pairing possibilities. Minerals are not automatically contaminants. In fact, they are often precisely what makes a natural water distinctive. The important questions are what is present, how much is present and whether every regulated parameter remains within its legal limit. In the United States, bottled water is regulated by the FDA as a food product. FDA rules define categories including spring water, artesian water and mineral water. Under the federal definition, mineral water must originate from an underground source, contain at least 250 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids and receive its minerals from the source rather than through later addition. Bottlers must also conduct regular microbiological testing and periodic chemical, physical and radiological analyses. 

How to Read a Water Quality Report

A report may look intimidating, but you do not need a laboratory coat to understand it. Begin with these six areas.

1. Identify the sample.
Confirm the brand, source, bottling facility, sample date and date of analysis. Ideally, the document will specify whether the sample came from the source itself or from the finished bottled product.

2. Check the laboratory.
Look for the name of the laboratory and its accreditation information. A current report from an independent, appropriately accredited laboratory carries more weight than an undated chart created for marketing.

3. Understand the units.
Results are commonly presented in milligrams per liter, or mg/L. For water, mg/L is generally comparable to parts per million, or ppm. Very small concentrations may appear as micrograms per liter, or µg/L. One thousand micrograms equals one milligram, so always compare numbers using the same unit.

4. Look at the result—not merely the list.
“ND” usually means not detected at the laboratory’s stated reporting limit. A “less than” symbol means the substance, if present, was below the indicated amount. Neither expression necessarily means an absolute zero; it means the laboratory did not measure it above that threshold.

5. Compare results with their limits.
Reports may show an MCL, or Maximum Contaminant Level the highest amount permitted under the applicable standard. Do not panic simply because a substance appears in the table. Compare the detected result with its regulatory limit. The EPA offers a similar comparison framework in public-water Consumer Confidence Reports. 

6. Separate quality indicators from safety limits.
TDS, pH, hardness and mineral content help describe water, but no single number declares one water “best.” High TDS is not automatically poor quality, and low TDS does not automatically mean superior water. TDS tells you how much dissolved material is present—not whether every individual substance is desirable.

How We Request a Report From a Brand

When Salacious Drinks becomes interested in a water, we can ask the producer, importer or authorized distributor for its latest water analysis, laboratory report or Certificate of Analysis—often called a COA. We want a document that identifies the source, sample date, laboratory and testing methods. We may also request separate reports for the source water and finished bottled product, along with information about source ownership, protection, bottling location and any treatment performed. A complete report should cover more than the attractive minerals listed on the bottle. It should include microbiological, inorganic, organic, physical and radiological parameters required by the relevant jurisdiction. If the report is old, incomplete or unclear, we ask questions. Transparency is not an inconvenience; it is part of earning trust. Water quality is ultimately where science, nature and responsibility meet. At Salacious Drinks, we celebrate beautiful bottles and remarkable flavors—but the real story begins long before either one. It begins underground, inside protected springs, ancient aquifers and natural formations that give each water its identity.

This National Water Quality Month, turn your bottle around, study its source and ask what lies beneath the label. Good water should be enjoyable. Truly exceptional water should also have a story and the documentation to support it.